Ready to lead a specialist legal team delivering civil recovery work across Scotland?
We are looking for a lawyer to join the Sheriff Court Team of the Civil Recovery Unit as Head of Team.
You would be line managing the sheriff court team, which undertakes predominantly sheriff court work across Scotland. The team consists of 7 solicitors (3 fiscals employed by COPFS and 4 solicitors seconded from the GLSS) and a trainee (who is supervised by one of the solicitors within that team).
Although primarily litigation focused, there are also opportunities to become involved in a range of other work such as consideration of proposed legislative changes to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, liaising with SG policy colleagues about international cooperation, engaging with a range of law enforcement colleagues and developing guidance for the Unit on best practice.
The successful candidate will be joining a friendly and enthusiastic team. Many of the solicitors in the team are experienced litigators but involve their Head of Team in discussing novel or strategic issues in more complex cases.
There is also a Court of Session team which consists of 4 solicitors headed by a GLSS C2 solicitor. There are opportunities for cross-team working.
The Unit is part of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) but exercises its functions separately and independently. The CRU reports to the Lord Advocate in their capacity as a Scottish Minister.
You must be a solicitor or advocate admitted in Scotland to apply.
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on.
You can find out more about Success Profiles Behaviours, here
Apply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1000 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and a secondary exercise.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Assessment date is to be confirmed and may be subject to change.
This is a post within the Civil Recovery Unit (CRU) which offers an excellent opportunity to work on secondment within a multi-disciplinary operational team making a significant difference in the Scottish Government’s response to serious and organised crime.
The CRU was established in 2003 and acts in the name of the Scottish Ministers as the enforcement authority for Scotland under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002. The aim of the CRU is to use civil proceedings to disrupt crime and make Scotland a hostile environment for criminals. It pursues that aim by investigating and seeking to recover cash and other assets which have been obtained through unlawful conduct. All proceeds recovered by the CRU are paid to the Scottish Consolidated Fund which invests in the Scottish Government’s Cashback for Communities programme, funding activities and opportunities for young people and communities affected by crime.
The CRU has 35 members comprising a Head of Unit, two teams of solicitors, financial investigators, forensic accountants and support staff.
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. We offer a range of flexible and hybrid working options depending on the needs of the role. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.
The post-holder will require to be security vetted to SC level and have cleared baseline personnel security standard checks (security check (opens in a new window) and baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) prior to starting in post.
You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, or read about the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.
Members of the sheriff court team also share responsibility for being on call a week at a time, approximately every 7 weeks, to provide telephone guidance to law enforcement when required and time spent is reimbursed as detailed in your loan agreement.
The successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for the advertised duration (usually three years) unless successful at gaining promotion to a higher Band or Grade.
Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.
We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.
Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.
Please do not hesitate to contact Anne-louise House (anne-louise.house@civilrecoveryunit.gov.scot) for more information about the role or if you would like to have an informal chat.
Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.
Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.
This post is open to Internal Scottish Government candidates and Common Citizenship organisations only.
Please apply by 23:59 - 04/10/26
The devolved government for Scotland is responsible for matters that are devolved from Westminster. Areas of responsibility include the economy, health, education, justice, rural affairs, environment, and transport.
