Legal Assistant

Rainbow Migration is the longest-running charity in Europe dedicated to supporting LGBTQI+ people through the asylum and immigration system and has been campaigning for their rights since 1993. We are recruiting a Legal Assistant to support the delivery of Rainbow Migration’s legal service by providing additional administrative capacity. This will include:

·        Answering queries from people seeking legal advice

·        Prioritising queries for responses from other staff

·        Providing accurate information to service users and signpost to other organisations if necessary

·        Assisting with organising group advice sessions

·        Assist with referrals to legal representatives

·        Writing minutes for meetings

·        Providing admin and logistical support to the legal service team

Rainbow Migration’s vision is that LGBTQI+ people can settle safely 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 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 and 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 are also reviewing what we do and how we do it through an anti-oppression and anti-racism lens, as well as investing in being more informed and led by LGBTQI+ people who have sought asylum.

We offer a guaranteed interview scheme for anyone considered as disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if they meet all the necessary criteria in the person specification. If you wish to qualify under this scheme, please make this clear when applying.

To support candidates during the interview process, we send a selection of questions in advance to give applicants more thinking time. You are welcome to bring notes with you and also to take notes in interviews to help process information. If your interview is online, we can also put questions in the meeting chat. Please let us know if we can make other adjustments to support your interview process.

Owing to the nature of the work, the successful applicant will be required at the point of conditional job offer to disclose all unspent criminal records and subsequently to undergo a basic DBS check. See our website for more information.

Role overview

Contract type: 3-Year Fixed-term 1 July 2026 until 30 June 2029

Hours: Full-time or part-time (35 hours per week Monday to Friday for full-time, minimum 28 hours for part-time). 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 £27,011 FTE (pro rata), with potential step increases each year up to £30,400, plus statutory employer’s pension contribution. In addition to an annual step increase, we try to give a separate inflationary increase every April

Location: Rainbow Migration’s step-free offices are based between Vauxhall and the Oval, London. This role will have an office-based contract but the postholder can choose to work from home for part of the week in agreement with their line manager as per our hybrid working policy. You must be available to work from our offices in London when necessary. The successful candidate would also be welcome to work from the office full-time if that is their preference. At the time of creating this role, staff mostly work from home. There might also be occasional travel outside London with plenty of notice. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Annual leave: Initially 25 days per year. After two years of employment, this will increase by one day per year up to a maximum of 28 days (pro rata if working part-time).

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 dependants’ 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

·        Policy on staff loans or salary advances for difficult times

·        Work laptop and mobile phone

·        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 13 April 2026

Interview dates: Initial interviews planned to be during the week beginning 27 April 2026 by Zoom or Teams. A second round of face-to-face interviews in London will follow.

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 you will find on our website.

Please send to the email you will find on our website:

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 the optional monitoring form you will find on our website.

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 how you meet the necessary criteria for the role, and if you meet any of the advantageous criteria. 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 how many hours a week you wish to work and if you have a preferred pattern

3.     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 your dismissal from Rainbow Migration if appointed.

3.     Accept that owing to the nature of the work, if successful, you will be required to disclose all spent and unspent criminal records at the point of conditional job offer and subsequently to undergo an basic 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 the personal circumstances and needs of people with lived experience.

If you are an expert by experience (a refugee or a migrant with direct, first-hand experience of issues and challenges of the UK asylum or immigration system), you can ask for independent and confidential support for your job application from the Experts by Experience Employment Network. Please complete the form you will find on our website to request support and they will confirm if they can match you with a mentor to support your 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. Information is kept for the minimum period necessary, which for CVs, covering statements and/or audio or video submissions for unsuccessful applicants is 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.