G6 Senior Legal Counsel – Procurement Lawyer Bray Court, England
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About the job
Job summary
A unique opportunity to join the In-House Legal Team at United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA). UKHSA’s In-House Legal team is growing and we are actively recruiting specialist lawyers to provide solutions-driven and pragmatic legal advice to UKHSA.
UKHSA is responsible for protecting every member of every community from the impact of infectious diseases, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear incidents and other health threats. We provide intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage, to make the nation's health secure.
We are a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.
UKHSA’s mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. To achieve our objectives effectively and fairly, we commit to representing modern Britain and all its diversity. We recognise that diversity of background and life experience brings different insights, creates challenge and encourages change and innovation. This in turn produces more accountable and trusted public services and better decisions.
Job description
Reporting to UKHSA’s Head of Legal for Contracts and Commercial, the successful candidate will:
- be a senior lawyer and play a key role in the UKHSA Legal team in advising UKHSA in all contractual and commercial matters with a focus on procurement matters;
- manage complex and varied caseloads in the areas public procurement contract drafting, interpretation and management, working with internal clients, government lawyers, external law firms and counsel;
- have experience and interest in other areas of law such as income generating agreements, R&D and other collaborative agreements, grant agreements, IP and trademark issues and data privacy and protection and be prepared to cover those areas in and when required;
- play an important co-ordination role when commercial matters involve cross cutting legal issues for diverse teams in UKHSA, other government departments and third party organisations;
- work closely with a variety of internal stakeholders (both external and internal) to reduce the exposure to commercial and litigation risk and to develop realistic contingency plans when such risks materialise;
- be comfortable about working effectively towards short deadlines;
- be expected to demonstrate strong communication and leadership skills;
- be expected to work responsively and creatively and be solutions-driven and able to see the bigger picture; and
- be flexible in approach to different legal disciplines and willing to take conduct of work outside own expertise.
Person specification
At the United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to provide health security for the nation by protecting from infectious disease and external hazards. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.
Our mission is challenging, innovative and in the spotlight. We will work to ensure our people have the diverse skills, experiences and backgrounds we need to thrive, that our employees are representative of the communities we serve and feel valued and enabled to play their part in delivering our work.
Creating our working culture is an ongoing process which we are developing by listening and learning together, hearing and acting upon diverse voices and opinions to develop a common sense of identity and effective ways of working.
Essential Criteria:
- Solicitor or barrister with a good commercial understanding and significant experience in procurement matters and in contract drafting and interpretation.
- Strong skills in the effective management of a varied caseload.
- Reliable legal judgement, analysis and appreciation of legal risk and the confidence to give persuasive and balanced risk-based advice.
- Solutions-orientated with a commercial focus and the ability to strategic and creative thinking.
- Excellent and persuasive written and verbal communication and advisory skills.
- Ability to communicate confidently and sensitively with those who may be unfamiliar with legal processes/strategies.
- Experience in legal project based team work and the management or co-management of other lawyers and support staff.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience of working in a scientific or healthcare environment
- Experience of managing instructions to external law firms.
- An understanding of the Government and wider public sector context.
Benefits
- 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 average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Experience, Strengths and Technical skills.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Statement of Suitability (in no more than 1250 words). This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and achievements, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria outlined.
You will also be asked to provide information within the Employer/ Activity history section of the application form. This is equivalent to the information you would provide on a CV, setting out your career history (this will be used in sifting process and will be scored).
STAGE 1 - APPLICATION & SIFT:
You will be required to submit a CV and a statement of suitability (Max 1250 Words) based on the essential criteria advertised.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE TRAC SYSTEM WILL ALLOW YOU TO SUBMIT UP TO 1500 WORDS FOR THE STATEMENT OF SUITABILITY, HOWEVER THE VACANCY HOLDER WILL ONLY ASSESS AGAINST THE FIRST 1250 WORDS.
Your application should demonstrate how you meet the criteria for the post, with relevant examples. It will not be sufficient to reiterate the criteria; you are expected to illustrate how you have met the requirements.
Your application will be sifted by a UKHSA Legal panel.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview.
Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.
STAGE 2 - INTERVIEW:
All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will undertake a single video interview.
All applicants that progress to interview will be assessed through an interview against a mixture of Behaviour, experience, strength and technical based questions.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Working Together
Eligibility Criteria
Option 3 - External
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants/Civil servants on Loan).
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.
The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.
Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
For further details please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.
Security Clearance Level Requirement:
People working with government assets must complete Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks which includes a disclosure and barring security check
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed for this role is BPSS . See our vetting charter.
Location policy:
UKHSA offers hybrid working for its employees – This role will be based at one of our UKHSA offices/locations (Leeds, Manchester, Totnes, London, Horsham, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham, Harlow, Liverpool, Fareham, Gloucester, Newcastle and Birmingham) with opportunities for an element of working from home.
You will be asked to express a location preference during the application process.
The balance between home and workplace working is to be agreed with the line manager, determined primarily by business need and in line with departmental policy.
In addition to the allocated base location, this is a multi-site role that can be based at any UKHSA office/location (Leeds, Manchester, Totnes, London, Horsham, Cardiff, Bristol, Nottingham, Harlow, Liverpool, Fareham, Gloucester, Newcastle and Birmingham) as agreed with the line manager and subject to availability of space.
Some OCCASIONAL business travel will be required as part of this role. Business travel between base location and any other work locations will be covered under the UKHSA Travel and Expenses policy.
Please be aware that this role can only be worked from within the UK and not overseas. Relocation expenses are not available.
G6 Salary bandings:
National: £62,489 - £71,893
Outer London: £64,390 - £73,652
Inner London: £66,291 - £75,411
Further information
The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.
If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: [email protected].
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here.
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is responsible for planning, preventing and responding to external health threats, and providing intellectual, scientific and operational leadership at national and local level, as well as on the global stage. UKHSA ensures that the nation can respond quickly and at greater scale to deal with a range of health threats, including those of a future pandemic.
You will be working with a highly motivated and passionate group of people and will be working alongside them in an exciting and fast pace environment with the opportunity to make your mark and influence government policy and delivery.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
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