Head of Legal and Enforcement

Permanent
Full time
35 hours per week
£70,000 - £80,000 depending on knowledge, skills and experience with additional London weighting where applicable
Birmingham with part of the week working from home, Cardiff with part of the week working from home, London with part of the week working from home
Legal

We have an exciting opportunity for a senior lawyer to join our legal team as a Head of Legal and Enforcement.

 

What is in it for you?

  • Work for a cutting-edge legal regulator at an exciting time; developing our regulatory approach through work on novel and high-profile cases
  • Lead a team of legal professionals to deliver high quality legal advice and casework, ensuring outcomes that meet the public interest
  • Play a key part in developing and maintaining high standards of decision-making and case progression across the SRA  
  • Demonstrate your expert professional judgment and legal knowledge through personal conduct of the most serious and complex cases  



The role

The Legal and Enforcement team deals with contentious matters before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the High Court. It also gives advice and case direction internally on a range of issues to our investigation and other regulatory teams. Reporting into the Director, you will lead a team of up to 15 legal professionals and work collaboratively with other Heads of Legal and Enforcement to deliver high quality casework in a contentious regulatory environment.

 

With oversight of highly complex and high-profile investigations and prosecutions, you will be accountable for cases, ensuring cases are investigated and progressed effectively and that decisions and outcomes are achieved in the public interest and in line with the SRA’s Enforcement Strategy. You will achieve this through handling and overseeing cases as well as providing and overseeing case direction to regulatory teams across the SRA.

 

You will lead and support teams of lawyers and investigators to make consistent and appropriate decisions, by sharing your expertise to promote a high-performance culture. You will demonstrate your ability to quickly analyse and absorb information, focusing on the salient facts and issues, weighing evidence and issues to reach timely, fair, clear and reasoned judgments.

 

As a proactive communicator, you will appreciate the benefit of collaboration, with both internal and external stakeholders. Externally, you could be involved in presenting at stakeholder meetings, seminars and conferences. Internally you will be providing legal advice and expertise both orally and in writing as well as presenting papers and presentations to committees, boards, and staff. You will exercise your sound judgment by identifying and responding to legal, practical and policy risks, demonstrating an understanding of sensitive issues and escalating appropriately and effectively.

 

To succeed in this role, you will need superb organisational skills and be able to comfortably and effectively manage your own time and that of others. As a credible people leader, you will be familiar with managing a team to handle cases in a KPI driven operational environment.

 

What we are looking for

  • Solicitor, barrister or CILEX lawyer (with criminal and/or civil litigation practising rights), admitted in England and Wales with a current practising certificate, with exceptional understanding of regulatory procedures and practices, litigation and complex legal casework
  • Experience of successfully leading teams of high performing lawyers and/or senior caseworkers
  • Extensive experience of delivering and directing complex casework or litigation
  • Proven experience providing high quality, strategic and impartial legal advice, with an understanding of sensitive issues
  • Practical experience of case analysis and legal drafting in a highly complex or high profile, contentious environment
  • An adept communicator, capable of explaining complex legal or technical issues clearly and at all levels
  • Advocacy and/or experience of Judicial Review an advantage but not essential

 

We do not specify PQE for any of our vacancies but anticipate that this opportunity will suit someone operating at Senior Associate or Partner level (or equivalent).



Useful and additional information

We operate on a hybrid working model which means working 2 days in the office and the rest of the week from home. The role can be based from any of our Birmingham, London or Cardiff offices. The role will require weekly travel one day a week to the Birmingham office where the Legal and Enforcement team is based. The salary range we offer for this role is £70,000 - £80,000 depending on relevant knowledge, skills and experience. A 10% London weighting will apply to the salary if applicable.

If you have any questions that are not answered in the advert or on our website, or would like to have a confidential chat you can contact us via: recruitment@sra.org.uk.

 

To apply

Please click ‘apply’ to complete the online application form and upload a CV and cover letter, addressing how you meet the requirements of the role. Your Cover Letter should be no longer than 2 pages.

To find out more about the recruitment and selection process and how to make the most of your application, please visit our jobs pages.

Closing date for applications is 27 October at 09:00. We expect a two-stage interview process taking place from week of 3 November. 


Previous applicants to this role within the past 6 months will not be considered and are requested not to re-apply. 

IND1

 

The SRA is the independent regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, protecting consumers and supporting the rule of law and the administration of justice. We do this by overseeing all education and training requirements necessary to practise as a solicitor, licensing individuals and firms to practise, setting the standards of the profession and regulating and enforcing compliance against these standards.
We offer an inclusive, supportive and friendly working environment and the chance to develop your career within a professional organisation. We are committed to the health and wellbeing of staff, helping everyone to strike a good balance between personal and professional life.

Additionally, we provide a generous flexible benefits package, an excellent defined contribution pension scheme and an additional 3% of annual basic salary upon successful completion of probation.
Vacancy closing date: 27/10/2025, 09:00

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do. We are actively committed to promoting and participating in good practice in the way that we attract, recruit and retain staff.

Everyone is encouraged to bring their whole self to work because we appreciate the value that a truly diverse workforce brings to an organisation. We celebrate difference, recognising the benefits this brings to our inclusive culture, including age, disability, gender identity and expression, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation and socio economic background.

This opportunity is closed to applicants.