Paralegal

Paralegal
** Salary: £37,614 - £38,577*
* ** plus London weighting £3,566 (where appropriate)
***
* Location:

Bristol or London
**** Generous Civil Service defined benefit pension
** We are the independent regulator of higher education in England. We aim to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers.

We’re proud of our people, our culture and the benefits we offer. We care about supporting and developing our staff. At the OfS we want to create a welcoming and engaging working environment which is free from discrimination.  We’re looking for skilled, committed people who care about students and their experience of higher education. Join us and you’ll be part of an energetic, forward-looking organisation with high ambitions and big opportunities for our people.
** About the role
** We are looking for a Paralegal to support our established legal team. The role will involve providing assistance and support on a wide variety of legal matters in the higher education context, including applying public, human rights, consumer protection and data protection law. The role will involve a significant amount of legal research, as well as assisting lawyers to advise on a broad range of regulatory matters, and supporting the handling of litigation/appeals.

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the ability to proactively manage a varied workload, whilst adopting a creative and innovative approach to legal issues.

Key responsibilities may include

Providing support to the legal team, in particular through legal research and analysis relating to:
* Legislation applying to the higher education sector, including the Higher Education and Research Act 2017;
* Data protection and information law, including legislation implementing the GDPR and the Freedom of Information Act 2000;
* Legal topics relevant to decision-making and supporting processes, such as public law principles, statutory duties and considerations, the delegation of functions and equalities legislation;
* Human rights law;
* Litigation activities, such as judicial review proceedings, statutory appeals and regulatory investigations;
* Consumer protection law;
* The use of the OfS’s enforcement and information gathering powers; and
* The regulatory framework and registration conditions that apply to higher education providers.

Supporting lawyers in formulating legal advice for the organisation, including through contributing own thoughts and analysis;

Supporting the legal team in operating the legal function within the OfS, which may include, for instance, producing internal guidance notes on key legal and regulatory issues and working with legal administrators to support the legal team; and Engaging with internal and external stakeholders, including by developing and maintaining productive relationships with internal stakeholders, e.g. policy colleagues.
** About you
** Essential experience required for the role:
* Excellent legal research skills;
* Experience of at least two of the following legal practice areas, gained through paid practical experience:  + Public law;  + Consumer protection law;  + Human rights law;  + The interpretation of regulatory rules such as licence conditions or equivalent;  + The interpretation and application of sector specific legislation which relates to a public or regulatory body; and  + Investigation and enforcement in a regulatory context;
* Ability to analyse case law and identify complex legal issues;
* Experience in drafting legal memos;
* Understanding of the needs of an in-house legal team and ability to proactively find solutions to support the team; and
* Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills

Professional qualifications:
** Essential:
** Legal degree (or equivalent conversion course)
** Desirable:
** Completed relevant postgraduate legal training (for example, the Legal Practice Course, Solicitors Qualifying Examinations 1 and 2, or vocational component of Bar training such as the Bar Practice Course)
For the purposes of recruitment to this role, we are measuring against the following core competencies:…