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CFRS0155 - Principal Legal Officer

Principal Legal Officer

Job Reference: CFRS0155

Date Posted: 14/02/2025

Closing date: 16/03/2025

Interviews: Interviews will be held in-person at Fire Headquarters on Thursday 27th March 2025. 

Location: Office of the Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Carleton Hall, Penrith. 

Salary: £63,830 - £66,642 (pro rata)

Contractual Hours: 37 hours

Contract: Permanent  

On 1st April 2023, the Police & Crime Commissioner legally became Cumbria’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC), as responsibility for the governance of Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service (CFRS) transferred to him following Local Government Reform in Cumbria.

The PFCC now occupies two separate legal entities: The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Cumbria (in relation to policing) and the Cumbria Commissioner Fire & Rescue Authority (the Fire & Rescue Authority) for the Fire & Rescue Service.

To help the PFCC fulfil his statutory and regulatory responsibilities across both legal entities, he is supported by the Office of Police, Fire & Crime Commissioner (OPFCC). 

The OPFCC has created a new role of Principal Legal Officer to provide a comprehensive legal service to the Fire & Rescue Authority, CFRS and the OPFCC across a broad range and variety of legal work. Reporting to the Chief Executive of the OPFCC and the Chief Fire Officer/Chief Executive of CFRS, this influential role is an exciting and varied opportunity for a senior legal professional.  The post holder will ensure the Fire & Rescue Authority, Fire & Rescue Service and the OPFCC all receive the expert legal advice and support that they require to act lawfully and fulfil their statutory obligations.

To apply for this role you must be a qualified solicitor, hold a current practicing certificate, and possess detailed knowledge across an array of legal disciplines that are relevant to be able to carry out the functions and responsibilities of the role.  The successful candidate must have an understanding of public sector statutory and regulatory framework as well as have a strong political awareness.

We are seeking to appoint a high calibre individual with a proven record of working at a senior strategic level.  You must have experience of effectively working across professional and organisational boundaries and in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders.

The successful candidate will also be responsible for working with the Legal Services team (provided by Cumbria Constabulary) to ensure that the OPFCC receives the advice and support on relevant legal matters.

As well as being an excellent communicator and having a commitment to all aspects of diversity and inclusion, we are seeking an individual with sound judgement and high levels of integrity.  You must have the ability to assimilate and explain complex information, providing constructive challenge and fresh thinking.

If you think you are ready for this new challenge, then we would welcome an application from you.

Informal Discussion

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact the Office of the PFCC on 01768 217734 or email commissioner@cumbria-pcc.gov.uk to arrange a telephone call with the Chief Executive of the OPFCC. 

TO APPLY

To apply for this role, you must submit:

  1. An up-to-date CV, please ensure that it provides all your employment details to enable the shortlisting panel to understand how you meet the Post Specification (linked below).  
  2. All candidates must provide a supporting statement, alongside your CV to be considered by the shortlisting panel.  This must be a maximum of two sides A4 (we advise Arial font, size 12).
  3. You should ensure you clearly demonstrate how you meet and satisfy all the essential criteria for this post as detailed within the Post Specification (Job description).  
  4. Where you feel that you can demonstrate any of the key job accountabilities, this should also be included. This information should be provided preferably through examples of your previous experience or practice and will be used as part of the shortlisting process.

Principal Legal Officer Post Specification (WORD)

Please use the essential criteria detailed below.

Knowledge, Experience and Expertise 

  • Practising Solicitor or Barrister. Please include your SRA ID number.
  • Proven experience of working across a broad range of legal law matters that are relevant to be able to carry out the functions and responsibilities of the role.
  • Experience of operating at a senior level within an organisation, e.g., involvement in policy making and decision making.
  • Substantial experience of researching and interpreting complex areas of law and then providing pragmatic advice/guidance.
  • Able to communicate and present information effectively, orally and in writing to suit a range of different audiences.
  • Resilience and ability to deliver when working to competing deadlines.
  • Ability to present cases in courts/tribunals.
  • Politically astute in a rapidly changing environment.
  • Experience of commissioning and managing services delivered by external providers.

Qualifications 

  • Educated to degree level in law or a relevant subject or Graduate member of CILEX (or a demonstrable competence together with a willingness to undertake such training).
  • Successfully passed Law Society Finals or Legal Practice Course or equivalent or Bar Vocational Course Examinations, and either (1) a period of recognised training (or equivalent), (2) pupillage; or met all of the necessary Chartered Institute of Legal Executive worked based learning outcomes and completed at least 3 years in qualifying employment required to become a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (or a demonstrable competence together with a willingness to undertake this training).
  • Qualified Solicitor holding a current practising certificate or Qualified Barrister or Qualified Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives holding a current practising certificate (or demonstrable competence together with a willingness to undertake relevant training).

Documents must be saved clearly with your name and sent to the Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service recruitment team, at the email address below:

Recruitment@cumbriafire.gov.uk 

 

**This role requires a Standard DBS check.**


 

 

OUR SERVICE

With approximately 600 operational firefighters, front facing delivery teams, corporate services, and support staff, delivering services across the county from 38 Fire Stations, we know we need to be a modern, flexible, and inclusive employer. 

We offer:

  • Flexible working across the county, including a hybrid of homeworking and office working at one of our Wholetime stations 
  • Free parking at our fire stations
  • Cycle to Work scheme
  • Access to station gyms, free of charge
  • Enrolment in either the Fire Pension Scheme or Local Government Pension Scheme (depending on your terms and conditions) - link to the Pensions page here
  • Occupational Health service, including counselling
  • Close working relationship with the Firefighters Charity, including mental and physical health support
  • A dedicated Wellbeing Hub – link here
  • On-going personal development, including apprenticeship options and leadership courses
  • Access to modern ICT equipment 
  • Family friendly policies, including six months full pay for Parental Leave 
  • Menopause Policy - link here (Word document)
  • Support for Carers 
  • Workplace adjustments for Neurodiverse and Disabled employees
  • Staff Networks for a variety of different communities, including (but not limited to) Armed Forces, LGBTQ+, Menopause, Retirees

Our service is passionate about the communities we serve and dedicated to developing our workforce - if you're looking to progress in an inclusive, supportive, and dynamic fire service, we would like to hear from you! 

We value the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects our communities in Cumbria. We actively encourage applications from all suitably qualified individuals, irrespective of people’s age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances. 

We capture Equality data on our application forms to help us review barriers in our processes for any minority group. This is optional to complete and is securely removed and accessed only by the Resourcing team to review. 

Resourcing Team email: Recruitment@cumbriafire.gov.uk 

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

CFRS has a Guaranteed Interview Scheme for those whose most recent employer is the Armed Forces, for Care Leavers, and for Disabled Candidates. The scheme is linked below and there is a specific section of our application form where you can mark if you consider yourself eligible. We encourage candidates to let us know so we can provide the best support and access throughout the process. 

Reasonable Adjustments

We strongly encourage any candidate who may require reasonable adjustments to make us aware as soon as possible, either using the section on the application form or by contacting the Resourcing Team directly (email below). We will have a confidential discussion with you and we take the approach of ‘you tell us what you require, and we will do out best to facilitate’. Where we are unable to make the adjustment, we will share this asap. 

Resourcing Team email: Recruitment@cumbriafire.gov.uk