Senior Advisory Lawyer (Band 1/Grade 6)

Job summary

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is recruiting a Senior Advisory Lawyer to join its Legal Services Division’s (LSD) Advisory, Legislation and Litigation Strategy (ALLS) team.

The ALLS team was established in April 2025 and is responsible for all advisory legal work for the HSE, except any arising from the HSE’s enforcement work, which is handled elsewhere in the Division. The ALLS team also provides some advisory legal services to another regulator, the Office for Nuclear Regulation.

This is a key leadership and delivery role and one which will contribute directly to public confidence, in terms of HSE, the wider justice system and the Government Legal Profession. The team covers an interesting and wide range of complex, fast-moving and challenging work. This includes advising on policy, public law, statutory interpretation, statutory instrument (SI) drafting and engagement with a number of other Government Departments, stakeholders and regulators.

Job description

The ALLS team is expanding. This post is an exciting opportunity to help shape, and influence the team as one of its Senior Lawyers.

The team has already delivered successfully a wide range of work including SI drafting, advising on complex policy and litigation matters (including ones spanning multiple parts of Government), representation at statutory inquiries, and advising and working on Bills.

The team provides risk-based legal advice on a wide range of areas, from chemicals regulation to workplace safety, and from the EU reset to inquests and inquiries. In addition to being part of the senior leadership of the team (and wider division and HSE), the role will involve providing legal advice on policies and the interpretation of primary and secondary legislation, as well as advising on and drafting secondary legislation.

The legal issues HSE encounters are often complex, wide-ranging and novel. The ALLS team works closely with policy and other colleagues to support them to make clear, proper and lawful decisions. As with other lawyers in the Government Legal Profession, this is done at all times considering legal risk and anticipating legal challenges.

We are looking for a highly-capable, experienced and self-starting lawyer with demonstrable leadership skills. You must have had experience of managing significant stakeholder relationships, e.g. with clients. You will also have experience of SI drafting, inquiries work and either conducting or advising on litigation on behalf of a public body.

In addition to that skillset, you will be expected to take conduct of the more complex advisory work, support the Deputy Director of Legal Services in the leadership of the team and line-management of a mini-team, and contribute to the leadership of the Division’s Senior Management Team. The Senior Lawyer role is part of HSE’s wider Senior Leadership cadre and as such, you will be expected to contribute to that, too.

This is a rare opportunity for a motivated and experienced lawyer to join in leading and developing the next phase of the establishment of a legal function. You will need to be comfortable with fast-moving and occasionally uncertain situations, bringing your skills to bear to support your own team and colleagues across the organisation.

Responsibilities

• Be a member of the Advisory, Legislation and Litigation Strategy team’s Senior Leadership Team, leading it and the wider Division through periods of change and contributing to, and assisting in, implementation of changes to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the team’s and Division’s work.
• As a member of the Division’s Senior Leadership Team, contributing to the wider strategic direction and management of the Division and HSE.
• Managing relationships with and supporting senior stakeholders, including by providing strategic, proportionate and risk-based advice.
• Providing legal advice to HSE on a wide range of topics, including operational and policy issues.
• Managing actively a personal caseload of the team’s most complex and challenging matters, including by providing advice, drafting secondary legislation and supporting the development of others in the team to do the same, and providing strategic direction to litigation (including private and public law challenges, statutory and planning inquiries, and inquests).
• Leading a mini-team, managing their performance and supporting them in their professional development.
• Supporting those you line-manage, ensuring that all matters for which they are responsible for are progressed in a risk-based, timely and efficient manner, to high professional standards.
• Providing oversight and delivery of legal training personally – or with or by others - to a range of policy and operational colleagues across HSE, identifying suitable opportunities to provide such training.
• Drafting SIs or similar technical legal documents of varying complexity.

Person specification

Essential Skills and Criteria:

• Excellent understanding of - and proven track record of advising public bodies on - public law (including advising on legislation assimilated from the European Union), from either a litigation or advisory perspective
• Proven leadership and line management skills, with a track record of supporting and developing colleagues to achieve their full potential
• The ability to think strategically and creatively in showing sound legal judgment, appreciating and identifying legal issues and risks in their wider context and advising accordingly
• Excellent analytical and knowledge-development skills, including the ability to assimilate quickly new areas of law and policy, and using secure legal research to produce timely and fit for purpose advice
• The ability to build and maintain effective relationships with a range of colleagues and stakeholders, both externally and across organisations/departments or the wider Civil Service
• Experience of inquiries work, e.g. working for/on a statutory inquiry, representing a body/department/organisation at an inquiry, or advising on complex areas of inquiries law.

Working Pattern
Due to business need, this is a full-time role. We are amenable to the possibility of a full-time working pattern (i.e. 37 hours) being compressed over four days.

Travel
This post will require occasional travel to HSE’s headquarters in Bootle and other HSE offices, as well as occasional attendance at courts, case conferences and meetings nationwide. This may involve overnight stays however, this aspect of the work can usually be planned in advance.

At HSE, we are proud to be able to offer our people the opportunity to work in a hybrid way which combines working from home and the office. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement, and your allocated office will be your contractual place of work.

There will be a requirement to travel to the office for various activities, e.g., collaborative working, supporting and training colleagues. If hybrid working is suitable for you and your role, you will be expected to attend the office, or other business-related site, for 60% of your working week. The arrangements will be determined primarily by business need, but personal circumstances and other relevant circumstances will also be taken into account.

Therefore, we would encourage candidates to consider if the commute from home to the office is a feasible distance to travel before making an application. Please note that if you are successful, hybrid working will be discussed prior to taking up the post.

Qualifications

Legal: You must be legally qualified –either as a qualified practising Solicitor or Barrister. While we welcome applications from candidates based in Scotland, the successful applicant must be qualified to practise in England and Wales on appointment.

Academic: You must have a law degree or a non-law degree accompanied by either Common Professional Examination or Graduate Diploma in Law.

Professional: You must either have completed the Legal Practice Course or the Bar Professional Training Course (or the predecessors to those courses) and have completed the relevant pupillage or training contract (or received full exemption from either the Solicitors Regulation Authority or Bar Standards Board). If you have qualified through CILEX please contact us in order to establish your eligibility for this role.

Please note, if you apply AND are found not to possess any of the above any offer of employment will be withdrawn, or contract terminated. Please note the qualification as stated is required for this role and equivalent qualifications will not be accepted.

Memberships

You must have a valid practising certificate for England and Wales or be eligible to obtain a valid practising certificate issued from either the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Bar Standards Board.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £80,008, Health and Safety Executive contributes £23,178 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

We invest in our people with;

• Competitive rates of pay
• Access to the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme to which HSE contribute 28.97%, far more than in the private sector
• Family friendly policies and working hours to help balance your home life and career
• Carer friendly policies to help create a supportive working culture
• 25 days annual holiday increasing to 30 days after 5 years' service, plus bank holidays and 1-day Civil Service privilege leave
• Parental leave benefits
• As a member of HSE you will gain access to a wide range of fantastic benefits that you can take advantage of such as the Cycle to Work Scheme, E-Gift Cards, and Vouchers via our partner EdenRed.

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

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Application Information

We will conduct an initial sift based on the essential qualifications for the role. If you do not meet the required qualifications for this role, your application will be withdrawn and, you will not receive a score.

As part of your application, you will be asked to complete:

• A CV which details your qualifications, employment history and key skills and experience
• A Personal Statement, of up to 1000 words, demonstrating how you meet the essential skills and criteria listed within the person specification. Your Personal Statement should also include examples of your;
  • legal skills;
  • leadership skills; and
  • management skills, including developing people and performance management.
• A 250-word example for the lead behaviour 'Leadership'.

Application Guidance
Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply and how to complete a Personal Statement About the application process , Civil Service Careers

When completing your Personal Statement we recommend using the STAR approach, outlining the situation, the task, the action you took and the result. Avoid generic statements such as ‘I am good at working with others’.

Sift Information
The sift is due to take place during the week commencing 8th June 2026 when you will be assessed on your CV, Personal Statement and your lead behaviour statement.

Interview Information

Interviews are due to take place during the week commencing 22nd June 2026 via Microsoft Teams.
At interview, you will be assessed on the five Behaviours listed in the advert, your experience and Strengths-based questions.

You will also be asked to prepare and deliver a 5-minute oral presentation, further details of the presentation will be sent to candidates invited to interview.

That presentation, along with the way in which you communicate throughout the assessed parts of the interview, will be used to assess the Communicating and Influencing Behaviour.

Please note the dates for sift and interview may be subject to change due to panel availability.

Sponsorship
This role is not open to application from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and require sponsorship your application will be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment will be withdrawn.

Further Information
Please note that a Reserve List will be held for the period of up to 12 months. There is no guarantee you will be offered a role from our reserve lists, so if you see a vacancy on Civil Service Jobs that you are interested in, we recommend you apply.

HSE reserve the right to conduct additional checks, including Google and social media checks, when recruiting candidates into a role within HSE. These checks will be carried out in line with the Civil Service Commission Principles and, if used all candidates will be subject to these additional checks.

From 23rd June 2025, if you are successful at interview, as part of your pre-employment checks, HSE’s Recruitment Team are required to check your details against the Internal Fraud Hub (IFH), using your personal details – name, NINO, and date of birth. If you are included on the database, you will be refused employment. If you believe that there has been an error in the inclusion of your data and wish to make an appeal, please contact the CO email box internal.fraud@cabinetoffice.gov.uk.

Details of the types of internal fraud/dishonesty covered by this process are defined by the Cabinet Office and can be found here Internal Fraud Register privacy notice - GOV.UK.

It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the terms and conditions they will adopt should they be successful in their application. For a summary of HSE terms and conditions as part of Civil Service Reform, please see the attached HSE Terms and Conditions document.

Progression through pay ranges is subject to annual pay awards as permitted within annual Civil Service pay remit guidance and negotiations with Trade Unions.

HSE is proud to be a part of the Disability Confidence Scheme (DCS). As a Disability Confident employer, we positively welcome applications from disabled people. We are committed to making workplace adjustments to ensure anyone can participate in the recruitment and selection process.

If, during the application or interview process, you require any assistance due to a disability or a medical condition, please contact us at the email address below to discuss how we can support you. For example, if you have a disability, and you need an application form in an alternative format or you would like to know more about our recruitment process, please contact: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk.

If successful in securing your role, HSE can provide suitable workplace adjustments to support you throughout your career with HSE.

Any move to HSE from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility here.

Please note, if you are a current civil servant and you are currently undergoing any of the following formal actions your application will not be progressed any further; Formal discipline action, any formal action regarding attendance, poor performance or any restriction of duties as a result of disciplinary action.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Michael Jennings
• Email : michael.jennings@hse.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : hr.resourcing-team@hse.gov.uk

Further information

If you believe that Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition have not been met, you can raise a complaint by emailing: HR.Resourcing-Team@hse.gov.uk or by writing to HSE at the following address: HR Resourcing Team, 2.3 Redgrave Court, Merton Road, Bootle, Merseyside, L20 7HS.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact Civil Service commissioners: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/code/civilservicecode…

Attachments

HSE Terms and Conditions - CSJ Advert Annex Opens in new window (pdf, 116kB)