SRA – Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE)

Solicitors Regulation Authority

Contract Type  Contractor

Working Pattern  Part time

Working Hours  10-15 days per year

Salary  £400 per day

Location Options  Home based with travel

Function Type  Policy, Education and Research

The role

We are looking to appoint Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) to work on a flexible, ad-hoc daily basis between 10 – 15 days per year. The SQE is the centralised assessment for all would-be solicitors in England and Wales.

This role is part of the Quality Assurance system for the SQE. The SMEs will review assessment related processes, activities, and assessment questions for their areas of legal expertise, evaluate the findings and report back to the SRA. We are looking for individuals who are solicitors, have legal and assessment experience and who are occupationally competent in two or more of the following areas of law:

  1. Business Law and Practice
  2. Dispute Resolution; Contract; Tort
  3. Legal System of England and Wales; Constitutional and Administrative Law and EU Law and Legal Services; Solicitors Accounts
  4. Property Practice; Land Law
  5. Wills and the Administration of Estates; Trusts
  6. Criminal Law and Practice.

We are also looking for individuals with a strong commitment to equality and diversity and the delivery of fair assessments.

For further details on the role, including who is eligible to apply, see Role Profile attached at the bottom of the advert on our website.

What is in it for you

  • Play an important role in the external quality assurance of the SQE
  • Use your subject matter expertise to help ensure that the assessments are fair, valid and reliable

What we are looking for

  • A qualified solicitor
  • Occupational competency in your chosen area(s) of legal expertise
  • Knowledge, understanding and recent experience of professional legal assessments at a similar level to the SQE or equivalent
  • Experience of evaluating assessments and writing evaluation reports
  • Strong analytical skills
  • Ability to communicate clearly and accurately, both in writing and orally
  • Strong commitment to equality and diversity and the delivery of fair assessments

We would be particularly keen to hear from applicants who meet the above criteria and are Welsh speakers.

Useful information

The successful applicant will start from September 2024 for a period of up to three years.

The commitment is likely to be between 10 – 15 days per year to review materials remotely, sample questions and observe training for both SQE1 and SQE2. This could also include observing SQE2 live assessments.

The work will be remunerated at a day rate of £400 gross per day, plus reasonable travelling expenses.

The successful candidates will be engaged via a contract for services. 

Please note that SQE subject matter experts cannot conduct any teaching, deliver any training or coaching relating to the SQE or SQE courses and cannot be involved in the drafting of any sample SQE questions and answers. Please see the role profile for details.

To apply, please visit Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE) – SRA (tal.net). Please upload a copy of your CV and a covering letter.

There is a role profile attached at the bottom of this advert.

If you have any questions about the role or working arrangements, please contact us via recruitment@sra.org.uk.

The closing date for applications is Monday 1st July 2024 at 23:55. Assessment and interviews are scheduled to take place during week commencing 29th July and week commencing 5th August 2024. Interviews will be conducted remotely using Microsoft Teams.

The SRA is the independent regulator of solicitors and law firms in England and Wales, protecting consumers and supporting the rule of law and the administration of justice. We do this by overseeing all education and training requirements necessary to practise as a solicitor, licensing individuals and firms to practise, setting the standards of the profession and regulating and enforcing compliance against these standards.

We offer an inclusive, supportive and friendly working environment and the chance to develop your career within a professional organisation. We are committed to the health and wellbeing of staff, helping everyone to strike a good balance between personal and professional life.

Additionally, we provide a generous flexible benefits package, including gym membership with a tax only cost, an excellent defined contribution pension scheme and an additional 3% of annual basic salary upon successful completion of probation.Attached Role Profile  

SME for the SQE Role Profile (June 2024) Final.pdf – 95KB 

Vacancy closing date: 01/07/2024, 23:55

The Solicitors Regulation Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

Diversity and inclusion is central to everything we do. We are actively committed to promoting and participating in good practice in the way that we attract, recruit and retain staff.

Everyone is encouraged to bring their whole self to work because we appreciate the value that a truly diverse workforce brings to an organisation. We celebrate difference, recognising the benefits this brings to our inclusive culture, including age, disability, gender identity and expression, religion, race, sex, sexual orientation and socio economic background.

 We are a Stonewall Top 100 Employer, a member of ENEI, a disability confident employer and we are happy to talk flexible working.

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