Legal Advisor

Legal Advisor

Closing date: 10/07/2026, 23:55

Location: Manchester

Position Type: Permanent

Salary: £64,700 to £77,480

The Independent Football Regulator (IFR) has been established to protect and promote the sustainability of English football, for the benefit of fans and the local communities football clubs serve. 

The IFR will help improve financial sustainability of clubs, ensure resilience across the leagues, and safeguard the heritage of English football. It will operate a licensing regime, set corporate governance standards and monitor, protect, and promote financial resilience. It will also enforce compliance with requirements on financial regulation, club ownership and directors, fan engagement, and heritage protection.

The IFR will also have powers to prohibit clubs from joining competitions that are not fair or meritocratic, or that threaten the heritage or sustainability of English football.

The Legal Team

The IFR’s legal team plays a core role in advising and supporting all areas of our functions.

This work will include advising, amongst other issues, on the IFR’s powers and obligations, current and future consultation exercises, the legal risks attaching to different regulatory strategies and approaches, regulatory investigations and enforcement, litigation and appeals, the IFR’s decision-making obligations, corporate governance and wider public law issues.

The Role

The IFR is looking to add an additional Lawyer with significant corporate law experience to add to/complement the existing expertise within the IFR’s legal function which currently comprises eight Lawyers with a range of public, regulatory, commercial and litigation skills/backgrounds. The role will be based in our Manchester office.

Essential Requirements:

• Post qualification experience advising on corporate law matters including the following: complex corporate ownership structures; mergers and acquisitions/investments including in a multi-jurisdictional setting; corporate governance and decision-making processes; general corporate advisory work, including advising on the Companies Act 2006.
• The ability to work effectively in a wider team and build trusted relationships with colleagues, clients and others.
• Have a track record of picking up new and complex areas of legal work quickly and providing context-appropriate corporate advice in high-profile and fast-moving situations.
• The ability to effectively manage legal risk, providing sound legal direction, leadership and oversight to ensure quality outcomes.
• Creative thinking and excellent judgement to deliver authoritative and credible legal advice, at pace, to facilitate practical solutions.

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in public law (ideally working for a regulator) and/or insolvency law.

Academic and Professional Qualifications

Applicants should have a minimum of a 2:2 honours degree in their first degree, in any subject. Where an applicant holds an overseas degree qualification this should be equivalent to a 2:2 degree. We will consider applicants who do not have a 2:2 degree but only where satisfactory evidence of equivalent high level academic and/or professional achievement can be provided (e.g. via relevant experience and results achieved for the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE, Legal Practice Course (LPC), Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC)).

Applicants must be qualified to practise as a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive in England and Wales however, we also accept applications from overseas qualified candidates. You must have completed a training contract / pupillage / qualifying employment or have been exempted from this by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Bar Standards Board or CILEx. Please note that candidates cannot apply more than three months before their qualification date.

Professional entry criteria for Chartered Legal Executives (i.e. Fellows): Chartered Legal Executives are eligible to apply where (i) a Qualifying Law Degree (QLD) is held; or (ii) the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL)/CPE has been completed; or (iii) where exams have been passed (i.e. a score of 50% or above achieved), at CILEx Level 6*, in all of the following seven foundation subjects in law: Contract Law; Criminal Law; Equity and Trusts Law; European Union Law; Land Law; Public Law; Law of Tort.

Terms and Conditions of Employment

If successful, you will join a Non-Departmental Public Body and will be employed as a Public Servant.

If you are an existing Civil Servant or a DCMS employee, you will no longer have access to Civil Service benefits including the Civil Service pension. 

The terms and conditions of employment include:

• Pension 12% – An employee contribution of 5%, with an employer contribution of 7%. 
• Flexible Benefit 8% – Employees can choose to invest 8% of their base salary into their pension or take as cash (post tax).
• Reward – We will have a performance-based reward programme. 
• 31.5 days annual leave.
• Flexible and hybrid working – 40% in office attendance.
• Occupational sick pay.
• 9 months paid Maternity Leave and generous paternity and adoption leave.
• A bespoke L&D programme to help you achieve your personal CPD, including paid membership fees.
• Cycle-to-work scheme and much more!

Interested Click apply and you will be redirected to our careers site to complete your application.