Paralegal - Office for Students

The role will involve providing assistance and support on a wide variety of legal matters in the higher education context, including applying public law, data protection, human rights and consumer protection law. This will include legal research and document preparation in respect of a broad range of regulatory matters, as well as supporting the handling of litigation/appeals. You will be able to demonstrate your ability to proactively manage your workload, whilst adopting a creative and innovative approach to legal issues.

+ experience of many of the relevant legal practice areas, gained either in an academic context or, desirably, through practical experience;
+ ability to analyse and advise on complex legal issues;
+ sensitivity to politics, understanding the needs of, and willing to work collaboratively with external stakeholders;
+ an ability to adopt a creative and innovative approach to legal issues;
+ excellent verbal, written communication and presentation skills; and
+ an ability to influence and negotiate.

The Office for Students (OfS) is the independent regulator of higher education in England. We ensure the best experience and the best value – for students, for taxpayers, for the economy and for the public good. This is an opportunity to develop your legal experience by supporting the legal team in working across our diverse and rapidly evolving organisation on a wide range of regulatory and corporate issues.

£34,695 - £36,470 plus London weighting of £3,566 where applicable
Generous Civil Service defined benefit pension
Plus generous Civil Service defined benefit pension, Alongside your salary of £34,695, Office for Students contributes £10,051 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
+ Learning and development tailored to your role
+ An environment with flexible working options
+ A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
+ A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%, At the OfS, we recognise that flexibility can enable people to work more effectively. A set of organisation-wide principles shape our approach to flexible and hybrid working, which our teams then use as guidance on how they deliver their business goals. This would usually mean working from the office for two or three days in a typical week.
To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working and part time working apply to this role.
In addition, our Total Reward Framework offers a range of benefits to suit your way of life. These include comprehensive learning and development, annual leave starting at 25 days per year (plus public holidays), access to the highly regarded Civil Service pension scheme and a variety of health benefits.
Closing date for applications: 25 September 2024. We encourage early applications, and we may close early depending on the interest we receive.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
+ UK nationals
+ nationals of the Republic of Ireland
+ nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
+ nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
+ individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
+ Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.