Counsel, Legal with experience in international trade law

Counsel, Legal with experience in internationaltrade law

The Bank of England is the UK's central bank. Our mission is to deliver monetary and financial stability for the British people.

The Bank of England is a diverse organisation. Each of its 4,000 plus people are committed to public service and dedicated to promoting the good of the people of the United Kingdom by maintaining monetary and financial stability.

Join our award-winning legal team and work at the frontier of financial services to help maintain monetary and financial stability in the UK! We are looking for new colleagues who are willing to learn quickly, engage openly and rise to the challenge. We share information and insights freely. The work we do here is challenging and sometimes demanding, but always rewarding! This – together with the commitment of our lawyers, paralegals and dedicated support staff - is what why The Lawyer and LexisNexis both named our Legal Directorate the In-House Legal Team of the Year 2022!

For more information on our legal team, please follow this link on the Bank’s legal career page.

Department Overview

Alongside the General Counsel's Office, the Legal Directorate is split into five main teams:

• Central Banking, which provides legal advice on the Bank’s constitution and governance; Markets and Banking operations; commercial contracts, procurement and intellectual property; notes procurement, production and distribution; data and information management; employment policy and employee relations matters; and the Bank’s financial and funding arrangements.
• International and Domestic Reform, which provides legal advice on a range of trade and financial regulatory matters affecting the Bank including in connection with the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. Practice areas include:
  • Advising policymakers on the reform of the UK’s financial regulatory framework.
  • Contributing to the Bank’s role in negotiating trade agreements with international partners.
  • Providing advice on EU and Brexit legal issues.
• Enforcement & Litigation, which leads investigations and the imposition of any enforcement sanction within the PRA. It runs the investigative process from inception to recommendations concerning the appropriate sanction. It also runs any settlement process, and any litigation should a matter be contested.
• Financial Stability, which provides legal advice on the regulation and supervision of Financial Market Infrastructure (such as central counterparties, payment systems and securities settlement systems), on macro-prudential policy and regulation and associated legal framework for the Bank’s Financial Policy Committee and on the Bank’s role as the UK’s resolution authority.
• Insurance and Deposit Takers, providing legal advice to supervisors in relation to supervisory decision-making, and to policymakers in the PRA on capital, liquidity and other prudential requirements of banks, insurers and investment firms.

We are also supported by a Strategy and Operations team, who work with Champions across the Legal Directorate to organise a rich and regular programme of legal training and ensure that we share our knowhow through our bespoke inhouse legal wiki.

Job Description

• Legal qualification: Applicants will typically be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales, or equivalent in Scotland or Northern Ireland. However, we will also accept applications from candidates qualified to practise as a lawyer overseas where the candidate can demonstrate that they have legal experience that is directly relevant to the legal work described in this job description.
• Approximately four years or more post-qualification experience as a practising lawyer, including with experience of advising on the negotiation, implementation or interpretation of international trade agreements.
• Ability to carry out technically challenging legal analysis and to provide pragmatic advice which clearly identifies and manages legal risk.
• Good written communication skills, including the ability to express ideas clearly and concisely in writing.
• Ability to build effective working relationships internally and externally.
• Flexibility to work collaboratively or autonomously, with limited supervision and to manage projects with challenging deadlines across multiple matters.

• An inclusive, ethical and professional approach to legal practice.
• Willingness to accept and learn from feedback and proactively identify areas for personal and professional development

• A good understanding of and interest in the Bank’s mission, responsibilities and priorities.
• Experience of advising on the regulation of UK financial services or a similar sector.
• Experience of advising on public law.
• A track record of contributing towards fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive working environment.
• Ability to adapt communication style to achieve impact for different audiences

Our Approach to Inclusion

The Bank values diversity, equity and inclusion. We play a key role in maintaining monetary and financial stability, and to do that effectively, we believe we need a workforce that reflects the society we serve.

At the Bank of England we want all colleagues to feel valued and respected, so we're working hard to build an inclusive culture which supports people from all backgrounds and communities to be at their best at work. We celebrate all forms of diversity, including (but not limited to) age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status. We believe that it’s by drawing on different perspectives and experiences that we’ll continue to make the best decisions for the public.

We welcome applications from individuals who work flexibly, including job shares and part time working patterns. We've also partnered with external organisations to support us in making adjustments for candidates and employees in the recruitment process where they're needed.

For most roles where work can be carried out at home, we aim for colleagues to spend half of their time in the office, with a minimum of 40% per month. Subject to that minimum requirement, individuals and managers should work together to find what works best for them, their team and stakeholders.

Finally, we're proud to be a member of the Disability Confident Scheme. If you wish to apply under this scheme, you should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

Salary and Benefits Information

This specific role offers a base salary of circa £75,970 - £87,660 per annum (depending on skills and experience) on a full-time basis. We encourage flexible working, part time working and job share arrangements. Part time salary and benefits will be on a pro-rated basis as appropriate.

In addition, we also offer a comprehensive benefits package as detailed below:

• A non-contributory, career average pension giving you a guaranteed retirement benefit of 1/95th of your annual salary for every year worked. There is the option to increase your pension (to 1/50th) or decrease (to 1/120th) in exchange for salary through our flexible benefits programme each year.
  
• A discretionary performance award based on a current award pool.
  
• A 7% benefits allowance with the option to take as salary or purchase a wide range of flexible benefits. (Note that from April 2023 and for the Benefits year 2023/24, this will increase to 8%)
  
• 26 days’ annual leave with option to buy up to 12 additional days through flexible benefits.
  
• Private medical insurance and income protection.

National Security Vetting Process

Employment in this role will be subject to the National Security Vetting clearance process (and typically can take between 6 to 12 weeks post offer) and the passing of additional Bank security checks in accordance with the Bank policy. Further information regarding the vetting and security clearance requirements for the role will be provided to the successful applicant, and information about how the Bank processes personal data for these purposes, is set out in the Bank's Privacy Notice

The Application Process

Important: Please ensure that you complete the ‘work history’ section and answer ALL the application questions fully. All candidate applications are anonymised to ensure that our hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information, including your CV, when reviewing your application details at the screening stage. It’s therefore really important that you fill out the work history and application form questions, as your answers will form a critical part of the initial selection process.

The closing date for applications is 17 March 2024.

The assessment process will comprise of two interview stages.

Please apply online, ensuring that you complete your work history and answer ALL the application questions fully and in detail as your application will not be considered if all mandatory questions are not fully completed.