Head of Digital Platforms and Projects

Reports to: Chief Executive * Salary: £34,000 – £36,000 (full time) Hours: Full-time – 35 hours a week (4 days a week, pro rata salary, also available) Term: Permanent (subject to probationary period) Holiday: 25 days (plus bank holidays & Christmas closing), increasing with service Benefits: 5% pension contribution; private healthcare cashback scheme Location: Homeworking initially (due to Covid-19); flexible arrangements when able to return to office working (Central ) **

* Line management for the role will be reviewed after the first three months. ** The option to be home-based, if outside reasonable commuting distance to London, will also be considered.

Overview LawWorks is looking to recruit to this new project management and leadership role to support the delivery, development and potential integration of a number of new pro bono/access to justice platforms/websites. About LawWorks LawWorks is the operating name of the Solicitors Pro Bono Group. We are a charity, and our aim is to enable access to justice through supporting and developing the contribution of legal pro bono (free legal advice). With support from the Law Society of and Wales, we encourage, facilitate and celebrate pro bono across the profession in England and Wales; we also support pro bono by law schools and law students. LawWorks has around 150 members including some of the largest City firms and International firms with an office in London, national, regional and local firms, in-house teams, law schools and charities. LawWorks is a relatively small organisation with 21 members of staff (9 part-time) and a small team of volunteers and interns. 14 members of staff are usually based at an office in central London (currently working from home due to Covid-19), with 7 further staff based in Wales, the Midlands, and South West, North West, North and East of England. There are a number of key strands to our current work to support and facilitate pro bono: • We support a growing network of around 300 local independent pro bono advice clinics across England and Wales. We work with lawyers, advice agencies, charities and others to establish or develop new clinics, and provide ongoing information and support, training and resources, for clinic volunteers and coordinators. • Our Not-for-Profits programme facilitates the provision of free legal advice for smaller charities and not-for-profit organisations, supported by volunteer lawyers from among LawWorks’ members. We also provide free online training videos for charities, covering many of the common legal issues they face. • We support a number of ‘secondary specialisation’ projects to support the development of more ‘in-depth’ pro bono (e.g., bespoke casework and/or representation) in areas of social welfare law. This includes supporting solicitors to provide representation at social security appeal tribunals, an unpaid wages project, and (working with the charity Together for Short Lives) a project called ‘Voices for Families’ which provides legal advice for parents and carers of children with life-limiting conditions. • We have launched new ‘legal tech projects’, including: Free Legal Answers, providing initial legal advice to people on low incomes through an online platform. We are developing a UK version of the Justice Connect pro bono portal. The new Head of Digital Platforms and Projects will support these and other projects (see below). • We support Pro Bono Connect, a project to connect solicitors and barristers working together pro bono on civil litigation cases. LawWorks is a partner organisation for the Litigant in Person Support Strategy, working with Law for Life, Support Through Court, RCJ Advice, Advocate and the Access to Justice Foundation. Funded by the Ministry of Justice, the Strategy works to improve information, support, advice and representation for individuals going to court or tribunal without a lawyer. In addition to encouraging and supporting pro bono delivery, we work to address barriers to justice and to provide a ‘policy voice’ for pro bono - for example, working to reduce barriers to pro bono volunteering, and working with our members and professional bodies to influence policy on legal aid, justice modernisation and other aspects of access to justice. We are a busy and (for our size) complex charity, with a friendly team, a positive ethos and a commitment to doing all we can to ensure that LawWorks is a strong and efficient organisation and a great place to work.

Background to the role LawWorks is currently supporting 4 pro bono platforms and digital projects, each with significant potential to enable access to justice through pro bono. This is an exciting time for LawWorks, building on its expertise in encouraging and supporting pro bono and project delivery. The projects are: Free Legal Answers Free Legal Answers is an online platform that connects individuals in need of initial legal advice with pro bono lawyers. The platform is currently in its early stages and has so far provided advice to over 100 individuals – with numbers planned to significantly grow as more people are referred to the platform and more pro bono lawyers take part. Free Legal Answers is based on a service in the United States supported by the American Bar Association. LawWorks was granted a licence to launch a similar website in England and Wales. The initial project development was kindly overseen and supported by Deloitte Legal. The Access to Justice Foundation has awarded funding for a dedicated Free Legal Answers project and administration post under the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) Legal Support for Litigants in Person grant programme. Free Legal Answers: www.freelegalanswers.org.uk Pro Bono Portal UK (Justice Connect) LawWorks is developing a new pro bono platform to connect lawyers with more in- depth pro bono advice, casework, representation and a range of other legal and non- legal volunteering opportunities. Unlike Free Legal Answers, the pro bono matters are first triaged/submitted by advice agencies, law centres and other approved referral agencies. Developed originally by Justice Connect (an Australian access to justice charity), the pilot is part of a project (working with PILnet) to introduce the award-winning platform in different international legal jurisdictions. The platform also has the potential to be used by to enhance (and better coordinate) existing LawWorks projects, including the Not-for-Profits programme (for charities needing legal advice), Pro Bono Connect, and secondary specialisation projects. Pro Bono Portal UK: https://sites.google.com/view/probonoportaluk/ Both Free Legal Answers and Pro Bono Portal UK are supported by a small staff team (1 full-time and 1 part-time), with support from other LawWorks staff.

Major Incidents Pro Bono Project LawWorks has been working with the Law Society of England and Wales and other stakeholders (e.g., representatives of the Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono) to create a process and mechanism for enabling and coordinating a profession-wide response to major incidents, when access to advice may be needed. A steering group has been supporting the development of the project, building on the experience and learning of previous pro bono responses, particularly following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. LawWorks will play a key role in supporting pro bono responses, including working with HighQ (part of Thompson Reuters) to launch, maintain and develop a public facing website and platform, to connect people needing legal support with pro bono lawyers. HighQ: https://highq.com/gb/about-us/ The Jeanie Project The Jeanie Project is a registered charity (no. 1184979) established to relieve financial hardship “by assisting in the provision of legal services and advice…”. With initial funding from the Legal Education Foundation, the charity has developed and piloted (with the pro bono support of KIM Technologies) a new software platform (called Jeanie KIM). The free platform enables front-line staff and volunteers (in community groups and other local settings) to go through structured scenarios and questions with vulnerable clients with legal problems. Pro bono lawyers and others can access the ‘triaged’ information remotely and decide whether to take on a case. A pilot (and evaluation) was successful in delivering a ‘proof of concept’ for the platform, working with Toynbee Hall Women’s Clinic, Camden Community Law Centre, and the surgery offices of Sir QC MP and Lyn Brown MP. LawWorks has recently received a six-month grant for the project. The Jeanie Project: https://thejeanieproject.org.uk/ The role This is an exciting new role, with the potential to make a significant contribution to enabling access to justice through pro bono. To date, with internal and external support, the LawWorks Chief Executive has played the lead role in line-managing, overseeing and coordinating the above projects and platforms. The projects are now at a stage that requires significant additional internal capacity, resource and skills to ensure effective and efficient oversight of the individual projects and (longer term) how they could potentially be integrated. The aim is to maximise their individual and combined potential - to enable individuals and organisations to access pro bono support. The new Head of Digital Platforms and Projects will work with the management team, staff and stakeholders to ensure benefits realisation, longer-term sustainability and potential, including opportunities for ongoing product/platform development, integration (e.g., working towards a ‘joined-up’ pro bono digital resource), wider use and engagement and co-ordinated data collection and evaluation. The ideal candidate will bring a demonstrated history of success as a programme or project manager, able to develop and grow digital projects with strong user engagement in a dynamic environment, with a proactive style that balances the delivery of strategic goals, with attention to detail and good communication, management and relationship skills. Note: The post holder need not have developer or programmer experience but the ability to produce functional and technical development specifications for external software engineers/developers, and others, will be key. The role is full-time but the option of working 4 days (28 hours) a week (salary pro rata) is available. Post Covid, the option to be home-based, if outside reasonable commuting distance to London, will also be considered (sometime in the office will be required). Role purpose To lead on the effective planning, delivery, maintenance, optimisation and development of pro bono platforms, digital tools, new collaborative ventures and ways of working to enable pro bono and access to justice for those without means. With other LawWorks colleagues, to work with and support external stakeholders (e.g., clinics in the LawWorks Clinics Network) in identifying how digital platforms and innovation can enable and enhance service provision and access to justice. Role activities By developing an in-depth knowledge of the platforms and projects, the role will include: • Leading on project delivery and accountability, development and staff and resource management for current (and potentially new) online platforms and digital tools/resources. • Providing project and staff line-management, to ensure effective staff support, product delivery, problem-solving, development and ongoing improvement. • Being responsible for identifying and implementing changes, updates and upgrades to products and systems. • To actively support external engagement, promotion and participation, with referral agencies, law firms and in-house teams and individual solicitors, other legal professionals, funders and key stakeholders. • To support internal staff and team engagement, including supporting the utilisation of the platforms for LawWorks projects and programmes. • To identify new online and digital product opportunities as they may arise, including collaborative working and helping to identify resource and funding needs. • To support data collection, evaluation and reporting (working with, for example, the Director of Policy and External Affairs). • To ensure compliance with all funders’ reporting requirements relevant to the delivery of the platforms and projects and ensuring accurate and timely information on progress towards targets and objectives. • As a member of the management team, to contribute to the overall development and running of LawWorks, identifying opportunities for collaboration and ‘joined-up’ working and undertaking any other tasks which may from time to time be required. • Supported by the Senior Management Team, to contribute to the strategic direction and development of the platforms and projects, including developing annual targets and ensuring that these are achieved. • Other reasonable duties to support LawWorks in achieving its strategic outcomes and ensure effective impact and business operations. Person specification Essential • Strong IT and digital literacy – e.g., ideally with previous experience of digital platform/software implementation, digital products and IT systems – with strong technical aptitude and analytical skills. [Note: Developer or programmer experience is not essential but the ability to produce functional and technical development specifications for external software engineers/developers, and others, will be key]. • Excellent organisation, prioritisation, programme management and project management skills (from concept to delivery) with a keen eye for detail. • Excellent staff and line-management skills - able to lead, support, manage and work effectively within a team to deliver projects and solutions. • Strong analytical skills and ability to identify and execute improvements to existing processes. • The ability to communicate complex technical concepts to a non-technical audience. • Ability to initiate and maintain positive and effective working relationships with internal and external stakeholders. • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills. • Ability to think ahead and see the bigger picture. • An understanding of how user-focussed digital services can improve access to pro bono legal advice and other services. • A demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion for all. Desirable • Experience in the non-profit/charity sector. • Knowledge of latest developments in data processing & data/platform security. How to apply Please submit a CV and covering letter (the letter a maximum of 4 sides), outlining why you are interested in, and how you are suitable for, the role, including how your skills, knowledge and experience meet each aspect of the person specification above. Please address as much of the person specification as you can. We recognise that applicants may be much stronger on some of the requirements for the role than others. CVs which are not accompanied by a detailed covering letter will not be considered. Please apply by 12.00 noon on Monday 1st February– emailing your application to: [email protected] citing “HDPP” in the subject line. We are aiming to interview shortlisted candidates on 11th or 12th February (interviews will be held remotely). If you are unable to attend on either date, please mention with your application. For an informal conversation about the role (in confidence) please contact Martin Barnes at [email protected]. Shortlisted candidates may be asked to complete and return a written exercise prior to the interview. LawWorks is an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications irrespective of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or age. We would be grateful if you could also complete and include an equal opportunities monitoring form, you can download a copy of the form from the jobs page on our website: www.lawworks.org.uk/about-us/jobs-lawworks.

January 2021