Director of Legal Services

Advert Reference Number: 599

Job Location: Milton Keynes, Remote/Hybrid

Department: Legal Services

Salary: £75,251 to £90,085

Closing Date: 6 March 2025

Weekly Working Hours: 37

Contract Type: Permanent

Fixed Term Contract: End Date: Not Applicable

Welsh Language: Not Applicable

About the Role

At The Open University, we believe that where you start in life shouldn't limit where you can go. Established over 50 years ago, The Open University is committed to providing accessible education to anyone, anywhere in the world. Our unique approach to education has transformed millions of lives, and we are continually innovating to help more people succeed.

Through initiatives like our partnership with the BBC, OpenLearn and digital pioneering distance learning methods, we reach more people than any other university, offering flexible, distance learning that fits into any lifestyle. We proudly serve all four nations of the UK, making higher education accessible for all.

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior legal professional to manage the in-house legal function at the UK's largest distance learning University.

You will lead an experienced team of lawyers and support staff, continuing to expand the expertise within the team and delivering consistently excellent and actionable legal advice and balancing pragmatic business decisions with assessment of risk across a broad scope of activities.

You will provide legal advice and guidance to the wider business, including the Executive, Senior Leadership Team, Heads of Units and Faculties in line with the University's objectives. An understanding of the higher education sector and a university with international reach would be beneficial.

Reporting to the Director of Governance, Compliance and Legal Services in the University Secretary's Office, the Director of Legal Services will lead the University's legal function and provide strategic, actionable advice on legal matters across the University.

The successful candidate will be a qualified solicitor who holds a current Practising Certificate from the Solicitor's Regulation Authority. They will have significant post-qualification experience gained through operating in complex and highly regulated environments, ideally within the higher education sector, and a demonstrated history of service delivery and team leadership.

The role holder will:

1. Lead and manage the in house Legal Services Team, inspiring high performance to ensure the provision of effective and efficient legal support across a broad range of activities;
2. Lead and advise on all legal matters arising from the activities of the University and its group, including but not limited to employment, commercial, contracting, research, governance and student matters;
3. Be responsible for the procurement and management of external legal services when required, ensuring quality and value is achieved;
4. Provide advice and support to the University Secretary and other senior leaders on significant legal issues that arise in the running of a University;
5. Be responsible for management of the Legal Services budget and resources;
6. As part of the senior leadership team in the University Secretary's Office, support the Director in joint delivery of the Unit Business Plan, People Plan, objectives and KPIs, contributing to a culture of professional development, inclusive working practices, high engagement and motivation.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide overall leadership for all legal activities across the University and manage a full and diverse number of legal matters, always taking a risk-based approach.
• Manage and supervise the work of the Legal Services team and direct and prioritise its work, ensuring deadlines are met and work is produced to a high standard.
• Establish and maintain strong relationships, working with a broad network of staff across the University as a trusted and respected advisor, helping to position the Legal Services Team as a key strategic partner within the organisation.
• Provide legal advice to the Executive to enable it to discharge its responsibilities legally and effectively, and to the University's subsidiary and associated companies as required.
• Effectively manage all external legal advice ensuring it is properly instructed, managed, and represents quality and value for money, including the requirement to deliver within agreed budgets and in line with the University's Procurement Policy.
• Keep up to date with relevant strategic, policy and service innovations, and relevant legal and regulatory changes to inform best practice and continually drive excellence.
• Together with the Legal Services team pro-actively identify legal and practical problems associated with the business of the University and establish methods to reduce potential risk or liability.

Skills and Experience

• Educated to Degree or equivalent level of expertise and experience.
• Qualified Solicitor holding a current SRA Practicing Certificate.
• Demonstratable recent post qualification experience with a minimum of 5 years at a senior level. This experience may have been gained outside of the Higher Education sector in the regulatory, commercial, or public sector or in private practice.
• Possessing outstanding technical legal skills and experience in one or more of the following: commercial, corporate, and Intellectual property law, with a good understanding of data protection law and with a passion to learn more and train others.
• Strong drafting and negotiation skills and an ability to communicate complex legal matters to lay audiences in an understandable way.
• Ability to listen and understand the needs of University stakeholders and provide practical, risked-based legal advice.
• Ability to understand, evaluate and advise on a range of complex options and to deliver innovative and pragmatic solutions.
• Demonstrable experience of leading, managing and developing a team to deliver a high quality service.
• Resource and budget management experience.
• Able to demonstrate resilience and effectiveness when working under the pressures of multiple and varied legal matters and the competing demands and priorities of internal stakeholders.

Essential Requirements

As part of the application process, you will be expected to submit your CV and a Supporting Statement (maximum of 1000 words) that demonstrates how you meet the criteria listed above.

Flexible working

We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it's a part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.

It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where the successful candidate can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We anticipate this being twice per week on average.

Early Close: We may choose to close the application date early if we reach a high number of applications. However, if you would still like to apply before the deadline originally advertised do not hesitate to contact us and we can discuss this with the Chair of the panel.