Senior Legal Advisor

Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Tuesday 4 March, and therefore we advise getting your application in no later than midnight on Monday 3 March.

Salary: £70-84k depending on experience with an excellent benefits package.

About Ofcom

Ofcom is the regulator for the communications services that we use and rely on each day. We make sure people get the best from their broadband, home phone and mobile services, as well as keeping an eye on TV and radio.

Our culture is clear – we live by our values: Empowerment; Excellence; Collaboration; Agility and Respect. These define how we work to deliver our purpose, now and in the future. The behaviours which support these values set the path for a fully inclusive and innovative culture at Ofcom.

We focus not only on what we do, but how we do it. We pride ourselves on being an organisation of people who genuinely care about helping others.

About the Team

Ofcom’s Legal team is part of our Legal & Enforcement Group. We are a friendly and diverse team, based in London, Manchester and Edinburgh, bringing together each of our own strengths and specialisms to provide first-class, proactive, and focused legal advice and support across the whole organisation.

Working closely with colleagues from a range of disciplines and professions, we help Ofcom create, implement and enforce communications policy and regulation and provide legal advice on all its key decisions.

The team consists of around 80 qualified lawyers, from associate level to senior management, with a range of legal backgrounds, experience and expertise.

Purpose of the Role

Over the last few years, Ofcom’s remit has expanded to encompass telecoms security, online safety and cyber security. We also have important new legislation to implement, including the Media Act 2024. We have been growing our legal team to reflect this new work and we are now looking to recruit more lawyers at Senior Associate level.

As a Senior Associate legal advisor, you will provide expert legal advice across the full spectrum of Ofcom’s work. You will work on complex and high-profile matters which are often the subject of political and public interest and debate, and which have the potential to raise new and significant points of law.  You will get to work collaboratively with colleagues and experts from a range of disciplines and professions.

You will have the opportunity to work on projects throughout their life cycle, including helping with the early-stage policy development, advising on consultation processes, decision-making and any subsequent litigation or enforcement.

Our Senior Associate lawyers will typically work as part of a team of lawyers on a big project, or with a more senior lawyer acting as a peer reviewer. Our Senior Associate lawyers will work with more independence than at Associate level and will be expected to take on a greater degree of ownership of their work. As a Senior Associate, you may also peer review more junior lawyers.

Your key responsibilities

• Taking ownership of and advising on a portfolio of legal work across diverse projects in a range of sectors, including assessing and resolving legal risk in the context of Ofcom’s overall strategy
• Developing knowledge in new areas, including advising on areas of law that are new to you and learning about new industry sectors and technologies
• Liaising with external stakeholders, including central government, other regulators and regulated industries
• Helping to conduct litigation
• Providing analysis and support for Ofcom’s policy and programmatic work, including helping to produce clear and well structured written documents
• Addressing matters which raise new and significant points of law
• Working independently and with other lawyers in the team to assess and resolve legal risk
• Working collaboratively with colleagues across Ofcom from a range of disciplines and professions
• Supporting more junior lawyers, including in a peer review capacity
• Contributing to the strengthening of Ofcom as an organisation by engaging actively in internal initiatives

Ofcom has a range of statutory duties which are designed to protect people in the UK from harmful material, including on TV, radio and on-demand programming, and our new role protecting citizens from harm presented by content on regulated online services.  As a result, applicants should be aware that this role may involve work with potentially distressing content and material and/or themes. Ofcom is committed to safeguarding our colleagues who undertake this type of work and offers a range of tailored support options, including annual psychological assessments for those in high risk roles and 24-hour access to counselling services.

The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success

We welcome applications from qualified lawyers (solicitor, barrister or equivalent) with post-qualification experience in private practice, in-house or at a public authority advising on one or more of the legal areas relevant to Ofcom’s remit, including: regulatory or competition matters, consumer issues, media, technology, online safety, data protection or public law.

You do not need to have experience across all areas of Ofcom’s remit, but you should be prepared to work in new areas and with greater levels of independence than our associate lawyers.  We will provide you with training and professional development on legal knowledge and skills relevant to Ofcom’s remit.

We’re interested in people who can demonstrate the following:

• Articulating ideas: The ability to communicate your ideas, thoughts and information in writing and orally in a clear and concise manner, ensuring that messages are understood by everyone.
• Evaluating problems: The ability to analyse new areas of the law and solve problems by thinking strategically and creatively.
• Forming relationships: Working as part of a team, and collaborating with others by building relationships with colleagues from a range of disciplines, such as policy specialists, technical experts and economists.
• Pursuing growth: A commitment to expanding your legal knowledge and skills into new areas.
• Embracing change: Working with greater levels of independence and the ability to manage and prioritise competing demands on your time.

At Ofcom we prioritise inclusive and diverse recruitment in order to truly reflect the society we represent.

Where positions are listed as full time, we remain open to reduced hours, part-time arrangements, job shares and other flexible working options from day one of employment.  We warmly welcome applications from candidate returning to work after a break – for whatever reason.

As a disability confident employer, we offer interviews to any disabled applicant who meet essential criteria for advertised roles.  Learn more about the scheme here.

If you need information in an alternative format or have specific preferences, please contact our recruitment team.