Legal & Technical Adviser (Land Law)

Job Title: Legal & Technical Adviser (Land Law)

Salary: circa £41,000 depending on experience

Location: Stoneleigh, Warwickshire with agile working

Working Hours: 35 hours per week

Contract Type: 1 Fixed term (24 months)

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is the biggest farming organisation in the UK. We're proud to make a difference for all our members, by shaping attitudes towards British farming and leading the charge on a range of major issues, from climate change and food standards to rural crime and broadband rollout. 

The opportunity

Are you an experienced Land Law professional looking for a role where you can focus on delivering great advice without the pressures of billing targets or chargeable hours?

At the NFU, you'll join a friendly and supportive team providing expert land law advice to farming and rural businesses across England and Wales. Land law will be your core specialism, while you'll also develop knowledge in a range of wider legal and technical areas relevant to the agricultural sector.

Whether you're a Property Practitioner or a Property Litigator this is an opportunity to use your expertise in a varied and rewarding role while enjoying excellent work-life balance.

What you’ll be doing

This is a varied and interesting role where you will be involved with issues that will make a lasting difference for farmers and the nation. Unlike many private practice roles, there are no chargeable hour targets or client billing responsibilities. This allows our advisers to focus on delivering high-quality practical advice whilst maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

This means offering calm and knowledgeable advice over the phone and making often complex legal, technical and policy-related advice easy to understand for our members. Whilst land law is your core specialism, we’ll provide comprehensive training to help you develop expertise in the agricultural and rural business issues faced by our members.

Key responsibilities

You will:

• Provide practical land law advice to members by telephone and in writing.
• Advise on matters including land ownership including boundaries, adverse possession, easements and covenants; tenancies including agricultural tenancies, 1954 Act, telecoms and housing; utilities including wayleaves and easements and land disputes including nuisance, trespass and occupiers’ liability. 
• Produce legal guidance, template documents, factsheets and website content.
• Deliver presentations and support stakeholder engagement activities.
• Develop knowledge of wider legal and technical issues, affecting our members. The varied areas of law we advise our members on include, Environment, Agriculture, Planning Transport, Employment and general legal matters, including contract disputes. 

About you

You’ll be successful in this role if you have:

• A Law degree, related degree or other relevant legal qualification.
• Recent experience and responsibility advising on land law matters.
• Strong knowledge of UK legislation and case law.
• Experience providing advice directly to clients, customers or stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to explain complex legal issues in a practical and straightforward way.
• A collaborative approach and willingness to develop expertise in wider legal and technical subjects relevant to farming businesses.

Previous agricultural sector knowledge is not required. We provide comprehensive training and support to help you develop knowledge of farming, agriculture and the specialist legal issues faced by our members.

This role offers an excellent opportunity for an employment law professional seeking challenging and rewarding work in a supportive environment, without the pressure of chargeable hours or business development targets.

Business Services

Our legal and technical advice team is part of Business Services – our biggest department. We’re a busy team at the sharp end of the NFU’s services, from generating income for the organisation to answering member queries. In short, Business Services aims to deliver the best experience possible to our members, our partners and other people from outside the organisation.

Why choose us? 

Join us and you’ll find an organisation that encourages and enables you to achieve your full potential. In return you will be rewarded with a full range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday allowance (starting at 25 days a year + Bank Holidays, rising to 30 days pro rata with length of service), plus 1 annual Christmas company day 
• Option to buy and sell up to 5 days annual leave
• Company funded health Cashplan
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave
• Performance-related pay
• Competitive Pension and Life assurance
• Access to interest-free loans for cars, bikes, season tickets and driving lessons 
• Employee Assistance program to help you deal with life’s challenges
• Discounts on new vehicles, holiday rentals, wellbeing and lifestyle and many more
• Attractive, modern office, with on-site restaurant and free parking

Who we are

Every day, we're the voice of around 43,000 British farmers and growers who produce food, making sure their concerns are heard at the heart of government both online and locally. This means developing strong relationships with everyone from NFU colleagues to government ministers. So, as well as having a high profile in both the media and Westminster, we work with and support local members through a network of regional and county offices across England and Wales. 

Join us

We’re committed to recruiting a diverse and highly talented workforce. We’ll support you by providing you with extensive learning and development opportunities and build a career that balances your professional ambitions with your personal commitments.

We encourage you to apply as soon as possible. If we decide we've found the right person for the role, we reserve the right to withdraw this advert and close applications before the closing date.