Chief Legal Advisor and Director of Legal Services

Purpose of Post:

The Chief Legal Advisor and Director of Legal Services to the Welsh Government provides legal leadership at the highest levels across the organisation. You will provide direct senior support to the Chief Operating Officer, the Permanent Secretary, the Counsel General, the First Minister and all Welsh Ministers and Deputy Welsh Ministers. As a member of the Senior Leadership Team, you will lead our legal department and be responsible for providing or overseeing all legal advice and services provided to the Welsh Government.

As the Chief Legal Advisor and Director of Legal Services and head of the legal profession in the Welsh Government, you will ensure the provision of high-quality legal advice and support to the Welsh Government, demonstrate strong collaborative leadership and create an inclusive and engaged environment in which legal analysis is objective, risk based, well-judged and proportionate to the task. In addition to leading the legal team, the Director has a wider corporate role as a member of the Welsh Government Board and participates in the work of the Permanent Secretary’s Executive Committee and Senior Leaders Group within the Welsh Government. You will be responsible for maintaining and developing strong links with counterparts in other devolved administrations and with lawyers within the UK Government.

Key Tasks:

Provide strategic leadership on:

a) the provision of clear, coherent, authoritative and timely legal advice and excellent services to Welsh Ministers, Counsel General and Welsh Government officials.

b) the provision of timely, effective and high-quality legal support to the formulation and delivery of the Welsh Government legislative programme.

c) the timely and effective production of bilingual Welsh Government subordinate legislation drafted in plain and simple language.

d) the timely and effective production of instructions or legal commentary, to facilitate the achievement of Welsh Government interests, on Westminster Parliamentary Bills impacting on devolved areas.

e) the provision and/or oversight of timely and effective commercial legal advice and excellent services to the Welsh Government; including the provision and/or oversight of commercial agreements and property agreements in the discharge of Welsh Government functions.

f) the timely and effective conduct and/or oversight of litigation and other legal proceedings involving or affecting the Welsh Government; such support to be managed effectively, firmly grounded in a thorough understanding of relevant court/tribunal rules and practice, adhering to any relevant Welsh Government policy or code and undertaken in a sound, proportionate and risk-based manner.

g) the provision, as required, of an intelligent client function to the Welsh Government in relation to any outsourced specialist legal advice or service.

Hybrid Working:

Welsh Government have a hybrid working model based on being in your contracted office when there is a business requirement or when it suits your individual preference. Our staff are able to work from alternative locations, including from home when there is no requirement to be in their contracted office. The advertised roles are being advertised on that basis and not on a remote basis.

Closing Date:

21/04/2025, 16:00