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Please note that this role will close at 00:01 on Wednesday 14 October, and therefore we advise getting your application in by no later than midnight on Tuesday 13 October.

Salary: £75,000 - £85,000 depending on experience with an excellent benefits package  

About Ofcom 

As the UK’s communications regulator, we’re delivering vital work that helps keep the UK connected and shapes the future of how we’ll stay connected with each other. 
 
Our work covers everything from phones and broadband, through to TV, radio, the postal service, and wireless devices. We’re also taking on the challenge of making the online world a safer place. And we need people of all backgrounds, skill sets, and experiences to help us achieve our goal of making communications work for everyone.

About the Team 

The Legal team is part of Ofcom’s Legal & Enforcement Group. We are a friendly, diverse team of around 100 qualified lawyers predominantly based in our London, Manchester and Edinburgh offices. We bring together a range of backgrounds and specialisms to provide first‑class, proactive legal advice and support across the whole organisation. 

Working closely with colleagues from multiple professions – including policy specialists, economists and technologists – we help to create, implement and enforce communications regulation and provide legal advice on Ofcom’s key decisions. 

The team comprises Ofcom’s general counsel, legal directors, legal principals, senior associates, associates, plus a paralegal, apprentices and a small number of non-legal administrative assistants. 

We have seen rapid expansion as a team over recent years.  The majority of our lawyers are based in Ofcom’s London head office, but we have growing teams in our Manchester and Edinburgh offices.  Our Manchester office is 5 years old and now home to a team of 17 lawyers.  They are part of our wider Manchester office community of over 170 colleagues who work across a range of Ofcom’s specialisms including online safety and technology. We also have a team of 11 lawyers in Edinburgh who work closely with colleagues locally, on policy areas including online safety, infrastructure and competition, and across Ofcom’s wider offices. 

Purpose of the Role 

As a Senior Associate legal advisor, you will provide expert legal advice across the full spectrum of Ofcom’s work. Our Senior Associate lawyers will typically work as part of a team of lawyers on a big project, or with a more senior lawyer acting as a peer reviewer, ultimately reporting to our Legal Directors and General Counsel. Our Senior Associate lawyers will work with more independence than at Associate level and will be expected to take on a greater degree of ownership of their work. As a Senior Associate, if appropriate for the work and your experience level, you may also peer review more junior lawyers. 

You will work on complex and high-profile matters which are often the subject of political and public interest and debate, and which have the potential to raise new and significant points of law. You will work collaboratively with colleagues and experts from a range of disciplines and professions.  
  

You will have the opportunity to work on projects throughout their life cycle, including helping with the early-stage policy development, advising on consultation processes, decision-making and any subsequent litigation or enforcement.   
  

Your key responsibilities 

Taking ownership of and advising on a portfolio of legal work across diverse projects in a range of sectors, working independently and with other lawyers in the team. 

Assessing and resolving legal risk in the context of Ofcom’s overall strategy, including through:  

• Providing risk-based analysis and strategic advice on matters which raise new and significant points of law, as well as Ofcom’s policy and programmatic work more generally  

• Helping to produce clear and well-structured written documents 

• Drafting regulatory conditions, rules, codes and guidance and statutory instruments    

• Helping to conduct litigation  

• Working collaboratively with colleagues across Ofcom from a range of disciplines and professions  

• Liaising with external stakeholders, including central government, other regulators and regulated industries  

• Supporting more junior lawyers, including in a peer review capacity where relevant 

• Contributing to the strengthening of Ofcom as an organisation by identifying challenges and where appropriate helping to implement solutions  

Ofcom has a range of statutory duties which are designed to protect people in the UK from harmful material, including on TV, radio and on-demand programming, and our new role protecting citizens from harm presented by content on regulated online services.  As a result, applicants should be aware that this role may involve work with potentially distressing content and material and/or themes. Ofcom is committed to safeguarding our colleagues who undertake this type of work and offers a range of tailored support options, including annual psychological assessments for those in high risk roles and 24-hour access to counselling services.  
 
The skills, knowledge and experience you will need for success 

We welcome applications from qualified lawyers (solicitor, barrister or equivalent) with post-qualification experience in private practice, in-house or at a public authority advising on one or more of the legal areas relevant to Ofcom’s remit, including: regulatory or competition matters, consumer issues, media, technology, online safety, data protection or public law. You do not need to have experience across all areas of Ofcom’s remit, but you should be prepared to work in a regulatory environment on new areas of law, sectors and technologies and with greater levels of independence than our associate lawyers, but with the support and oversight of principal legal advisors and legal directors. 

We’re interested in people who can demonstrate the following:  

• Articulating ideas: Communicating your ideas, thoughts and information in writing and orally in a clear and concise manner, ensuring that messages are understood by everyone. You give clear and accessible legal advice in writing, and orally when presenting to groups or in discussion. 

• Building Solutions: Developing knowledge to analyse problems in new areas of the law, new sectors and technology, and providing robust advice on contentious areas. You think strategically and creatively to solve problems.  

• Forming relationships: Working effectively as part of a team, and collaborating successfully with others by building relationships with colleagues from a range of disciplines. You review documents and input into projects constructively in order to drive high quality, successful outcomes. 

• Owning accountabilities: Taking responsibility for your actions, decisions and their outcomes, committing to get the job done and further Ofcom’s interests. You work with increasing independence, escalating key issues for more senior legal input as needed. 

• Embracing change: Taking a structured but flexible approach to managing and prioritising your workload. In particular, you anticipate and manage risks to project deadlines where there are competing demands on your time.  

Inclusive hiring at Ofcom

At Ofcom, our mission is clear: to make communications work for everyone. To achieve that, our people must reflect the diversity of the UK, in background, identity and experience. 

We believe innovation thrives when difference is valued and everyone feels empowered to contribute their ideas and perspectives. That’s why we welcome colleagues of all ethnicities and races, sexes, genders and gender identities, sexual orientations, ages, faiths and beliefs, and those with apparent and non‑apparent disabilities. We value socio‑economic diversity, life experience and neurodiversity too. Whether you’re a carer, a parent, a veteran, or re‑entering work after time away, your voice and perspective matter here. 

Flexibility is at the heart of how we work because we want you to thrive in a way that suits you best. Most roles can therefore be adapted for part‑time hours, job shares, or other flexible arrangements. Learn more about our Rewards, Benefits and Wellbeing on our careers page. 

Our recruitment process is intentionally designed to be open and accessible. If you need adjustments, information in a different format or an alternative way to apply, contact us at [email protected] or 0330 912 1378. 

As a proud Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for a role. You can read more about this commitment here. 

Whoever you are, whatever your story, you belong at Ofcom.