Assistant Director of Legal Services

The Metropolitan Police Service is proud of the role it plays in policing London, a diverse and vibrant capital city with a growing population. The Met is an intelligence-led organisation, anchored in the communities it serves but with national and international reach.

We are offering a unique opportunity for an Assistant Director to join our respected in-house legal service.

Summary

An Assistant Director of Legal Services provides high quality legal advice and representation to the Met, particularly advising senior officers and staff.

The successful candidate will be an active member of the senior leadership team of the Directorate of Legal Services (DLS) as well as the wider senior leadership of the Met.  A critical part of the role is to manage risk and lead work on strategic issues affecting delivery of Met priorities. By fostering and developing relationships with leaders within DLS, clients, and other partners the individual will work to improve the efficiency and productivity of DLS through careful strategic planning; enhancing the performance and operation of the business.  As a member of the senior leadership team, leading a group of staff, the work will reach across all areas of the business with a need for strong interpersonal and communication skills.

Key responsibilities:

• Advising the Commissioner and the wider Met on all legal matters which can include the exercise of powers, litigation, counter terrorism, public law, public order policing, human rights, police officer misconduct, safeguarding and public protection, commercial law, data and information law, employment law, and governance.  The role involves the management of strategic legal risks relevant to the Met’s work;
• Advising on and overseeing the Met’s legal response to public inquiries;
• Leading and managing a group of legal personnel comprising lawyers and paralegals;
• Working with clients ,operational colleagues,  stakeholders and partners including national policing, the wider law enforcement community, and UK intelligence communities;
• Managing external legal contracts and the use of counsel;
• Advising the Met on legal developments affecting the organisation;
• An active member of the DLS Senior Leadership Team and also the Met’s wider senior leadership.

Person Specification

The successful candidate must evidence the following essential criteria:

Essential Qualifications, Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Qualified to practise as a lawyer in England & Wales;
• Ability to advise on, and deal calmly and decisively with complex and sensitive legal issues. Significant experience of identifying legal risks and their management;
• Proven strategic leadership skills with the ability to build, inspire and motivate teams;
• Excellent communication and presentation skills both written and verbal; a persuasive, confident and credible communicator, commanding the confidence of senior colleagues and a wide range of partners;
• Works collaboratively with senior peers, partners and stakeholders, building  relationships to find creative solutions;
• Excellent organisational skills: set goals, plan, lead and manage projects, control budgets;
• Excellent interpersonal skills in order to communicate with a range of stakeholders with an ability to build relationships, influence, manage conflicts;
• Problem solving and technical skills required to understand and propose solutions for lawyer and client requirements.

Desirable Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Experience across a wide range of complex cases involving public law and/or policing, ideally within an organisation of similar complexity;
• Experience in areas of law such as European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), civil law, criminal law, employment and discrimination law, and information law

Salary & Benefits

You will receive an attractive six figure salary, substantial annual leave, Civil Service Pension arrangements, interest free season ticket loans, membership of Met sports and social clubs, flexible working conditions and much more.

If you are ready to take on the challenge of this role then apply by submitting your CV and a supporting statement (no longer than two sides of A4) to alpa.patel@met.police.uk by 4.00pm on 18th April 2021. You should set out how you meet the criteria and why you consider you are the right person to be appointed to perform this role.

We anticipate interviews for this position will take place in early May 2021.

Applicants will be asked to complete a Diversity Monitoring Questionnaire and Reference form on submission of their application.

We view diversity as fundamental to our success. To tackle today’s complex policing challenges, we need a workforce made up from all of London’s communities. Applications from across the community are therefore essential and encouraged.

As a Disability Confident Committed Employer the Met have committed to ensuring that disabled people and those with long term health conditions have the opportunities to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.

Should you require any further information please contact alpa.patel@met.police.uk