Cheltenham, Manchester Job Summary As an Employment Lawyer within GCHQ’s Legal Directorate, you’ll provide expert advice on employment law in a fast-paced and highly sensitive environment. Working at the heart of national security, you’ll help shape decisions that impact our people and our mission, managing a varied workload that spans casework, policy and litigation. Job Description Joining a small, collaborative team based in Cheltenham or Manchester, you’ll work closely with HR and Security colleagues, as well as lawyers from the other intelligence agencies, to deliver clear, well-considered advice on complex employment issues. From handling litigation to advising on security-related matters, your work will be intellectually challenging and often time-critical, requiring precision and adaptability. You’ll develop your expertise through exposure to diverse legal work and structured training opportunities, taking on more complex matters as your experience grows. While much of your role will be office-based, you’ll collaborate across locations and disciplines, contributing to cross-agency projects and helping embed best practice across the organisation. Whether you’re drafting detailed advice, supporting investigations, delivering training or shaping policy, you’ll play a vital role in ensuring our employment practices remain robust, fair and aligned with national security priorities. This is a role that offers opportunities for professional growth and progression within a supportive, experienced and collaborative team. Joining a small, collaborative team based in Cheltenham or Manchester, you’ll work closely with HR and Security colleagues, as well as lawyers from the other intelligence agencies, to deliver clear, well-considered advice on complex employment issues. From handling litigation to advising on security-related matters, your work will be intellectually challenging and often time-critical, requiring precision and adaptability. You’ll develop your expertise through exposure to diverse legal work and structured training opportunities, taking on more complex matters as your experience grows. While much of your role will be office-based, you’ll collaborate across locations and disciplines, contributing to cross-agency projects and helping embed best practice across the organisation. Whether you’re drafting detailed advice, supporting investigations, delivering training or shaping policy, you’ll play a vital role in ensuring our employment practices remain robust, fair and aligned with national security priorities. This is a role that offers opportunities for professional growth and progression within a supportive, experienced and collaborative team. Person specification You’ll need to be a qualified solicitor or barrister/advocate in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland with at least three years’ post-qualification experience in employment law. You’ll bring excellent legal judgement, strong analytical skills and the ability to provide clear, practical advice in a fast-paced, high impact environment. With experience of managing a varied employment law workload, you’ll be confident working under pressure to meet tight deadlines. Proactive and motivated with the ability to pick up new areas of law quickly, you’ll combine technical expertise with creativity, offering risk-based solutions that balance legal requirements with operational needs. You’ll work closely with HR and Security teams, as well as lawyers from other agencies, so strong communication skills and the ability to build relationships across disciplines are essential. You’ll be comfortable explaining complex legal concepts in a clear, accessible way to non-specialist audiences. You’ll receive a starting salary of £66,581, plus £3,030 concessionary payment, plus other benefits including: 25 days annual leave automatically rising to 30 days after 5 years' service, and an additional 10.5 days public and privilege holidays opportunities to be recognised through our employee award scheme an interest-free season ticket loan an excellent pension scheme a cycle to work scheme facilities such as a gym, restaurant and on-site coffee bars (at some locations) paid parental and adoption leave. Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use. Selection process details About GCHQ is proud to have achieved Leader status within the Department for Work and Pensions' Disability Confident scheme. This is aimed at encouraging employers to think differently about disability and take action to improve how they recruit, retain and develop disabled people. As a Disability Confident Leader, we aim to ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants who best meet the essential minimum criteria for this position, will be offered an interview, if it is practical for us to do so. (This is known as the Offer of an Interview.) To secure an interview for this role, the minimum criteria (in order of application process) are: be qualified to practice as a solicitor or barrister/advocate in England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland have at least 3 years of post-qualification experience of practicing employment law meet the minimum pass mark for the application question which explores your motivation and suitability for this role and organisation. There is a wide range of extra support available throughout the recruitment process to enable you to do your best, see our website for information on reasonable adjustments we can offer. Our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order: CV and application sift, looking at your motivation for the role and the organisation In person Assessment Centre, including situational presentation and interview If successful, you will receive a conditional offer of employment. Please note, you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 - 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue any current employment until you have received your final job offer. To work at GCHQ, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs and you’ll need to declare your previous drug usage at the relevant stage. Before you apply, we advise you to consider setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more securely. The role is based in Cheltenham or Central Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs. Please note, you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application, other than with your partner or a close family member. Right To Withdraw Statement Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role from the original closing date once a certain number of applications have been received. Please be mindful of this and submit your application at your earliest convenience to avoid disappointment. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. Security Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements Open to UK nationals only. Working for the Civil Service Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact Name : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk Recruitment team Email : careers@recruitmentteam.org.uk