Employment advisors jobs

Rainbow Migration, the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system, is recruiting a Legal Officer to advise and help improve the representation of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum.

We are looking for a qualified solicitor or barrister with valid practising certificate, or already accredited to Level 3 IAA, with two years’ experience in providing advice and representation in asylum including working in legal aid.

You will be responsible for the day-to-day delivery of the legal advice service. Under the guidance of our Legal Service Manager, you will also build capacity amongst legal representatives by designing and delivering training and giving second tier advice 

This is a unique opportunity to build on your experience as a lawyer/IAA advisor to improve representation across the sector. You will be supported to develop as a specialist in LGBTQI+ asylum.

Responsibilities will include:

• Delivering one-off advice to LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum
• Working with colleagues to refer service users to quality legal aid and pro bono lawyers
• Providing casework assistance in some individual cases
• Providing advice (within competence) on other issues affecting asylum and partnership service users
• Delivering second tier advice to the legal representatives of LGBTQI+ people seeking asylum

You will not be providing direct legal representation of service users. However, the role includes substantive advice and casework within the scope of legal support and referrals for our service users, as well as merits testing and second tier advice.

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle in the UK and lead fulfilling lives. Our values are: 

• Safety: We believe everyone should be safe from persecution and safe to be themselves. We strive to create a safe workplace culture, and we place importance on the wellbeing of everyone involved with Rainbow Migration. 
• Integrity: We are thorough and honest in everything we do, and we take responsibility for our actions. We want to be accountable to our communities and those who support us. 
• Belonging: We welcome and include all LGBTQI+ people, and we celebrate and value their range of experience in terms of gender, religion, race, age, disability status and class. We try to remove obstacles to participation, champion equality and promote a sense of family or home through our services.
• Respect: We believe that every person is equal and deserves the same level of courtesy, care, and attention. We respect the rights, wishes and feelings of our service users, and campaign for their rights to be respected as they go through the asylum and immigration system. 

Diversity, inclusion and anti-oppression

At Rainbow Migration, we don’t just accept difference – we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on it. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and we value diversity. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds and do not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability status. We consider all qualified applicants, consistent with any legal requirements. 

We strive to build a team that reflects the diversity of the community we work in. We are also reviewing what we do and how we do it through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens and investing in being more informed and led by LGBTQI+ people who have sought asylum.

We welcome applications from candidates who have been through the UK asylum system and people of colour, who are currently underrepresented among our staff in relation to our service users.

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet the necessary criteria in the person specification.

To support candidates during the interview process, we send a selection of questions in advance. You are welcome to bring notes with you and also take notes in interviews to help process information. If your interview is online, we can also put questions in the meeting chat. If your interview is in person, we will send details of how to get to the building from both local tube stations and a video showing the interview space. Please let us know if we can make other adjustments to support your interview process.

Role overview

Contract Type: Permanent.

Hours: Part-time (21 hours per week). Occasional work in the evenings and at weekends may be required but with plenty of notice. Rainbow Migration encourages staff to maintain a good work life balance and has a TOIL system in place.

Salary: Starting at £43,078, with a potential step increase each year up to £48,110 (pro-rata), plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. We also try to give a separate inflationary increase every April. 

Location: Remote or from Rainbow Migration’s step-free offices which are based in London between Vauxhall and the Oval. Hybrid working will also be considered and can be agreed with the line manager as per our hybrid working policy. The successful candidate could work from anywhere in the UK but would be expected to occasionally travel to London and other parts of the country for meetings and events. At the time of posting this advert, none of our staff are going into the office every day. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual Leave: 25 days per year rising after 24 months by 1 day after each year of service to maximum of 28 days per year (pro rata).

Benefits:

• Two days of wellbeing leave to be taken at short notice in each calendar year (pro rata for part-time staff)
• Enhanced parental leave and pay
• Full pay for jury service (up to four weeks), compassionate leave (up to two weeks) and dependents leave (up to four days, pro rata for part-time staff)
• Potential for two salary increases a year: a step increase and an inflationary increase
• TOIL system
• Hybrid working policy, including possibility of working abroad for 10 working days (pro rata for part-time staff) each year
• Policy on staff loans or salary advances for difficult times
• Training and learning opportunities
• Occupational health assessments for disabled employees to understand how we can support and make reasonable adjustments
• Employee assistance programme which includes counselling service, wellness advice, legal and money advice, and other matters
• Clinical supervision for staff delivering services (a safe space with an independent therapist to offload and discuss feelings and challenges)

How to apply

Closing date: 9am on Monday 29 June.

Interview date: We plan to hold 1-hour in-person interviews during the week beginning 6 July. Online interviews will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Please read the job description and person specification. If you have any questions about the role or would like to find out more before applying, then you can contact the line manager via the email address in the application pack.

Please send to the email address in the application pack:

1. Your CV
2. A written statement (max 1,000 words). Instead of a written statement you may submit your statement by video or audio recording (max 8 minutes)

We would also be grateful if you could complete an optional monitoring form, the link is available in the application pack.

In your statement, please:

1. Explain why you are interested in this role and give examples of how you meet the person specification. In addition to what is on your CV, we want to hear about any relevant skills and experience that demonstrate you meet the necessary (and, where applicable, advantageous) criteria for the role. Skills and experience could be from training, volunteering, interests or life experience.
2. Confirm if you wish to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 (physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ effect on your ability to do normal daily activities).
3. State if you have a preferred pattern of working hours.
4. State if you have or have not used AI to help with your application in any way. If you have used AI, please explain why. While AI can be a helpful tool, we expect all applications to reflect your own experiences, qualifications and style of writing. Transparency is valued, so applications that are obviously written with AI without explanation will not be considered.

By submitting an application, you:

1. Confirm that you have the right to work in the UK and will produce the necessary documentation if you are offered this post.
2. Declare that to the best of your knowledge and belief, the information provided with your application is true and correct and that you understand that any false information or statement given will justify the dismissal from Rainbow Migration if appointed.
3. Accept that, if successful, you will be required to disclose all spent and unspent criminal records at the point of conditional job and subsequently to undergo an enhanced DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) check. See our website for more information.

We are proud to be a member of the Experts by Experience Employment Network, which aims to create a charitable sector that is led by people with lived experience of the asylum and immigration system. As part of this network, we challenge the one-size-fits-all approach in our employment practices, and respect personal circumstances and needs of people with lived experience. Please feel free to use information and resources on their website which may help in preparing your job application.

Privacy notice

If you apply for this role, the information you provide will be processed according to Rainbow Migration's privacy policy. Rainbow Migration will not share your information with any third parties unless part of the recruitment process or are legally required to do so. By applying, you are permitting Rainbow Migration to access and use the information for recruitment purposes. Rainbow Migration will store your data for 12 months after the conclusion of the recruitment campaign. Monitoring information is kept separately and is pseudonymised to avoid identification of applicants. It is amalgamated for statistical purposes and the original data is then deleted after six months.

About Adolescent Health Study

The Adolescent Health Study (AHS) is an ambitious new UKRI-funded initiative to establish a prospective, longitudinal population study that will generate a globally leading open science data platform and research resource. AHS aims to recruit at least 100,000 young people aged eight to 18 years from across the UK and to follow their mental and physical health and wellbeing over at least 10 years. It plans to collect data through questions and measures; to obtain bio-samples for a wide range of genomic and other high-throughput assays; and to capture linked data relevant to health and wellbeing from participants’ health, education and other administrative records. Recruitment will take place mainly through schools. There will be a strong emphasis on engaging with and involving young people, schools, parents and other relevant stakeholders in the design and delivery of the study, as well as on including young people that represent as wide as possible a range of backgrounds, experiences and characteristics. AHS will focus on enabling a wide range of research, including studies of the critical biological and social developments that occur during the transition from childhood to adulthood and the determinants of both mental and physical health and wellbeing in adolescents and young adults.

Purpose of the post

 The Procurement Lead is responsible for developing and delivering a robust procurement and commercial strategy that ensures value for money, compliance with Procurement Act 2023 regulations in line with AHS being primarily public funded and supports AHS study and operational objectives. The role will lead on sourcing, contracting, supplier management, and commercial governance, ensuring ethical, transparent, and efficient use of public funds.

Main responsibilities

Procurement Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement a procurement and commercial strategy aligned with organisational goals and funding requirements.
• Lead procurement planning across research programmes, operations, and corporate services.
• Act as a subject matter expert on public procurement policy and best practice.
• Drive continuous improvement in procurement processes, systems, and capability.

Tendering and Contract Management

• Oversee end-to-end procurement processes including tendering, evaluation, and contract award.
• Ensure compliance with UK public procurement regulations (e.g., Procurement Act and associated guidance).
• Draft, review, and negotiate complex contracts, including research, clinical, and grant-related agreements.
• Manage contract lifecycle including performance monitoring, renewals, and extensions.

Commercial Governance & Compliance

• Establish and maintain procurement policies, procedures, and governance frameworks.
• Ensure all procurement activities meet audit, transparency, and reporting requirements for public funding.
• Identify and mitigate commercial risks across supplier engagements.
• Support internal and external audit processes.

Supplier & Stakeholder Management

• Build and maintain strategic supplier relationships, ensuring high performance and innovation.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders (research teams, finance, legal) to understand needs and deliver value-driven procurement solutions.
• Work with external stakeholders including funders, partners and strategic advisors to develop optimum outcomes
• Provide commercial advice and guidance to senior leadership and project teams.
• Promote sustainable and ethical sourcing practices.

Financial & Value Management

• Deliver value for money through effective sourcing and negotiation strategies.
• Monitor procurement spend and identify cost-saving or efficiency opportunities.
• Contribute to budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes.
• Ensure funding is used appropriately, ethically and in line with public funding requirements.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

Professional qualification in procurement or supply chain e.g., CIPS Level 5 or equivalent

Degree or comparable experience in business, finance, law, or related field.

Proven track record of managing complex procurement exercises and contracts.

Experience in procurement or commercial roles within regulated procurement environments, specifically those classed as a public authority

1. Strong understanding of UK public procurement regulations and best practice.
2. Commercial acumen with strong negotiation and contract management skills.
3. Experience of drafting and reviewing heads of terms and commercial agreements.
4. Knowledge of intellectual property (IP) considerations in research contracts.
5. Strong experience in supplier and stakeholder management.
6. Excellent analytical, financial, and problem-solving abilities.
7. Strong communication and influencing skills across all levels of an organisation.
8. Ability to manage multiple projects and priorities effectively.

Desirable

1. CIPS Level 6 or equivalent
2. Membership of a professional body (e.g., MCIPS or FCIPS).
3. Experience managing high-value and complex contracts, including collaborative or partnership agreements
4. Experience in procurement or commercial roles within charity and/or research sectors
5. Detailed understanding of intellectual property (IP) considerations in research contracts.
6. Detailed knowledge of the UK Procurement Act (or Public Contracts Regulations 2015 historically) and transitions between them.
7. Experience of drafting and reviewing heads of terms and commercial agreements.
8. Understanding of subsidy control, state aid, or funding compliance frameworks.
9. Ability to analyse procurement data and generate insights using tools such as Excel, Power BI, or similar.
10. Experience leading organisational change or transformation programmes in procurement.
11. Ability to build procurement capability across a non-procurement stakeholder base.

Dimensions

• This is a full-time role, 37.5 hours per week, offered initially as an 18-month fixed-term contract with potential route to permanency.
• Flexible working across several geographical locations in the UK.  Travel may be required to AHS locations and partner organisations.
• AHS is a national organisation, and our activities take place across the UK.

Application Process

All candidates are required to complete the application form which can be found when clicking 'Apply Now' via Charity Job.

Please refer to the ‘How to Apply’ section of the downloadable application form.

Please note that only applications submitted directly to Gravitate HR will be accepted for this position.

The closing date for applications is 11:00pm on Sunday 12th July 2026.

Interviews are currently expected to take place on Wednesday 20th and Thursday 21st August 2026.

Equal Opportunities Policy Statement

AHS is an equal opportunities employer, and as such aims to treat all employees, consultants and applicants fairly. It is our policy to provide employment equality to all, irrespective of:

• Gender, including gender reassignment
• Marital or civil partnership status
• Having or not having dependants
• Religion or belief
• Race (including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origins)
• Disability
• Sexual orientation
• Age

We are opposed to all forms of unlawful and unfair discrimination.  All job applicants and employees who work for us will be treated fairly and will not be unfairly discriminated against on any of the above grounds. Decisions about recruitment and selection, promotion, training or any other benefit will be made objectively and without unlawful discrimination. 

Values

It is an exciting time for the Adolescent Health Study (AHS) as we establish our senior leadership team and begin to plan the pilot studies. As the senior executive team evolves, the AHS values will be grounded in inclusivity, integrity, accountability, and collaboration.