Trainee Solicitor -IMA

Recruitment Information

The opportunity

Are you looking for a truly varied role where you will be involved in a range of matters including inquiries, litigation and complaints?

This is an exciting time for the IMA and some of the work we have been doing includes:

• A range of litigation, including a landmark judicial review of elements of the EU Settlement Scheme, and important interventions on novel and contentious questions of interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
• The IMA’s first inquiryon delays in the issuing of Certificates of Application under the EU Settlement Scheme.
• Reviewing legislationfrom each of the different governments across the UK which cover a range of subjects including student finance, social security, immigration and the recognition of qualifications.

You can read more about this work and more on our website.

We are expanding our Legal team to help support this work and are looking for a Trainee Solicitor to join our current team.

The role

We are offering a varied role that will give wide exposure across the full range of legal matters requiring input from the IMA Legal Directorate. The role will offer a unique opportunity to develop your skills in a supportive but challenging environment.

You will work with a Senior Legal Adviser, within a current team of 8 lawyers (comprising 3 Senior Legal Advisers and 5 Legal Advisers) within the Legal Directorate of the IMA, reporting to the IMA General Counsel.

As a Trainee Solicitor, you will be expected to contribute to the successful delivery of legal services within the IMA.

You will assist in all aspects of the IMA’s work, including in relation to inquiries, legislation monitoring, litigation, and complaints, in addition to contribution to the development of training materials and guidance. You will have the full support of all colleagues both from within the Legal Directorate and from across the IMA.

As part of your training, it is likely that you will be expected to undertake a short period of secondment with another public sector legal department or solicitor’s firm, in order to ensure that you receive a breadth of experience of working within the legal sector.

We offer tailored learning and development required for you to thrive in this role and you will have support and guidance to progress your legal career.

Career progression

The Trainee Solicitor role is a fixed term appointment of up to two years. If appointed and you successfully complete the required training contract, you may be offered a permanent appointment as a Legal Adviser at Senior Executive Officer (SEO) grade working towards Grade 7.

If a post is available and you are offered a permanent position, a 24-month transitional period will apply. During the transitional period, you will be expected to successfully complete the objectives and meet the performance standards of the Grade 7 Legal Adviser Framework. In accordance with business needs, you will be provided with the support, training and opportunities to develop the skills, knowledge and expertise to achieve this goal.

Please refer to our candidate pack for further information about the role and the IMA.

Working for the IMA

Find out what it is like to work for the IMA by watching our recruitment video below:

Essential Skills:

You will have:

• a minimum of a 2:2 honours degree although this does not have to be in law. [Alternatively, if you hold a Certificate of Academic Standing or Equivalent Means from the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), you will be eligible to apply.  Fellows and graduate members of CILEx who have satisfied the SRA’s academic stage of training are also eligible.
• either passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC) or the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) 1 by 8 September 2026. If you have not yet started or signed up to an SQE 2 preparation course, you will be required to do so as part of the role. The IMA may be able to contribute up to £5,000 towards the costs of the preparatory course and assessment fee for SQE2.

In addition, you will be able to demonstrate the following:

• excellent legal research skills,
• good drafting skills,
• good written and verbal communication skills,
• accuracy and attention to detail, planning and organising to deliver work to tight deadlines,
• ability to build effective working relationships with a range of colleagues and work as part of a team.

Behaviours

We’ll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Making Effective Decisions.(Lead behaviour)
• Working together.
• Communicating and Influencing.
• Delivering at pace.

Location

Please note that the current HQ is based at the Civic Centre in Swansea.

The IMA currently operates informal, non-contractual hybrid working arrangements with a regular requirement to attend the Swansea office. In person working accounts to around 40% of contractual working hours over the course of a year through a combination of time in our Swansea office, or through direct contact operational activity (e.g. meeting with stakeholders and citizens, court attendance). Some of this time is mandated by business activity but the remaining time is not fixed and can be managed in discussions with line managers to provide flexibility at an individual level.

Pattern of Working: Due to the nature of the role this is a full-time post requiring regular attendance in our Swansea office. The IMA offers a flexi time scheme.

If you would like to discuss this further, please get in touch with the job contact HR@ima-citizensrights.org.uk

Benefits

We are committed to developing our employees and want to enable you to build a successful career with the IMA and you will benefit from regular performance and development reviews to ensure this development is ongoing. We offer a wide range of benefits, including:

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Flexible working options, including flexi time
• 25 days annual leave on entry, increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service. This is in addition to 8 public holidays and a one privilege day entitlement. All entitlements are pro-rated for those who work part time.
• A supportive culture encouraging inclusion and diversity and support for your wellbeing
• Civil Service Pension – a competitive contributory pension scheme that you can enter as soon as you join where we will make a significant contribution (an average employer contribution of 28.97%) to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken
• Established reward and recognition scheme for staff
• Generous paid maternity, adoption and paternity leave which is notably more than the statutory minimum offered by many other employers
• Interest-free loans allowing you to spread the cost of an annual travel season ticket or a new bicycle
• Occupational sick pay, employee assistance services and health and wellbeing initiatives such as flu vaccines, a free eyecare scheme and health screening
• We have a range of family-friendly policies, such as part-time working, job sharing, parental leave and career breaks and a range of leave options for parents. These depend on business needs, but our aim is to help you achieve a positive work-life balance
• Special offers and discounts – Access to a range of discounts and exclusive offers through our employee benefits portal.

Security

• Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
• Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Check. Successful candidates may be required to understand CTC security clearance in the future.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Technical and Experience.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a summary of your job history and previous skills and experience and a personal statement.  Further details about what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Your personal statement should demonstrate your suitability for the role in no more than 750 words, highlighting the reason(s) you are interested in the role and how your experience makes you the best candidate with reference to the essential criteria, qualifications and behaviors for the role. Make sure to provide clear examples to show how you meet the requirements.

The selection process includes:

• A sift of applications:We will consider all complete applications. The information you give us in your application is important in deciding whether we will invite you to the next selection stage. Candidates will be assessed at sift on all essential criteria and behaviours as per the person specification. In the event of a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift on the lead behaviour.
• Assessment: You also may be asked to complete an assessment or prepare and deliver a presentation at interview, details of which will be given to you in advance.
• Interview: Candidates invited to a panel interview will be assessed onbehaviours and strengths in relation to the person specification. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview.

Please note we do not consider CV applications – you must apply for this role through Civil Service Jobs.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)

You must ensure that any evidence submitted as part of your application are truthful and factually accurate. Please note that plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

Sift and Interview Dates

• Sifting is envisaged to take place from 11 May 2026 with panel interviews provisionally scheduled for the 18 and 19 June 2026.
• Interviews will take place in person at the Civic Centre, Oystermouth Road, Swansea, SA1 3SN.
• Interviews are usually conducted in English.
• If you require any reasonable adjustments to be able to attend or undertake an interview, please contact HR@ima-citizensrights.org.uk

Reserve List

If we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.

Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact HR@ima-citizensrights.org.uk to be removed from the reserve list.

Nationality requirements

The job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland, or their family members, with settled or pre-settled status or who have applied to the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Note to existing Civil and Public Servants

Please note that the IMA is not a Civil Service employer and so any current Civil Servants recruited on a permanent basis will cease to be Civil Servants. We recognise contractual continuity of service for individuals joining the IMA where there is no break in service for those who are either:

• existing members of the current Civil Service Pension Scheme; and/or
• employed by an organisation listed on the Gov.UK list of departments, agencies and public bodies (Departments, agencies and public bodies – GOV.UK(link is external)).

Contractual continuity applies to annual leave, sick leave and pay, entitlement to maternity/adoption/paternity leave up to the IMA maximum entitlements. For more information, contact HR@ima-citizensrights.org.uk.

If you are a member of the Civil Service Pension Scheme, you will be eligible to continue in this when you join the IMA with no break in service.

Job Contact

Should you have any questions, wish to discuss anything in more detail, or want an informal discussion regarding the post, please contact Rhys.Davies@IMA-Citizensrights.org.uk

Apply now

To apply for this exciting role with the IMA, click here.