Permanent Secretary

Government Legal Department

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 2 weeks

Legal

Full time

£175,000 - £200,000 per year

Job summary

The Government Legal Department is one of the Law Officers’ Departments (along with the Crown Prosecution Service, the Serious Fraud Office, and His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate), for which the Attorney General is responsible to Parliament. It is the largest provider of legal services across government, working with all the main Whitehall Departments and supporting the Attorney General and Solicitor General in their roles as Law Officers of the Crown. GLD work touches on the most high-profile issues facing the government; from immigration to benefits, climate change to growth, and domestic and international law.

The Treasury Solicitor is the Permanent Secretary and Principal Accounting Officer for GLD. They are responsible for leading the Department with more than 18 client-facing advisory teams who provide legal advice on the development, design and implementation of government policies and decisions, draft secondary legislation and work with Parliamentary Counsel on primary legislation. Our cross-cutting expert service groups for Litigation, Employment, and Commercial Law provide specialist legal services to a wide range of government departments and public bodies.

In its current form the GLD is a non-ministerial government department, and an executive agency of the Attorney General’s Office, with more than 3,400 employees, including over 2,600 solicitors or barristers. The Department is based primarily in London and has teams in Bristol, Manchester, and Leeds, with continued expansion outside of London as part of the Civil Service Places for Growth programme.

The GLD Strategy (2024 - 2027) sets out an ambitious vision and a clear purpose, ‘to help the government to govern well, within the rule of law’. The Department’s vision is ‘to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfil our potential’.

Job description

The Treasury Solicitor is the United Kingdom Government’s principal legal official, the Permanent Secretary and Accounting Officer of the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, Accounting Officer for the Attorney General’s Office, HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, and Head of Profession for the Government Legal Profession.

The Treasury Solicitor leads the Department, of over 3000 staff, and is responsible for its efficient and effective management and the quality of the legal services it provides to Government, as well as setting and delivering its long term strategy. The Treasury Solicitor is accountable to the Attorney General for the delivery of GLD’s services. The Treasury Solicitor is supported by an Executive team which includes four Directors General, including a non-legal Chief Operating Officer, heads of finance and corporate services. They are also supported by an advisory Board, chaired by a Lead Non-Executive Director.

The Treasury Solicitor also provides legal advice to the Prime Minister, other senior Ministers, the Cabinet Secretary and fellow Permanent Secretaries. This work is of the widest range but with a strong focus on public and constitutional law, national security issues and the interface of law, politics and propriety.

There is a significant external and reputational element to the role. The Treasury Solicitor is the public face of the Government Legal Profession and needs to command the respect not just of Ministers and colleagues but also of the senior judiciary, the legal profession and international counterparts especially in the US, the EU and other Common Law jurisdictions.

The Treasury Solicitor is appointed as His Majesty’s Procurator General - the King’s Proctor - and as the Crown’s Nominee for the collection of bona vacantia.

The Treasury Solicitor is Accounting Officer for the Department, the AGO and HMCPSI, and responsible to Parliament for the proper expenditure of public monies. Financial acumen and a strong sense of propriety are required for the post generally and for this function in particular.

As a member of the wider Permanent Secretary group, the Treasury Solicitor will play a full part in the overall leadership of the Civil Service. The post-holder will report to Chris Wormald, Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service.

Person specification

The Treasury Solicitor must be a senior barrister or solicitor with a breadth of experience in the law of England and Wales, including a strong background in relevant areas of litigation and advisory practice. Those include public and constitutional law, national security, propriety as well as highly complex commercial projects to deliver value for money for the taxpayer.

The Civil Service is open to talented people from anywhere in the United Kingdom, and from any career background; we will always seek to identify transferable skills from the individual’s experience. To help you succeed in this role, you must have a strong commitment to the Civil Service values of impartiality, honesty, integrity and objectivity, and you will likely have the following essential criteria:

a senior barrister or solicitor with a sharp intellect and extremely well developed political acumen. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of the political environment and an ability to see the wider strategic context, and then drive through delivery of key advice and frontline casework;
a clear vision for the future of the Government Legal Department and the Government Legal Profession, with highly developed strategic skills, a deep understanding of organisational design and delivery, to ensure that GLD can respond flexibly and effectively to changing political needs;
the ability to secure and maintain the confidence of Ministers as a leader and through the provision of sound legal advice, often under extreme time pressure, on the widest range of complex legal issues;
confident, inclusive and compassionate leadership skills, with a proven ability to devise and deliver change, with the credibility to enthuse, motivate and lead at scale, and the ability to run and further develop the Department’s multi-disciplinary professions. Central to this will be a commitment to diversity, and to creating a truly inclusive working environment;
exceptional communication skills, stature and high personal impact, and the ability to command credibility with senior politicians and officials, the senior judiciary, the leaders of the legal profession and the Treasury Solicitor’s counterparts in other jurisdictions. High levels of personal resilience to operate successfully under intense scrutiny and sustained pressure, with a proven ability to navigate obstacles, ambiguity and change; and,
a track record of working with others to deliver common goals and objectives, coupled with an ability to build deep collaborative partnerships across Whitehall, with Arm’s Length Bodies and third party organisations.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £175,000, Government Legal Department contributes £50,697 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Learning and development tailored to your role
An environment with flexible working options
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

To apply please submit the following documents to permsecappointments@cabinetoffice.gov.uk copying in joanne.whitehead1@cabinetoffice.gov.uk by no later than 23:55 on Monday 26 January:

Your CV, with educational and professional qualifications and full employment history, including an explanation of any gaps in your employment history, and details where possible of budgets and numbers of people.
A short covering statement of no more than two A4 sized pages (1000 words) explaining why this appointment interests you and how you can evidence your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the criteria in the ‘relevant experience’ section on pages six and seven.
A Diversity Questionnaire: The Civil Service is committed to achieving a workforce that reflects the society it serves, at all levels including the most senior. Collecting this information enables us to identify whether we are recruiting from the widest possible pool of talent and check that all groups are being treated fairly throughout the process. This form will not be disclosed to anyone involved in assessing your application. Please note that applications will not be accepted unless the form is returned. If you do not wish to provide a response to a particular question, you should complete the ‘prefer not to say’ option.
A completed Declaration of Interestsform. Please note that applications will not be accepted unless the form is returned.
Details of two referees - these will only be contacted for shortlisted candidates, and not without prior notice.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK nationals only.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

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Salary range

£175,000 - £200,000 per year