Senior Legal Adviser (Safety)

Senior Legal Adviser (Safety)
Grade A
Permanent
London: £75,759 - £83,409
Regional: £71,283 - £79,157 
Location: London/Birmingham/Bristol/Glasgow/Manchester/York

About the Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) role:

Sellick Partnership is delighted to be partnered exclusively with the Office of Rail and Road to recruit a Senior Legal Advisor into their growing legal services team. Office of Rail and Road are an independent, non-ministerial UK government department, established by, and accountable directly to, Parliament.

The successful Senior Legal Adviser will be responsible for advising in the area of railway safety enforcement, including supervising where necessary two Grade C safety lawyers. The role has a focus on criminal prosecution work, but you will also be required to advise on safety policy matters. This role will be responsible for pushing forward change in the way ORR's rail safety directorate (RSD) work with our Legal Services team on preparing prosecutions and will require close liaison with senior management in RSD.

Key responsibilities of the Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) will include:

Your key responsibilities, although not exhaustive, will include:

• Working very closely with senior management in RSD to ensure appropriate cooperation between RSD and Legal Services teams e.g. smooth transition of casework to the lawyers and provision of legal and case management input on RSD processes
• Having a visible leadership role within the RSD/Legal Services interface which will involve troubleshooting and problem-solving in conjunction with inspectors, especially in respect of challenging cases or investigations
• Providing advice in respect of ORR's safety functions including in relation to health and safety policy;
• Providing general legal advice to railway inspectors to enable them to carry out their safety enforcement duties;
• Managing a caseload of prosecution cases relating to health and safety offences on the railways and working with others on larger matters;
• Line managing two Grade C safety lawyers, supervising them where necessary on their caseload and working with them to ensure successful delivery of the Legal Services team's outputs;
• Working collaboratively with other lawyers to provide legal training to inspectors;
• Highlighting to senior colleagues any significant legal risks particularly in your practice area on a timely basis, and develop solutions to manage these;
• Proactively liaising with legal teams/advisers of stakeholders and other government departments/regulators (including HSE) as appropriate;
• Representing ORR externally including at Whitehall Prosecutors Group;
• Leading in managing relationships with external legal counsel as required and where work is outsourced, to ensure the provision of high quality and cost effective legal advice; and
• Assisting the General Counsel, the Deputy Director and other legal colleagues in ensuring that ORR has first class legal advice to support delivery of its corporate strategy and business plan

Experience of the desired Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) should include:

When assessing your application, these are the criteria that you are assessed against:

• Behaviours: Leadership, making effective decisions, communicating and influencing and working together.
• Experience: Civil or Criminal Litigation (including sound knowledge of the Code for Crown Prosecutions), or Health and Safety prosecutions.
• Technical: Excellent legal skills, including strong analytical powers and the ability to master new areas of law quickly.
• Mandatory qualifications: You will be a Solicitor or Barrister qualified to practise in England and Wales.

Benefits available with the Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) role will include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Civil Service Pension Scheme
• Flexible/hybrid working pattern
• Family-friendly policies
• Generous remuneration package
• Interest-free season ticket loan
• Career development opportunities
• x5 days paid volunteering days

How to apply for the Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) role:

If you are interested in applying for the Senior Legal Adviser (Safety) role, please apply by submitting your CV together with a covering letter (maximum 10,000 characters or no more than 2 pages of A4) demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria (behaviours and experience) set out in the Job Description. Alternatively, if you would like to discuss the role in more detail or would like to find out more about working at the Office of Rail and Road, you can contact Mark Bladen in the Sellick Partnership London office for more information.

Closing date: 23:55pm on Sunday 11 May 2025.

Sellick Partnership is proud to be an inclusive and accessible recruitment business and we support applications from candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances. Please note, our advertisements use years' experience, hourly rates, and salary levels purely as a guide and we assess applications based on the experience and skills evidenced on the CV. For information on how your personal details may be used by Sellick Partnership, please review our data processing notice on our website.