Senior Planning Knowledge Development Lawyer (KDL)

Job summary

About the Government Legal Department

At Government Legal Department we have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law. This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, working on high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non-ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 4000 people, including nearly 3000 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross-functional professionals to provide our corporate services. There are nearly 1000 colleagues playing an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edge legal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service .

To find out more about what we do you can view our introductory film . On our website you can hear from team members, find out how to apply and learn about the benefits of working for GLD. You can also read more about the future vision for GLD in our GLD Strategy 2024 – 2027 .

Job description

About Legal Operations, Legal Knowledge & Learning Division

The Legal Operations directorate is dedicated to enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of GLD's legal services. The directorate includes Legal Knowledge and Learning (LKL), Legal Delivery, the AI Programme and the Bona Vacantia divisions. The directorate focuses on enabling an effective, efficient and engaged GLD.

LKL equips government lawyers with the relevant knowledge, skills and tools to provide outstanding legal advice to ministers and officials.

As a multi-disciplinary team, we provide a portfolio of services spanning legal learning, knowledge development, online information services and knowledge systems.

Sitting at the heart of the Government Legal Profession, we develop lawyers’ knowledge and capability, connect lawyers, support legal communities and facilitate sharing of knowledge and collaboration across government.

By caring about our lawyers as lawyers, we support their professional development at every stage of their careers through an extensive programme of learning opportunities.

Through our commitment to excellence and innovation across all our activities, we help GLD achieve its vision of being "an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism".

The LKL Division is responsible for:

• knowledge development
• knowledge systems
• legal information
• legal knowledge & communities
• legal learning

The Role

We are seeking a talented and highly motivated planning lawyer to take up the newly created role of Planning Law Senior Knowledge Development Lawyer (KDL) role. This is a unique opportunity for a planning lawyer to equip GLD lawyers with the planning knowledge and legal training to advance the government’s planning priorities. This is a pivotal and impactful role that will offer the role holder the opportunity to develop skills in a high-profile role working with senior leaders across GLD. It is a “lawyer plus” role, combining deep legal expertise with broader engagement and requires some project leadership.

The role is intellectually challenging with a high level of autonomy. It will suit a self-starter who can work with a high degree of leadership and who wants to enhance their skills in stakeholder and customer engagement; communication and facilitation; project planning and delivery; and legal skills improvement.

You will work closely with the Head of Legal Knowledge and Learning (LKL) and the GLD Planning Working Group. You will also work with other KDLs and colleagues across GLD, the broader GLP and with panel firms supporting planning law activities.

You will be a key member of the LKL Division, bringing important legal expertise to projects and work across the LKL strategy.

In this knowledge development role, the successful candidate has the unique opportunity to shape their work approach and see the immediate impact of it.

Initial activities on coming into post will focus on relationship building, taking stock of existing knowledge resources and needs, and objective setting.

Your responsibilities will focus on building and increasing awareness of planning law knowledge ensuring all our lawyers are up to date with developments in planning law, horizon scanning, bringing in best practice to support the government’s planning aims and to “professionalise” planning law know-how at GLD, and include the following:

• Collaborating with the GLD Planning Working Group and LKL Division colleagues to create, develop and keep under review objectives and action plans
• Monitoring, evaluating and promoting/explaining relevant planning law developments
• Creating, curating and promoting planning law know-how for GLD/GLP lawyers across a variety of knowledge and learning platforms
• Enhancing our efforts to develop client planning law awareness and capability building on our current gld digital and legal awareness offer
• Collaborating across GLD to ensure individual legal team needs in relation to planning law capability are met effectively and efficiently
• Monitoring and reporting on the impact of these activities
• Pro-actively collaborating and sharing skills with lawyers working on centres of excellence, other KDLs and LKL colleagues and promoting the role of KDLs across GLD

Person specification

Behaviours

Below are details of the Success Profiles that make up this role. Demonstrating all the behaviours listed below is essential at either application or interview. You can read more about Success Profiles and how they are used as an assessment method before completing your application .

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership (Lead Behaviour)
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together

Key Skills & Experience

Essential - must be demonstrated at application and/or interview

• Applicants will need practical experience of advising on planning law issues;
• Applicants will need practical experience of creating and managing know-how in relation to planning law

Technical & Legal Professional Skills

Essential - must be demonstrated at application and/or interview

• Have a sound understanding of planning law
• Have reliable legal judgement and appreciation of legal risk
• Demonstrate the ability to think strategically, creatively, to see legal issues in their wider context, and to advise accordingly
• Show sound analysis, using secure legal research to produce timely and fit for purpose legal knowledge resources

Essential -Qualifications – Minimum Eligibility Criteria

• Must be qualified to practice as a Solicitor or Barrister

Motivational Fit

• Motivation for a career in the Civil Service and GLD in particular.
• An understanding of the role of lawyers in Government.
• A keen interest in Knowledge Management in a professional legal organisation.

Security Clearance Level

All GLD employees must hold BPSS. In addition to this, those based in our London offices must hold or be willing to obtain CTC level clearance for this role. If London based, you can start your position pending this clearance level, however your appointment will be conditional upon obtaining CTC clearance. More information can be found about the vetting and clearance levels before completing your application.

Sponsorship and Visas

There is the possibility that GLD can provide sponsorship for skilled workers, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria set down under current immigration legislation. GLD does not guarantee sponsorship will be provided or that an applicant will be successful in gaining a skilled worker visa.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure that they meet the criteria for sponsorship. They also have the responsibility to notify the Resourcing Team that they require Sponsorship at the start of the onboarding process into GLD. This applies to existing civil servants as well as external candidates.

Qualifications

Academic and Professional

Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:1 honours degree in their first degree (in any subject). Where an applicant holds an overseas degree qualification this should be equivalent to a 2.1 degree. GLD will consider applicants who do not have a 2.1 degree but only where satisfactory evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement can be provided (e.g. via relevant experience and results achieved for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)).

Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales however, we also accept applications from overseas qualified candidates. You must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx.

Please note that candidates cannot apply more than 3 months before their qualification date.

Professional entry criteria for Chartered Legal Executives (i.e. Fellows): Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed

(i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6*, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law:

• 1. Contract Law
• 2. Criminal Law
• 3. Equity and Trusts Law
• 4. European Union Law
• 5. Land Law
• 6. Public Law
• 7. Law of Tort

*Note: There are specific requirements relating to academic achievement in the CILEx Level 6 exams where these are being used to demonstrate 2.1 degree equivalence as set out below.

Chartered Legal Executives should note that GLD will be willing to accept an, overall, average score of 65% or above across exams passed in the seven foundation subjects in law (where studied at CILEx Level 6) as demonstrating 2.1 degree equivalence (where a 2.1 degree is not held).

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Technical & Legal Professional Skills

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £74,960, Government Legal Department contributes

£21,715 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.

Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

• Learning and Development
• Benefits of working for the Civil Service
• Whatever your role, we take your career and development seriously, and want to enable you to build a really success