Legislative Counsel Grade 7; Principal Legal Officer

Thank you for your interest in the role of Legislative Counsel in the Office of the Legislative Counsel (OLC).The following sections tell you more about OLC, but by way of introduction-the job of drafting legislation in OLC is exciting, challenging and rewarding, and presents a unique opportunity to work at a senior level at the very heart of governmental operations in Northern  delivering the legislative ambitions of the devolved administration in Northern Ireland, OLC works collaboratively with everyone else involved in the development of Bills and constantly strives for excellence in the resulting Acts of the Assembly.

OLC is based in Belfast, a modern and forward-looking city which offers a high quality of life and relatively low living costs together with good public services and wide-ranging social amenities to be enjoyed alongside your work. OLC offers an attractive balance between home and office days.

Whether you are applying to join OLC from within or outside Northern Ireland, I wish you well in the process.

• Draft high quality Bills of all sizes and levels of complexity,
• Undertake, manage and deliver different legislative projects at the same time, and
• contribute to - OLC’s strategic leadership, and TEO and NICS corporate objectives.
• Please see the Candidate Information Booklet for more details.

• Hold:
  
  A university degree, anda professional legal qualification (solicitor or barrister (or equivalent)), ANDHave been admitted to the profession of solicitor or barrister (or equivalent),
• AND
  2.Have at least 3 years’ post-qualification experience of advising (orally and in writing) on significant legal issues; and doing so in a complex legal environment. Please refer to the Candidate Information Booklet for more details.
• In addition, applicants should be aware that after an eligibility sift, should it be necessary to shortlist candidates to go forward to the written test, the following shortlisting criteria will be applied, sequentially (in the following order),..
• so it may not be necessary to apply all of them.
• Ability to interpret and analyse complex legal documents within tight deadlines.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment in resolving complex legal problems.
• A primary degree at 2:1 standard or above.

Location:

Parliament Buildings, Belfast.

NICS application form only, Final date to receive applications Friday 6th February 2026 at 12 noon.

Applications from Protestants, males, young people (people under the age of 35), people with a disability and people from minority ethnic communities are particularly welcomed for this post.

The Northern Ireland Civil Service is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

All applications for employment are considered strictly on the basis of merit.

Visit the recruitment service website  (Please quote reference number: IRC
316575)

Vacancy  Job  Job Sector Public Sector,Legal Area Belfast Location Belfast Salary £61,673 - £64,469 plus retention allowance No. vacancies 3 Contract Type Permanent Weekly hours 37 Published date 19/01/2026 Closing date 06/02/2026 Worktime 09:00 - 17:00 Monday - Friday