About The University Of Sunderland
The University of Sunderland offers life-changing opportunities for 27,500 students across its campuses in Sunderland, London, Hong Kong, and through global partnerships with learning institutions in 19 countries. We're proud to be a top 50 UK university (Guardian University Guide 2024), with top-quality facilities, inclusive culture, and our vibrant, ever-changing city.
The University of Sunderland is in an exciting phase of its development with a new vision and redefined strategic ambitions designed to take advantage of the ever-changing higher education landscape at home and overseas.
About The Role
We have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Legal Services to join the University to provide leadership and expert and specialist legal advice across the breadth of complex and diverse University activities, initiatives and transactions. The role has become vacant following the retirement of the current role-holder. The wider Legal and Governance Team in which the role is based moved to the newly created Academic Registry and Governance Directorate in June 2025. This represents an exciting opportunity and time of change for the department and the role, in the supportive and dynamic leadership context of the wider Academic Registry and Governance Directorate.
You will lead a small team of qualified legal professionals who combine both specialist and generalist areas of practice as applied to university business. As a team player, you will play a key part of a wider Academic Registry leadership team comprising the Academic Registrar, Deputy Academic Registrar (as line manager for this role) and four other Heads, with specific portfolios in the Registry.
This role offers a competitive salary and a potential market supplement based on the skills, knowledge and experience you bring.
What You Can Bring
The successful candidate will bring extensive experience of commercial and contract law from any sector to bear in relate to strategic initiatives and significant University business. As well as this you will have experience of leading a team of legal professionals and have an appetite and flair for innovations in practice and casework management, to support time-critical, risk-based and effective legal advice to a diverse and demanding set of clients.
Your background may be in private practice, the public or private sectors or education, but you must have an appetite and aptitude to work directly with a complex caseload of your own, as well as leading the team in the management of theirs, and be able to get to grips with statutory and regulatory complexity and change in higher education.
You will be comfortable and confident advising a whole range of colleagues in our academic schools and service departments, through to the University Executive and Board of Governors, and will be able to translate complex legal advice in a clear and communicable way.
What We Can Offer You
Our University is not just a place of academic excellence, but also a community that embraces inclusivity and support. We value our staff and offer a rewarding package that goes beyond just salary. At the University of Sunderland, we prioritise not only your professional growth but also your happiness and well-being.
* Enjoy a generous annual leave entitlement of 36 days, along with an additional 5 closure days over the Christmas break and 8 Bank Holidays.
* Enrolment into our pension scheme, ensuring your financial security for the future.
* Access to our “My Lifestyle Benefits Platform”, where you can enjoy online discounts at hundreds of retailers every day. Plus, take advantage of exclusive schemes that allow you to purchase a new car, bike, or technology at a discounted rate.
* Your health and well-being are important to us. That's why we provide access to discounted private medical insurance, health cash plans, and guidance on financial well-being.
* Maintaining an active lifestyle is made easy with discounted membership for CitySpace Fitness, our state-of-the-art facility for sports and social activities.
Equality, diversity & inclusion
We strongly believe that an inclusive university, where a diverse range of individuals feel valued and have equal opportunity to get into work and reach their potential, is good for our staff, students, university, and society.
Our work on equality, diversity and inclusivity has never been more important. We believe inclusivity is an essential value at the heart of what we do, and we want all our staff to be part of that journey with us.
Our recent staff survey conducted in 2023 showed that 97% of our staff believed that we were committed to achieving an inclusive university.
The closing date for applications is Monday 28th July (23.59 GMT).
Interviews are likely to be on Friday 15th August.
For any informal enquiries please contact, adam.dawkins@sunderland.ac.uk, Dr Adam Dawkins - Deputy Academic Registrar #J-18808-Ljbffr