G7 Lawyer - Regulation

About OPSS

Do you care about the safety of products and want to protect people and places? Can we use your skills, knowledge and experience to enable UK business to thrive? If the answer is yes, then we would like to hear from you!

We are the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business & Trade. We are here for the purpose of making regulation work to deliver real world impact. Regulation is a powerful Government tool to address market failures, influence behaviour and promote positive action. Crafted and delivered well, regulation can be an enabler of growth, innovation and efficiency.

Since early 2018 we have been building a positive and creative team that enjoys a position of influence and respect within an organisation that continues to grow.

Our primary purpose is to protect people and places from product-related harm, ensuring consumers and businesses can buy and sell products with confidence

Further information can be found on our website here

The OPSS Legal Advice and Practice team is a highly regarded team from a mixture of public sector and private practice backgrounds. The team provides legal advice across all of OPSSs functions. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated lawyer with strong interpersonal skills who is able to work well within a team. This post reports directly to the Head of Regulatory Legal Advice.

You will work closely with teams across the OPSS to provide pragmatic, solution-focussed and high-quality legal advice. The scope of the role, reflecting the breadth of OPSSs functions, is broad. We do not expect applicants to have existing expertise in all areas of OPSSs work but you must be willing to advise on a wide range of matters including our enforcement across a range of civil and criminal legislation, statutory decision-making, development of policy, and data transformation programme. In doing so, you will liaise with both DBT and othergovernment departments legal advisors (GLD) as well as other regulators and commercial entities as appropriate.

You will have responsibility for a stimulating, wide-ranging portfolio of work which includes:

• Providing timely and high-quality legal advice to colleagues on a wide range of issues relating to OPSSs operational activity, both in respect of discrete requests for legal assistance and on larger matters;
• Managing, with appropriate supervision, your own caseload and working collaboratively with others on larger matters;
• Providing strategic legal advice when OPSS is considering, or has committed to, taking on new regulatory functions on behalf of other Government departments;
• Advising on our data transformation programme, leading legal compliance approaches to data sharing, data handling and data security;
• Advising on data protection and FOI issues;
• Understanding policy perspectives and confidently presenting delivery solutions;
• Highlight to senior colleagues any significant legal risks, particularly in your practice areas, on a timely basis;
• Liaising with legal teams/advisors of stakeholders and other government departments/regulators as appropriate;
• Contributing to the learning and development of the OPSS Legal Advice and Practice team, as well as to OPSS more broadly.

We are interested in hearing from applicants who feel that they can demonstrate the following attributes:

Skills and experience:

The below is a list of characteristics which may be helpful in this role. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but are laid out to help candidates understand more about the role.

This role would generally suit someone who;

• An ability to assimilate complex information and provide pragmatic, delivery-focused advice on the back of it, underpinned by well-reasoned analysis;
• An aptitude for problem solving in a way that takes account of the bigger picture, particularly where there are uncertainties at play;
• A trusted advisor and advocate, able to listen and understand needs through open, structured and productive conversations;
• Capable of exercising sound judgment, even when balancing conflicting pressures and interests.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to express sophisticated concepts clearly and concisely and to influence colleagues;
• An ability to work at pace, recognising the need to prioritise or to adopt a flexible approach when appropriate;
• Ability to establish and maintain positive working relationships with a range of colleagues at all levels across a number of organisations.

Essential:

The below criteria are essential and will be assessed at application stage;

• Applicants must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales (or will be qualified 3 months from application date) with a current practicing certificate or eligibility to obtain one. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx;
• A sound knowledge of public law principles.