Operational Lawyers (commercial) Ref. 2553

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Specialist Roles
London
Permanent
Full Time
£66,493 - £85,657
No
About Us

We are MI6, also known as SIS. We work with the UK’s foreign partners to support global stability by combating international terrorism and the spread of weapons. We work secretly around the world gathering intelligence to promote and protect the UK’s interests and help stay ahead of our adversaries.

Our dedicated team of Legal Advisers are central to the work of MI6, playing a vital role in enabling our operational work whilst ensuring we operate within the law.  The work involves advising on complex issues of domestic and international law.  This is an exciting opportunity to apply your legal experience and continue to develop your skills in an environment where you will have direct impact on our mission.


The Role                

We are currently looking to fill a number of posts, at different levels, within our legal team.  The work itself is as varied as the operations MI6 runs, and you will gain unique insights into the heart of what we do.  You will work closely with operational teams building effective relationships and also liaising with colleagues in other government departments, such as the FCDO, Home Office, MI5 and GCHQ.


Operational Lawyers (commercial)

You will provide advice and expert guidance across a broad spectrum of commercial and corporate legal matters.  Your work portfolio will include a diverse range of commercial agreements for goods, works and services (including software and technology licensing), and you will be required to advise on general corporate and commercial matters which could include intellectual property rights, company law, corporate transactions, technology investment projects and data protection issues.  Experience of working in-house or advising the public sector would be beneficial, but not mandatory.  The nature of our business means that your work will have a strong international dimension.  You will also play a key role in training – all MI6 lawyers contribute and support the training of our operational teams.  The level of salary offered, within the band advertised, will depend on the skills, experience, expertise and knowledge of the successful applicant.


About You

You particularly value integrity, respect, teamwork, professionalism and a creative, courageous and enthusiastic approach.  You will have experience of effective delivery in areas of law relevant to the advertised role.  A confident communicator, you will be able to articulate often complex legal terminology in a clear and consistent way to people without a legal background.  You will demonstrate sound legal judgement.  Your strong client care skills and the ability to build effective working relationships will enable you to gain a deep understanding of how best to meet our needs, whilst taking into account the broader context and objectives of MI6’s work.  This is a role where you will also represent MI6 legal advisers within and outside MI6 with senior stakeholders.  As such, you will have a growth-mindset and desire to learn to ensure you stay up to date of legal developments and can actively contribute to building legal awareness and skills amongst our team.


Training and Development

MI6 is a learning organisation; we value skills and we invest in our staff.  As part of the legal team you will receive bespoke training and we encourage continuous learning through a range of informal and formal development activities.  There is a great deal of variety in the different legal roles in MI6, and there is the opportunity to move between teams during a legal career at MI6.  In addition to giving you the opportunity to move into a range of interesting legal roles within MI6, joining our legal team can be an excellent springboard for a career within Government more generally as a national security lawyer.   


Rewards and Benefits

You’ll receive a starting salary of between £66,493 - £85,657 plus other benefits including:

-    25 Days Annual Leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays.
-    Opportunities to work flexibly, subject to business needs
-    Interest-free season ticket loan
-    Excellent pension scheme
-    Cycle to work scheme
-    Facilities such as a subsidised gym and restaurant, and on-site coffee bars
-    Paid parental and adoption leave


Culture and Working Environment

As part of our team, you’ll discover an inclusive workplace that’s welcoming, supportive and encouraging. You’ll be part of an organisation where people want to support one another and make a difference. Aside from fostering an open culture, we’ve got a range of growing affinity groups. For example:  
 
•    Ethnic Minority and gender equality networks
•    Groups supporting wellbeing, mental health, neurodiversity and disability
•    Faith/No Faith communities for staff to come together
•    LGBTQ+ support networks

You’ll also find a variety of sports, activity, interest and social groups to help you settle in and connect with people with similar interests.


Before You Apply

To work at MI6, you need to be a British citizen. We do have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage.

Honesty and integrity are really important if you want to work at MI6. Take some time to read about the vetting process and make sure you meet the criteria in the vetting pages of the ‘How to Apply’ section. The process can take some time, but this is just because it’s thorough. Giving misleading information and omitting or concealing information during the recruitment and vetting process is viewed very seriously.

The role is based in MI6, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application.

Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application.


Equal Opportunities

At MI6 diversity and inclusion are critical to our mission. To protect the UK, we need a truly diverse workforce that reflects the society we serve. This includes diversity in every sense of the word: those with different backgrounds, ethnicities, gender identities, sexual orientations, ways of thinking and those with disabilities or neurodivergent conditions. We therefore welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including those from groups that are under-represented in our workforce.


We’re Disability Confident

MI6 are proud to have achieved Leader status within the DWP’s Disability Confident scheme.  This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people.  Being Disability Confident, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this position will be offered an interview where practicable; this is known as ‘Offer of an Interview’. To secure an interview for this vacancy, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are:

•    By meeting the eligibility criteria detailed below.
•    By passing the hiring managers application sift.


Eligibility Criteria

Professional Qualifications: You must be qualified to practice as a solicitor or barrister/advocate in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

To be eligible to apply, you must be a British Citizen. One of your parents must be a British Citizen or must have the nationality or citizenship from our approved list of countries. If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. (for more info link to website / JD). Candidates must normally have been resident in the UK for seven out of the last ten years. This is particularly important if you were born outside the UK. You can apply at the age of 17 years and 6 months, if successful you will not be offered a start date prior to your 18th birthday. Discretion is vital. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member. Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside of the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. Further information on our eligibility criteria can be found on the Applying section.


What to Expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

•    Complete an online application form
•    Your application will then be sifted against the role skills and qualifications
•    If successful, you will be invited to a technical interview (telephone or in person tbc)
•    If successful at the technical interview, you will be invited to one-day assessment centre (online or in person tbc) which includes:
o    Documents check
o    Competency-based interview
o    Role play exercise
o    Occupational psychologist interview
o    Drugs test
•    If you are successful at the assessment centre, you will receive a conditional job offer, subject to completion of our vetting process.
•    On completion of vetting, you will receive your final job offer and be invited to sign a contract of employment. You will also receive your induction and start dates.

Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process in order to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer.


Our Vetting

To work in this role you will need the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community has to go through and it can take some time. As part of the DV process you will be asked to fill in a detailed questionnaire and attend an interview with a vetting officer. In your interview the vetting officer will have a thorough, compassionate and honest discussion with you about you as a person and your life experiences, to ensure holding a DV clearance is right for you. You don’t need to do any preparation for your vetting interview, just be honest and be yourself. All applicants for DV are treated impartially and consistently, irrespective of gender, race, disability, religion, age, sexual orientation and other protected characteristics.


Right to Withdraw Statement:

Please be aware that we withhold the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment.

This Program / Vacancy is closed to applications.