Paralegal - Insolvency Service: Government

Deadline 11:55 pm on Sunday 6th October 2024

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.  

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 10 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include Break the Stigma, Carers Network, Disability & Health, FACES Network Group, Grass Roots, LGBT+, No Limits, Part Time Workers, The Shed, and Women’s Network Group. 

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities.  

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career. 

The Legal Services Directorate undertakes both criminal enforcement work on a range of offences that underpin the insolvency regime, as well as civil litigation work arising from director misconduct. The purpose of this post is to provide support and assistance to the in-house legal team in achieving our enforcement outcomes.

Job description

This is an exciting role within our Legal Services Directorate. As a Paralegal Officer you will work closely with our lawyer teams to facilitate the delivery of our criminal and civil enforcement outcomes. 

Responsibilities

As a Paralegal Officer you will:

• Be responsible for managing your own caseload of administrative tasks concerning prosecution and civil cases from issue of proceedings to court result and closure.
• Compile documentary evidence for service on courts, defence solicitors and barristers;
• Liaise with all parties involved in criminal and civil casework, including witnesses, defence solicitors, barristers and the courts to ensure that cases are properly prepared and ready for trial;
• Attend criminal courts throughout England & Wales when required. While at court the Paralegal Officer is often the sole representative of the Department and assists in the day-to-day administration of a Crown Court trial or civil proceedings.
• Be responsible for updating internal case management systems and document storage and management systems
• Support the wider team when required through working collaboratively on cases to ensure that key legal milestones are achieved.
• Contribute to wider directorate and agency initiatives as required.

If intending to work on a part-time basis, a minimum of 34 hours will be required.

Person specification

The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate the following:

• You will have strong organisational skills, with an ability to proactively self-manage, prioritising caseloads and work to tight deadlines
• You will have the ability to work as a team player, with strong interpersonal skills and an ability to work flexibly and effectively across teams to support colleagues in times of increased workload or reduced resource
• You will have a willingness to adapt to change and promote the positive benefits of a culture of continuous improvement.
• You have excellent IT skills and confidence in using the Microsoft Office suite
• You have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• You will be willing to travel to various court locations, if required. Please note that this could involve overnight stays.
• Any successful candidate would need to undergo police vetting and be cleared at NPVV2 level as they will have access to police information
• If based at a location other than Stratford you will be willing to travel to this location on a frequent basis for training, team meetings and to assist the wider team 

Essential Criteria

• You will have previous experience of working in an operational civil or criminal litigation team

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Making Effective Decisions
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

We want you have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do so we offer a great benefits package: 

• Flexible working arrangements and flexi-time.
• Full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. 
• In addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave. 
• Competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave. 
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• Cycle to work scheme
• Season ticket loan
• Staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life.
• A Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%