Senior Legal Adviser; General Counsel Advice Brimingham

Senior Legal Adviser (General Counsel Advice) – Birmingham base

Join to apply for the Senior Legal Adviser (General Counsel Advice) – Birmingham base role at Solicitors Regulation Authority
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This role is a hybrid position working from home and in our Birmingham or London Office, supported by a base pay range provided by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Your actual pay will be based on your skills and experience — talk with your recruiter to learn more.

• Work in a fast‑paced environment at the forefront of legal services regulation; supporting the delivery of the SRA’s strategic objectives.
• Deal with intellectually challenging matters in a complex legal framework.
• Support the regulation of the profession, protecting and promoting the public interest, and help shape and implement our responses to new challenges.
• Work on a variety of projects with teams across the SRA, using problem‑solving and analytical thinking to solve legal and practical problems.
• A broad and varied workload, with a core focus on public law and regulatory policy development.
• Advise colleagues from across the business on a whole range of discrete legal issues affecting the business, working within a close‑knit, friendly and supportive team.

The General Counsel Advice team is part of the General Counsel Directorate within the SRA. It is responsible for the provision of legal advice (apart from enforcement and employment law matters) to the SRA, staff, operational units and senior management.

The team plays a major role in providing strategic advice on a wide range of regulatory policy development projects for the SRA. It also provides support to the wider organisation and the operations of the SRA, dealing with legal issues and queries which arise. In recent years it has played a key role in:

• The development and implementation of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination including policy and operational matters.
• Advising on the impact of recent and ongoing activity in the space of sanctions and anti‑money laundering.
• Our most recent consultation on “Protecting the client money that solicitors hold.”
• Supporting the development of changes to our regulatory arrangements including the implementation of new fining powers and the creation of the new rules and guidance related to wellbeing at work.
• Mazur v Charles Russell Speechlys – a high profile case which looked at the work a non‑authorised individual is able to undertake.

As a Senior Lawyer (Senior Legal Adviser as the role is known internally) in the General Counsel Advice team, you will provide high‑quality, effective and timely advice on queries received by the team. This will include advising upon the legal obligations and regulatory powers available to the organisation, including interpreting statutes (including the Solicitors Act 1974, Administration of Justice Act 1985 and Legal Services Act 2007), delegated legislation and procedures, and how they practically apply to the work of the SRA.

You will help to provide innovative solutions to complex legal problems, touching on a variety of areas of law. This may include drafting new professional rules and guidance and advising on the SRA’s own operations.

You will work closely with our team members and others across the organisation, as well as with external stakeholders including external counsel and solicitors. You will supervise, mentor and coach others in the team, encouraging a high‑performance culture by sharing knowledge and expertise across the team and wider business. In the future there may also be the opportunity to line‑manage other lawyers in the team.

The successful candidate will be a self‑starter who is proactive, has a high level of attention to detail and can demonstrate a track record of delivering quality results.

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or CILEX lawyer, admitted in England and Wales.
• Experience of providing high‑quality strategic regulatory/public law advice and drafting in an equivalent regulatory and/or public law environment.
• Track record of leading and delivering solutions, taking accountability for the successful and timely resolution of very complex…