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!

Department Overview

The General Counsel’s Office (GCO) looks after the affairs of the General Counsel (GC).

As Executive Director of LD, the GC is ultimately responsible for the management of the Directorate, for monitoring and supervising the quality of legal advice provided by the Directorate and providing guidance and direction in the development of advice on important topics.

GCO comprises the GC, a Senior Private Secretary &Senior Legal Counsel (this role) GC Assistant Private Secretary and the GC’s Personal Assistant, all supporting the GC in relation to all her functions.

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.
• EU & International, 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.
• 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 in-house legal wiki.

Job description

We currently have a permanent vacancy for a Senior Private Secretary & Senior Legal Counsel in GCO

This is a people management role. You will be responsible for day-to-day management of the GCO and for line managing the Assistant Private Secretary. You will develop your team through sharing information effectively, coaching and communicating a clear vision to ensure that your staff are productive, engaged and motivated to deliver the area's aims. This will include setting clear goals and smart stretching objectives that are aligned to those of the team, division and directorate. You will also be responsible for all staff-related matters that may arise including performance, absence and sickness.

Responsibilities for our Senior Private Secretary & Senior Legal Counsel include:

• Using knowledge and judgment to address and resolve legal issues (independently where required) across the full breadth of the Bank’s remit, with the aim of delivering high quality and constructive legal advice to the GC and/or directly to clients, frequently at the most senior levels within the Bank and often with a need to deliver at short notice;
• Representing LD on the Executive Risk Committee;

• Identifying priority legal issues and ensuring that they are brought to the GC’s attention in a timely manner, raised to the senior management of the Bank as appropriate and followed up;
• Assisting the GC to ensure that the legal advice and outputs of the Division meet the appropriate standards of excellence;
• Maintaining, and seeking opportunities to improve, day-to-day relations between GCO and the various teams across LD through effective and inclusive communication with colleagues at all levels which ensures that priorities and results are fully understood. This will require effective coordination across GCO, the Deputy General Counsels and Heads of Legal;
• Maintaining excellent working relationships with the private offices of the Bank’s Governors and Executive Directors and other internal partners Bank-wide;
• Promoting and implementing relevant outputs of LD’s inclusion strategy (“IN LD”)  in a timely way and role-modelling the Bank’s values at all times;
• Championing enhanced performance management, motivation and career development within GCO and across the wider Directorate, including:
  • crafting a feedback culture, guiding on the setting of stretching objectives
  • promoting consistency in the measuring/evaluating the quality of performance
  • giving regular/transparent feedback, promoting opportunities for progression;
• Dealing with external partners including the senior judiciary, external law firms/chambers, Government departments and other regulators.

Number of direct reports: 1

Role Requirements

Minimum Criteria

• Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with a current practice certificate/competency to practice
• At least 5 years’ post-qualification experience gained, as a practising lawyer, in a law firm or in-house legal team in at least one of the practice areas covered by LD’s Divisions (as explained above)
• Excellent legal skills gained through a broad range of practical experience, including the ability to analyse situations from ‘first principles’ and provide concise, user-friendly advice, particularly under time pressure, constrained resource and in the context of fast paced events. Excellent interpersonal skills and ability to build and develop relationships in order to represent the GC and LD in a professional and credible manner
• Evidence of direct experience advising Senior Decision-Making Committees and Senior Executives, including evidence of preparedness to challenge upwards.

Essential Criteria

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Ability to remain on top of a broad range of issues, prioritising time and delegating effectively;
• Good self-awareness to identify areas for personal development, addressing them proactively.

Desirable Criteria

• Experience of providing legal advice in a public sector environment or on public law
• Experience in more than one of the practice areas covered by LD’s Divisions (as explained above)

The Bank values diversity and inclusion – we want to reflect the society we serve better; we want the best people to work for us and we want our workplace to be inclusive.  We value all forms of diversity, including but not limited to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, race, religion and sexual orientation.  One way we support diversity and inclusion is through our staff-run networks, which are summarised.

We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive working environment and are open to considering how the role might be carried out with flexible working.  This role is therefore open to flexible working patterns.

We are also committed to making workplace adjustments for all of our employees as needed, and also for candidates throughout all stages of the selection process. We are a member of the Disability Confident scheme, summarised, and people who wish to apply under this scheme should check the box in the ‘Candidate Personal Information’ under the ‘Disability Confident Scheme’ section of the application.

We anonymise applications so hiring managers will not be able to see your personal information or CV when reviewing your submission. Please fully complete the application form questions as requested, including details of your qualification and post-qualification experience as a practising lawyer, since any incomplete submissions may not be reviewed.

Reward Package

The Bank of England is a distinctive institution, and our rewards are one of the things that set us apart. As well as enjoying a competitive salary you will work in a collaborative, inclusive environment, with a subsidised restaurant, flexible working opportunities and plenty of wellbeing initiatives.  

The salary range for this vacancy is approximately Â£90,000, dependent on relevant skills and experience. In addition, the total reward package also includes: 

• 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.
• 25 days annual leave with option to buy up to 13 additional days through flexible benefits.
• Private medical insurance and income protection.