Principal legal adviser

Band 8b · Legal adviser · 601 job evaluation points

Principal legal advisers are the organisation's leading experts in one or more areas of law, such as technology and data or information law, and lead its legal work on the most significant matters.

Responsibilities

Lead the legal work on the organisation's most significant programmes, contracts, and disputes.
Give definitive advice on novel and high-risk matters, such as large-scale data sharing, AI, and commercial use of the organisation's software and data.
Set the organisation's legal positions and standards in your specialist areas.
Advise directors and board committees on legal risk.
Represent the organisation with regulators, partners, and suppliers on legal matters.
Lead a specialist legal team and develop its capability.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Legal adviceThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: advise the board and executive on the organisation's most significant legal risks give definitive advice on novel, contentious, or high-value matters set the organisation's appetite for legal risk assure the quality of legal advice across the organisation, including external advice
Contract drafting and reviewThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: set the organisation's contracting standards and risk positions lead negotiations on the most valuable or high-risk agreements advise senior leaders on strategic commercial arrangements, such as partnerships and joint ventures
Information and data lawThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: set the organisation's legal position on the use of health and care data lead on high-risk or novel uses of data, such as research, data platforms, and AI represent the organisation with regulators on information law
Intellectual propertyThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: advise on who owns software, data, and content made by staff, suppliers, and partners draft licences and intellectual property terms, including open source release of the organisation's code advise on commercial use of the organisation's data and software, and on sharing benefits
Public procurement lawThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: advise on routes to market, including frameworks, direct awards, and competitive procedures advise on evaluation, award decisions, and changes to contracts after award respond to supplier challenges and complaints advise on subsidy control and competition risks in partnerships
Litigation and dispute resolutionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: manage a caseload of disputes and claims from first notice to settlement or hearing assess the merits and value of claims and recommend strategy negotiate settlements and use alternative dispute resolution make sure lessons from claims feed into safety, contract, and service improvements
Health and care lawThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: advise on the organisation's powers and duties, including when it can provide or commission a service advise on the regulation of digital health products, such as software as a medical device liaise with clinical negligence schemes and external lawyers on claims involving digital services advise on consent, capacity, and patient rights in digital services
Stakeholder relationship managementUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: work with the team to develop and maintain an understanding of stakeholders work with the team to develop and implement stakeholder communications strategies identify and resolve issues, influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders
Leadership and guidanceUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: make decisions characterised by medium levels of risk and complexity and recommend decisions as risk and complexity increase build consensus between services or independent stakeholders identify problems or issues in the team dynamic and rectify them engage in varying types of feedback, choosing the right type at the appropriate time and ensuring the discussion and decision stick bring people together to form a motivated team and help create the right environment for a team to work in facilitate the best team makeup depending on the situation
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession

Typical qualifications and experience

A qualified lawyer admitted to practise, with extensive post-qualification experience and recognised expertise in a specialism.

Band 8b outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge across several disciplines or a large service.
Autonomy: Shapes policy and strategy for a large area.
Scope: Several services or teams, or a principal-level discipline.
Leadership: Manages managers, or is the principal authority in a discipline.
Accountability: Several services, their staff, and their budgets.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	8	Advanced knowledge (doctorate plus further training or equivalent), or specialist knowledge across more than one discipline built over a long period.	240
Analytical and judgemental skills	5	Judgements on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organisational skills	4	Plans a broad range of complex activities or strategies, adjusting them as needed.	42
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	4	Implements policy and develops policy or services for a service or several areas.	32
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	2	Handles cash or valuables, looks after equipment used by others, controls stock, or authorises small payments.	12
Responsibility for people	3	Manages a group of staff day to day, teaches core or specialist training, or gives core HR advice.	21
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	4	Frequent prolonged concentration, or occasional intense concentration.	18
Emotional effort	2	Occasional exposure, or frequent indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	11
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8b: 585 to 629)			601

Knowledge is level 8 because the job needs expert legal knowledge across law and technology, built over a long period.