Job title: Senior Legal Adviser
Location(s): London
Grade: SCS1 (in Civil Service terms)
Salary: £108,726. Existing Civil Servants will transfer on their parent departments Ts and Cs. 
Working pattern: Full Time or Part Time (minimum 3 days a week)
Secondment/FTC length: 2+1 

MI5 safeguards the UK against threats such as terrorism, espionage, cyber and sabotage. We investigate suspect individuals and organisations in the UK to obtain, collate, analyse and assess secret intelligence relating to these threats. As a Senior Legal Adviser in MI5, you will be responsible for delivering the legal advice and support which enables MI5’s mission to keep the country safe. You will be responsible for managing two teams of lawyers: one working across civil litigation, inquests and inquiries, and a second team delivering employment law advice.  

The work itself is highly varied, and our legal teams enable the vital work of MI5 from handling internal matters through to high profile cases in the public domain.

Reporting into the Legal Director and to heads of the organisation, you will be required to represent MI5’s interests at a senior level both with internal colleagues and externally. You will also work closely with the UK’s Intelligence Community and Whitehall colleagues, including Ministers, as required, and will be responsible for driving a culture of cross agency collaboration.

You will be an experienced solicitor or barrister, confident and experienced in leading and managing teams.  

You will be comfortable operating and advising across multiple areas of law including: civil litigation(essential), employment, crime, public law, and national security law.

You’ll be excited by the prospect of shaping case law and advising on some of the UK’s more unusual and sensitive cases.

You will be an experienced leader with excellent communications skills, an inclusive style and the ability to build relationships and work collaboratively with the wider functions internally, the UK Intelligence Community and Whitehall.

To find out more please visit our website. Or, for a confidential discussion about the role please email confidential@recruitmentoffice.org.uk

At MI5 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, ages, 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 such as women, those from an ethnic minority background, people with disabilities and those from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Find out more about our culture, working environment and diversity on our website:
https://www.MI5.gov.uk/careers/
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 (further information on our eligibility criteria can be found: https://www.mi5.gov.uk/careers/applying-for-jobs). If you hold dual nationality, of which one component is British, you will nonetheless be considered. 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, if successful you will not be offered a start date prior to your 18th birthday.