Location
Croydon CR0 2LX, Manchester M3 5FS, Stratford E20 1HZ
About The Job
Job summary
Discover a career in your hands at HMRC. Whether you're seeking purpose, growth, or a workplace that gives you a true sense of belonging, hear from some of our employees as they share their story about what it’s really like to work at HMRC.
Visit our YouTube channel to watch the full series and come and discover your potential.
HMRC Legal Group provides legal services to the whole of HMRC. Our work impacts the lives of millions, as we help to collect the money that pays for the UK’s public services, provide targeted financial support to families and individuals and help to facilitate legitimate international trade whilst protecting social and physical security before and at the border.
We have around 1650 people including lawyers, tax professionals, advocates, paralegals and administrators. Our strength is in our diverse people and the inclusive working culture that brings us together.
We have vacancies for two G6 Specialist Senior Lawyers in the Customs and Excise Legal Advisers (CELA) team available on promotion to Grade 6. It is intended that successful applicants will advise predominantly on UK customs law, EU law as applied in Northern Ireland and implementation of the Windsor Framework.
Job Description
This role offers an exciting opportunity to be involved in the leadership of key government legal work, advising on public law, EU law, subsidy control/State aid and public international law, and to contribute to the wider leadership of HMRC Legal Group and HMRC. Successful applicants will be expected to take responsibility for leading their area of work by:
- being accountable for the delivery and management of complex, high profile work and need to have the ability to work collaboratively with policy teams and senior stakeholders to achieve HMRC objectives;
and
- working collaboratively across HMRC Legal Group, HMRC, the Government Legal Profession (GLP) and external stakeholders as appropriate, taking into account wider issues when delivering advice and contributing to the leadership of our organisation.
Successful applicants need to have excellent legal professional skills, with knowledge of EU law, the ability to provide robust risk based legal advice and to effectively supervise the provision of legal advice of others they are leading. This is an excellent opportunity to develop within two core areas, law and leadership.
Whilst not having line management responsibilities, Specialist Senior Lawyers are expected to demonstrate leadership, such as leading complex legal projects with clients, coaching and mentoring, and supporting Grade 6 team leaders and Deputy Directors. Specialist Senior Lawyers are also expected to contribute to the leadership of the organisation more widely.
Please refer to the current role profile for Grade 6 Specialist Lawyer roles which sets out our expectations of Grade 6 lawyers for this role.
Person specification
Excellent legal professional skills with knowledge of public law and EU law and the ability to give and oversee authoritative risk-based legal advice that is creative in facilitating practical solutions and mitigations.
A leader who can engage and inspire those they are managing or working with to provide an excellent service, and who is comfortable with working in an uncertain environment that changing political priorities may bring.
A leader who thinks holistically about the organisation, focussing on organisational outcomes rather than just their team’s own interests, commanding credibility from senior officials who can contribute to the effective leadership of the Team, Directorate, HMRC Legal Group and HMRC, encouraging a positive, diverse, and inclusive culture that supports wellbeing and encourages learning and development.
The ability to work collaboratively to understand diverse customer needs in order to deliver high quality and efficient legal services and see issues in their wider context and advise accordingly.
A legal professional who values and role-models continuous self-learning and develops themselves and others to achieve goals, ensuring that development opportunities are inclusive.
There may be a need to travel across the UK with occasional overnight stays being required and there may be a need for occasional overseas travel for business purposes.
Essential Criteria:
You will need to be qualified as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive and able to practice as such in England and Wales.
And
Have substantial experience of advising on public law and EU law.
Further Background on qualification requirements:
Qualifications
Solicitors, Barristers or Chartered Legal Executives must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx. Chartered Legal Executives must have a Qualifying Law Degree or have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE or have passed exams (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved) at CILEx Level 6, in all the seven foundation subjects in law: contract law, criminal law, equity and trusts law, European Union Law, land law, public law and law of tort.
Desirable Criteria:
- Experience of advising on customs law.
- Experience of advising on public international law.
- Experience of drafting secondary legislation.
- Experience of advising a Government Department or Public Body on the scope of its powers and discretion.
Qualifications
Solicitors, Barristers or Chartered Legal Executives must have completed a training contract/pupillage/qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Law Society, the Bar Council or CILEx. Chartered Legal Executives must have a Qualifying Law Degree or have completed the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE or have passed exams (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved) at CILEx Level 6, in all the seven foundation subjects in law: contract law, criminal law, equity and trusts law, European Union Law, land law, public law and law of tort.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Managing a Quality Service
- Developing Self and Others
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Candidates will be provided with a legal scenario shortly before their interview and asked to present their advice in relation to it (orally) to the interview panel. There may then be some follow-up questions from the panel.
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £68,966, HM Revenue and Customs contributes £19,979 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
HMRC operates both Flexible and Hybrid Working policies, allowing you to balance your work and personal commitments. We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible, considering our operational and customer service needs.
We offer a generous leave allowance, starting at 25 days and increasing by a day for every year of qualifying service up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Pension - We make contributions to our colleagues’ Alpha pension equal to at least 28.97% of their salary.
- Family friendly policies.
- Personal support.
- Coaching and development.
To find out more about HMRC benefits and find out what it’s really like to work for HMRC hear from our insiders or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window) , and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.
How To Apply
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide the following:
- A name-blind CV including your job history, with key responsibilities and achievements, covering the last 5 roles. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps. The total word count of your CV must be no more than 800 words.
- A Personal statement of up to 1250 words providing examples and evidence which demonstrate how you meet the Person Specification.
- A separate 500 word statement on the Essential Criteria. There is an allowance of up to 500 words for essential criteria; however, you do not need to use the full word count, bullet points are acceptable. You will not lose marks for not using the full word count in this section , as long as you provide the required evidence.
- You will also be asked to provide a statement addressing the desirable criteria, which will not be sifted on, but may be used in the event of a tie-break.
It is important that through your CV and Personal Statement you provide evidence and examples which explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience make you suitable for the role with particular reference to the criteria in the Person Specification.
It is important to note that Behaviours will not be tested at the application stage.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
We acknowledge that AI can assist you in your application. Find our guidelines here.
Sift
A preliminary sift on the Essential Criteria will be conducted and only candidates meeting the criteria will progress.
In the event of a high number of applications, an initial sift will assess the personal statement.
Those applications progressing to a full sift will be assessed using the CV.
If an initial sift is not required, applications will be assessed using all elements of the application.
We may also raise the score required at any stage of the process if we receive a high number of applications.
Interview
During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked behaviour-based questions to explore in detail what you are capable of.
The behaviours:-
- Managing a Quality Service
- Developing Self and Others
- Communicating and Influencing
will be tested at this stage.
Candidates will be tested on their analytical skills, general understanding of public law, including judicial review, other areas of law relevant to our work (particularly EU law), and broader handling skills relevant to government work.
Candidates will be provided with a legal scenario shortly before their interview and asked to present their advice in relation to it (orally) to the interview panel. There may then be some follow-up questions from the panel.
Interviews will take place via video link.
Eligibility
Please take extra care to tick the correct boxes in the eligibility sections of your application form. We understand mistakes sometimes happen but if you contact us later than two working days(Monday-Friday) before the vacancy closes, we will not be able to reopen your application for you. If you do make a mistake with your eligibility form, please contact us via: unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk – Use the subject line to insert appropriate wording for example – ‘Please re-open my application –
384844 & vacancy closing date
07/02/2025’.
To check that you are eligible to apply for this role, please review the eligibility information before submitting your application .
Reserve List
A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.
Merit List
After interview, a single merit list will be created, and you will only be considered for posts in locations you have expressed a preference for. Appointments will be made in strict merit order in line with the set number of roles in each location.
Criminal Record Check
Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.
Reasonable Adjustments
We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.
If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:
- Contact the UBS Recruitment team via unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Additional Security Information
Please note: in addition to the standard pre-employment checks for appointment into the Civil Service, all candidates must also obtain National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorist Check (CTC) clearance level for this vacancy. You will normally need to meet the minimum UK residency period as determined by the level of vetting being undertaken, which for CTC is 3 years UK residency prior to your vetting application. If you have any questions about this residency requirement, please speak to the vacancy holder for this post.
Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers:
This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need. Please consider the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you can travel to.
Terms and Conditions
Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process.
HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations .
The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.
Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application(s) will be withdrawn from the process.
Recording of interviews is prohibited unless explicit agreement is sought in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulations.
Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
New entrants will join on the minimum of the pay band.
Please note that, if you are applying for roles on a part-time basis, the salary agreed will be pro-rata, reflective of the working hours agreed within your contract.
If you experience accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window) . See our vetting charter (opens in a new window) .
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.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window) .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Ruth Lupton
- Email : recruitmentteam.sols@hmrc.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : unitybusinessservicesrecruitmentresults@hmrc.gov.uk
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. You have the right to complain if you feel there has been a breach of the Recruitment Principles.
In the first instance, you should raise the matter directly via ubsrecruitmentcomplaints@hmrc.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response, you may bring your complaint to the Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their website.
