Head of Civil Legal Assistance Office

We are seeking to recruit a Head of Office (Grade 7) for the Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) in Aberdeen. This is an excellent career progression opportunity for an experienced litigator with an interest in social welfare law and leading a team.

Starting salary is £49,420, within a pay band up to £57,490 (pro rata if part time).

About us

The Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) was established under Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. We are part of the Scottish Legal Aid Board, a non-departmental public body that manages legal aid in Scotland. If you wish to learn more about the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) and our other direct services, please visit www.slab.org.uk.

CLAO is a network of offices providing legal assistance and related services throughout Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, Highland and the Islands and Moray, Edinburgh and the Lothians, and Argyll and Bute. Our work is focused on the rights of people who face the most significant barriers to accessing justice and on tackling inequalities.

As solicitors, we provide advice and representation services within core casework areas including child, housing, debt and benefits and mental health law. We also work closely with advice and support organisations to achieve better outcomes for our clients and identify a legal need at the earliest opportunity. We carry out rewarding work that can have a considerable impact on clients’ lives. Further information can be found at www.clao.org.uk.

Why work for us

We are an ethical organisation, carrying out rewarding work.

We seek high calibre people and in return, we set out to provide good training and development with rewarding working conditions. We aim to be an ‘employer of choice’. Should you come to work with us, you’ll discover that no matter what your job or level of responsibilities, you are treated as an individual, with fairness, dignity and respect.

Our stable and secure reward package includes:

• A competitive salary with the potential for pay progression

• Flexible working arrangements and a great holiday entitlement of 34 days per year (inclusive of public and privilege holidays) increasing after five years of continuous service

• A defined benefit pension scheme with a 6% employee contribution

• Job security in a stable environment for long term career progression

• Support from colleagues within a rewarding, positive work culture

• Opportunities for learning and development while making a difference with challenging tasks for ultimate job satisfaction.

To find out more about working with SLAB and our benefits, please visit www.slab.org.uk/recruitment

About the role

• Manage the day-to-day operations of the CLAO Aberdeen office, reporting to and assisting the Head of Service

• Provide appropriate, timely and independent advice and representation

• Form effective links and referral mechanisms with solicitors in private practice and partner agencies

• Contribute to policy development on the delivery of civil legal assistance.

This post is permanent on a full time basis.

If applying on a part time basis (less than 37 hours per week), please give details of the number of hours and pattern of part time work you would be interested in. Further details are supplied in the ‘General Information for Applicants’ document.

We welcome and encourage applications from diverse backgrounds, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

For more details about this role and a full list of essential criteria and required competencies, please see the ‘Additional Information’ section on the vacancy page.

Completed applications should be returned by Sunday, 12 March 2023 via SLAB’s recruitment portal. Please note, we reserve the right to close this advertisement early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications.