PS/600/C - SM2 - Head of Legal Services - Senior Employment Lawyer - Legal Services Unit

Salary: £73,578 - £90,933

Department / Area: Legal Services Unit

Recruiting Force: Cambridgeshire Constabulary

Location: Headquarters, Huntingdon, Cambs

Section / Unit: Legal Services Unit

Grade / Rank: Scale SM2

Permanent, Full Time

Head of Legal Services – Cambridgeshire Constabulary

UK policing has never been so complex or challenging but never has there been a better or more exciting time to join us.

We’re creating a new force legal services department and we’re recruiting for an outstanding individual to lead it as Head of Legal Services.

We’re looking for a qualified barrister or experienced solicitor who can spearhead our commitment to providing the best possible service to the communities we serve.

In particular, you will have in-depth experience of employment tribunals and employment law and you could be called upon to deal with a wide range of issues including unfair and wrongful dismissal, redundancy, TUPE, discrimination, equal pay, and working time regulations.

You will take the helm of a new inhouse legal team, which will provide an efficient and effective legal service for the force, and one of your first tasks will be to employ a force solicitor and additional staff. You will advise senior officers and staff, including the Chief Constable, on HR issues, from staff misconduct and grievances to injury awards and ill-health retirement, but always with one eye on the force’s mission, vision and values.

We’re looking for someone with public sector or police experience, an excellent communicator with the ability to negotiate effectively on behalf of the force and represent the Chief Constable and other staff in employment tribunal proceedings.

You will have an in-depth knowledge of the force’s operational and organisational priorities but also of ‘how’ we do things, our values, both as individuals and as an organisation. We are committed to learning and improving and you would ensure steps were taken to identify and progress lessons learned.

Can you help us face and surmount the legal challenges of the ever-changing and exciting landscape of 21st Century policing?

Please feel free to contact Deputy Chief Constable Jane Gyford, if you have a query about the role.

All internal applicants must have successfully completed their probationary period in order to apply for this role.

Internal applicants within Cambridgeshire Constabulary, should upload either a CV or a completed ‘Staff internal role summary’ form, which can be found in the vacancy documents below. Please note you will be required to provide a statement no more than 500 words against the minimum entry requirements as stipulated in the role profile.

External applicants should ensure that your current CV is uploaded and provide a statement no more than 500 words against the minimum entry requirements as stipulated in the role profile. To ensure the recruitment process is fair and equal, please do not include personal details on your CV other than your name.

This vacancy is live to those at risk of redundancy and will remain open to redeployees until the conditional offer stage throughout the recruitment process. Any redeployee that wishes to apply should apply through the redeployment portal and provide a statement no more than 500 words against the minimum entry requirements as stipulated in the role profile. Redeployees will take priority over other applicants at any point during the recruitment process up until a start date is agreed. Redeployee’s should notify the BCH Careers team and their HR Advisor of their application. All applicants will be notified if this occurs.

This force is a Disability Confident employer. Should you require any reasonable adjustments for your application process, please get in touch with the Recruitment Team via the relevant force inbox, or directly with the manager contact for this role. We also offer the guaranteed interview scheme; this means that all candidates with a disability covered by the Equality Act 2010, who meet the minimum entry requirements for the role, will be invited to attend an interview.

All applications must be submitted through our online recruitment website.

Closing Date: 9 May 2021