Job Title:                      Fitness to Practise Paralegal

Department:                 Fitness to Practise

Salary:                          £32,000 to £36,000 per annum

Hours:                           Full Time (35 hours per week)

Contract Type:             Permanent

Location:                     Hybrid working with a minimum of one day a week in our office in London.

Job description

We are looking for highly skilled individuals to join our in-house legal team as Paralegals on permanent contracts. We would love to hear from anyone who is looking for an opportunity to build key skills necessary for a successful legal career. We recognise that paralegal roles can be of interest to a wide range of professionals with different career plans and goals. For example, this opportunity could be for you if you’re looking for a role that contributes to qualifying experience for CILEX or SQE.

Purpose and main duties

This is an exciting time to join the new and growing fitness to practise legal team as we are changing the way we deliver FtP so that we are ready for regulatory reform. This includes developing a more frontloaded approach to our investigations by obtaining final witness statements, expert opinions and reports before the case is considered by our Investigating Committee. We use External Legal Providers (ELPs) to prepare and present some FtP cases before our investigation and practice committees on the HCPC’s behalf. We are recruiting a small team of paralegals to work in our Case Preparation and Review Team with our Case Preparation Lawyers. This team oversees cases which are held by our ELPs. In this role you will help to ensure that the ELPs conduct timely, quality, proportionate and fair investigations.

Some primary duties and responsibilities include:

• Working alongside and providing a variety of instructions to our ELPs on case issues either at investigation stage (before an Investigating Committee decision) or at case preparation stage (when cases have been referred to the Conduct and Competence or Health Committee).
• Ensuring that cases progress in a fair and proportionate way.
• Ensuring compliance with the HCPC’s policies, procedures and best practice.
• Conducting investigations into allegations of fraudulent entry on our register.
• Co-ordinating interim order applications and reviews.
• Working with ELPs, our in-house Case Progression Lawyers and our Tribunal Service to ensure the cases are scheduled for hearing and that any issues that arise are resolved so hearings can run smoothly.
• Ensuring that you adopt a compassionate approach to the regulation of our professions by adapting your communication method and frequency and using a compassionate tone when communicating with parties to a case.

Candidate Requirements

The ideal candidate will have experience of effectively managing a high volume of varying tasks and responsibilities, working within and applying a framework of defined polices and guidance, and experience of making evidence-based decisions. You will have a high level of written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build and maintain positive working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. In addition, the ideal candidate will have excellent organisational and customer service skills with an ability to be empathetic and respectful towards people’s needs. Strong analytical, critical thinking and problem-solving skills will also be essential for this role.

Further information on this role is detailed in the job description and person specification. As part of the application process, along with a copy of your most updated CV please submit a supporting statement explaining the reasons you should be considered for this role; and what demonstrable experience you will bring based on the person specification.

If you’d like to speak about the role please contact recruitment@hcpc-uk.org. They’ll be able to put you in touch with our Senior FtP Lawyer who is happy to speak with potential candidates and answer any questions.

Closing Date: Friday 16 August 2024 (All vacancies will close at 1pm)

Interview Date: w/c 2 September 2024

** Note: The application window may close earlier if we receive a high volume of applications, so we encourage candidates to apply at the earliest possible opportunity. **