HMRC Director of Litigation

HMRC is one of the UK’s biggest organisations and our main purpose is to collect over £600 billion a year in revenue from our 50 million personal and business taxpayers to pay for public services.

We support UK trade by clearing customs declarations round the clock, and we help families with targeted financial support.

The Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services (SOLS) is HMRC’s Legal Group and at the forefront of work in Government on EU Exit, working in partnership with the Treasury and the wider Government Legal Profession. It is headed by Alan Evans, the General Counsel and Solicitor, who has overall accountability for all legal services to HMRC, whether these are provided internally or commissioned from the private sector.

We have 1,250 staff who conduct legal work for every part of HMRC, and our work impacts on all HMRC’s customers. We also have oversight of HMRC’s advisory accountants and handle ministerial correspondence and Freedom of Information requests for HMRC.

We are currently recruiting for a Director of Litigation to be based in London or Manchester and work within the Solicitors Office and Legal Services directorate, HMRC.

About the Role

You will report directly to the General Counsel and Solicitor, who has oversight of all legal activity within HMRC, you will provide leadership and strategic direction to the Litigation Directorate.

In addition, you will have overall responsibility for ensuring provision of litigation services to all parts of HMRC through direct management of six deputy directors and wider command of over 100 staff.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Providing visible and effective leadership of the directorate and, in particular, leading change to develop a confident, outward facing team.  
• Providing litigation services (including case advice on merits and strategy) to teams across HMRC with responsibility for resolving disputes with taxpayers or those challenging HMRC. 
• Personal leadership and oversight on the most strategic and important cases and assurance to senior stakeholders.
• Providing strategic direction to SOLS, as a member of the Senior Leadership Team, and working collaboratively to deliver excellent legal services and change in partnership with colleagues across HMRC, the wider Government Legal Profession and Civil Service.
• Providing litigation services to the Treasury as part of the ‘policy partnership’ between HMRC and the Treasury.
• In partnership with HMRC teams, the planning and prioritisation of litigation activity and the allocation of resources according to risk, cost and value.
• Overseeing the use of external counsel and legal service providers to ensure quality and value for money.

Person Specification

As the successful candidate, we ask that you are a strong lawyer and passionate, legal leader who will be able to evidence against the following essential criteria:

• Excellent legal professional skills with significant knowledge and experience in delivering legal services and, in particular, the ability to think creatively and give authoritative riskbased legal direction that facilitates practical solutions.
• Strong people leadership skills: you will be a role model who:
• Promotes an open, diverse, inclusive and engaged working environment;
• Champions talent management, develops capability and professionalism, and encourages a strong learning and development culture.
• The capability to lead a large and complex legal function: managing legal risk; improving service delivery and value for money; engaging external lawyers and counsel effectively; and commanding the confidence of senior partners.
• The ability to work collaboratively with senior peers in leading a large organisation: making a strong contribution to corporate leadership; initiating change; and driving an organisational culture of professional excellence and continuous improvement.
• An understanding and some experience of litigation and the work of Government is highly desirable, as is some tax background.

(NB You must be qualified to practice as a solicitor or barrister in England and Wales.)

This is a stimulating yet challenging role and we would like you to be a strong, driven leader who is passionate about your field.

If you would like to discuss the role in more detail, or require assistance with the recruitment/application process, please do not hesitate to contact our Head of Specialist Resourcing within HMRC, Byron Beard at Byron.Beard@hmrc.gov.uk. You may also visit Civil Service jobs at https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk