The diverse nature of the Environment Agency provides ever-evolving challenges for our legal teams. Our lawyers conduct criminal proceedings and advise on all matters relevant to the enforcement of environmental legislation. They also advise on the imposition of civil sanctions such as enforcement undertakings and variable monetary penalties. They provide a variety of training to staff including on PACE, disclosure requirements and the use of various statutory and enforcement powers.
Join them and you will have the opportunity to own an interesting caseload and make your mark in a national organisation that promises a good work-life balance, salary pension scheme and great professional development.
We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please include clearly any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application.
The team
We have 7 Area facing prosecution teams located across the country with lawyers reporting through a team leader to the Senior Managing Lawyer, Enforcement & Prosecution, Area Teams. We also have a Serious Casework & Policy team which complements and supports the Area prosecution teams reporting to its own Senior Managing Lawyer. Both Senior Managing Lawyers report to the Deputy Director (Chief Prosecutor) within Legal and Audit Services.
Our vacancies
We are looking to recruit full-time Senior Lawyers in three of our Area facing prosecution teams in Exeter, Leeds and Warrington. We will also consider applications for those located nearer to our other offices in Birmingham, Peterborough, Reading and Worthing. Please indicate your office preference as part of your application.
We also have a full time Senior Lawyer vacancy in our Serious Casework & Policy team which can be located in any office.
In addition, we have a Senior Lawyer Team Leader vacancy in our Reading office. Please refer to our website for full details (ref 29600) if you are interested in a position with management responsibilities.
Experience/skills required
You will be a qualified solicitor, barrister or equivalent (FILEX with rights of audience in criminal proceedings in the Magistrates’ Court) and ideally have experience as a prosecutor or defence lawyer of complex criminal cases concerning breaches of environmental legislation or other complex areas of criminal and regulatory law. You will possess a sound knowledge generally of criminal law, practice and procedure and be an experienced criminal advocate with trial experience in the Magistrates’ Court. You will have experience of preparing complex cases for trial and sentence in the Crown Court. You may also be a higher rights advocate, but this is not a requirement for the role. You will understand the Environment Agency’s ability to use civil sanctions in place of criminal proceedings and you will have the ability to advise upon the right regulatory response to environmental offending.
Contact and additional information
Please note we will not assess CVs for this role, it is your answers to the competency questions that will be used for interview selection. A link to the Capability Dictionary that lists the indicators for each of the competencies is available in the Candidate Pack.
For further information please contact Paul Taylor (paul.taylor1@environment-agency.gov.uk) or Dan Wiley (dan.wiley@environment-agency.gov.uk).
Closing date: 20 October 2024, 23:55 hours.
