Job Description
We are looking for a solicitor to join our growing Legal team, reporting to our Head of Legal. This is an existing role within a team of three solicitors. If you have commercial contracts experience, enjoy exploring a broad range of interesting legal issues, have a good eye for detail, and a commitment to public service, we’d love to hear from you.
Key Responsibilities of this role
The primary duty of the Solicitor is to provide legal advice to the organisation on a broad range of legal issues. Specific duties will include:
- Providing legal advice and support to all departments within the organisation in the performance of their functions and service delivery, to assist with the promotion, delivery and integration of the organisation’s key objectives. This may involve advice in areas of law as diverse as general commercial contracts, intellectual property, disputes, data protection, public law, procurement, personal injury, and/or health & safety.
- Drafting and negotiating of a wide range of commercial contracts, including sensitive and high-value contracts and contracts with a focus on intellectual property issues.
- Co-ordinating the instruction of, and working with, the organisation’s external legal advisors for specialist advice.
- Participating in the promotion of the legal function and the legal process within the organisation, and the implementation of appropriate processes, controls and business improvements.
- Supporting colleagues across the organisation in planning and budgeting for future legal input
- Supporting the Head of Legal in delivering an efficient and effective legal function for the organisation.
- Assisting the Head of Legal in the continuous improvement initiatives of the Legal team; drafting key legal policies and procedures for the organisation; training staff across the organisation in key legal matters and/or providing key legal updates.
- Assisting the Head of Legal and other members of the team to enable the Legal team to deliver services efficiently and successfully.
Key requirements of the role:
In order for you to be successful in this post, we will be looking for you to submit a cover letter which addresses how you can meet each of the essential and desirable criteria (in up to 1,200 words), using examples of where you have demonstrated these criteria previously. Please ensure that you provide real life examples for each of the criteria to be considered for this post. You can use examples of how you have met this criteria from your work life, home life, education or volunteer experience. Please read our CV and Cover Letter Guidance first before completing.
Essential:
- Demonstrable post-qualification experience, either in an in-house role or in private practice
- We recognise that no one candidate will have experience in all of these areas and are willing to consider candidates who have experience in one or more of the following areas:
- intellectual property law matters, particularly copyright and trade marks;
- dispute resolution;
- public law, including procurement law;
- data protection and freedom of information law; and
- personal injury law, and/or health & safety.
- Excellent commercial contract drafting and negotiation skills, and ability to advise colleagues on complex legal issues using accessible language
- Willingness to become involved in matters spanning a wide range of legal specialisms
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, and attention to detail
- Demonstrable commercial acumen
- Strong ability to build and maintain positive working relationships
- Networking and communication skills, ability to communicate appropriately and clearly
- Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise workload in line with tight deadlines and work effectively under pressure
- Strong organisational skills and ability to prioritise workload in line with tight deadlines and work effectively under pressure
- Proficiency in the use of all typical office IT systems including Outlook, Word, Teams and document management systems such as SharePoint
Qualifications & Professional Memberships (essential):
- Qualification as a solicitor with current full and unrestricted practising certificate from the Law Society of Scotland
- Membership of the Law Society of Scotland
- LLB (or equivalent)
- Diploma in Legal Practice (or equivalent)
Benefits of joining us at Historic Environment Scotland
- Enrolment onto a Civil Service Pension scheme – 28% employer contribution
- 25 days annual leave, pro-rata (increasing to 30 days after 3 years) + 11.5 public holidays
- Reimbursement for relevant professional subscriptions
- Support for further education and personal development
- Study leave for work related courses
- Flexible working hours (where appropriate)
- Free entry to all of our properties (with up to three guests)
- Free entry to English Heritage, Manx and Cadw properties
To apply, please click Apply
Closing date: 4 June 2025.
Interviews: To be held in person at Longmore House on Thursday 19 June 2025
