About us

We are the Equality and Human Rights Commission. We are Great Britain’s national equality body and a United Nations accredited National Human Rights Institution. We were established by the Equality Act 2006 and our role is to protect and promote equality and human rights across England, Scotland and Wales. As a statutory non-departmental public body, we are funded by HM Treasury via the Cabinet Office, but we operate independently of governments.

We pride ourselves on being a flexible and inclusive employer. We celebrate difference, embrace diversity and support all our people to thrive at work. If this sounds interesting - apply to join us!

Our Vacancy

This is an exciting time to join the Scotland Legal Team, as we support the Commission in delivering our strategic goals and priority aims.

Our litigation and regulatory enforcement work in Scotland will be central to delivering the Commission’s ambitions going forward. This will include a wide variety of work, including equality and human rights litigation, progressing enforcement action, contributing your expertise to provide authoritative internal legal advice to other teams and external stakeholder engagement both on equality and human rights law and underlying Scots law, for example on education or social care.

There is a great deal to do, and managing the balance of our resources against our priorities and organisational ambitions is not easy, but if you are looking for a significant but rewarding challenge, enjoy working with a flexible and supportive team of like-minded experts and professionals, and you seek a role where you will be able to make a clear and substantial contribution, to the work of the Commission and the environment that we regulate, then this may be the role for you.

Key Responsibilities

We are recruiting for a Senior Associate: legally qualified to join the Scotland team . Reporting to a Principal in Scotland Legal, you will

• undertake litigation, regulatory enforcement and legal policy work

• provide legal expertise on the Commission's equality and human rights remit in Scotland and across GB, and       

• Supporting stakeholder engagement work.

What we are looking for

We are recruiting for a Senior Associate – legally qualified to join the Scotland legal team. You must have a current practising certificate from the Law Society of Scotland , post-qualifying experience, and will require knowledge and skills including:

· Good working knowledge of the Scottish legal system

·  Experience of conducting litigation or regulatory compliance and enforcement work

· Ability to analytically examine technical information, investigate evidence and assess compliance with the Equality Act 2010 and Human Rights Act

· Ability to translate legal concepts into clear, concise language, making recommendations to support decision-making or promote external compliance

· Experience of conducting research and/or gathering evidence, analysing and evaluating findings to reach reasoned decisions

· Experience of building effective relationship with internal and external stakeholders

You will be assessed against our core skills (Leadership, Delivery Management and Stakeholder Engagement) and the knowledge, skills and experience required for the role in the application form. Please provide evidence and examples from your work history or other aspects of your life to demonstrate how you meet the criteria required. Full criteria details can be found in the candidate pack.

Important Information

Currently we are trialling hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in their EHRC office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and your office will be your contractual place of work. The number of days that anyone will be able to work at home will be determined primarily by business need. If you are successful, any opportunities for hybrid working, including whether a hybrid working arrangement is suitable for this role or for yourself, will be discussed with you prior to you taking up your post.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, we offer a range of benefits including flexible working patterns, 30 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (full time FTE), access to the Civil Service Pension Scheme and partnership pension schemes, and enhanced parental leave benefits. More information can be found in the candidate pack.

How to apply

If this sounds like the role for you, please review the attached Candidate Pack for more information and submit your application today!

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

The Equality and Human Rights Commission is an accredited Disability Confident Leader and operates a Guaranteed Interview Scheme (GIS) for candidates with a disability.

Should you wish to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme or request a reasonable adjustment, please indicate this in your application.  

If you require an alternative accessible version of the application form or wish to discuss your application or reasonable adjustment  – please contact us by email at recruitment@equalityhumanrights.com or by telephone on 0161 829 8100.

Diversity in our workforce

At the Commission, we are proud of our inclusive workplace where we celebrate difference, value everyone’s contribution and where people of all backgrounds can thrive.  We do not accept discrimination or harassment, and all our recruitment decisions are based on fair and open competition, with appointment on merit. We are committed to further growing our workplace by making sure that the talent pipelines for our most senior roles are as diverse and inclusive as they can be. We welcome applications from everyone and encourage disabled people and people from an ethnic minority background to apply. This is to ensure we are taking positive action in order to achieve our legitimate aim of a balanced representation in our workforce at senior grades.