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At the Public Defender Service, we believe every person deserves skilled, compassionate, trauma‑informed representation. Our teams work across England and Wales to deliver justice with excellence, integrity, and humanity, standing beside people at the hardest moments of their lives and helping them be seen as more than the allegation they face.

We are building a future‑focused, quality‑led organisation that develops brilliant lawyers, strengthens our profession, and improves the criminal justice system.

Solicitors at the PDS work in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment providing representation at police stations, advocacy at the Magistrates’ Court, and litigation and advocacy at the Crown Courts.

We offer:

A unique training‑led culture with structured supervision.
Cross‑office collaboration, shared resources and peer learning.
Opportunities to specialise (e.g., prison law, BIOT cases, remote litigation, youth court)

We invest heavily in ongoing professional development, recognising that excellent public defence requires continual learning. Training opportunities include:

Advanced court and trial advocacy programmes.
Youth Advocacy training.
Prison law specialisation.
Leadership and line‑management courses.
Opportunities to contribute to policy work, training delivery, and national LAA projects.

If you are motivated by public service, committed to criminal defence, and ready to contribute to a supportive, ambitious and values‑driven team, we can’t wait to hear from you.

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Behaviours

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

Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace
Working Together
Seeing the Big Picture
Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,914, Legal Aid Agency contributes £12,432 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

Access to learning and development
A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Annual Leave
Public Holidays
Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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

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 : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk
Telephone : 0345 241 5359

Recruitment team

Email : moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel a department has breached the requirement of the Recruitment Principles and would like to raise this, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance. If the role has been advertised externally (outside of the Civil Service) and you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm…

https://jobs.justice.gov.uk/careers/JobDetail/20036?entityId=20036

Salary range

£42,914 - £46,182 per year