Legal Research Assistant (6-month fixed term contract) 

Basis: Permanent, Full time 36 hours per week

A £312 tax-free working from home allowance is also payable annually. 

Location: Cardiff, Edinburgh Belfast or London (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office) 

Benefits: Outstanding benefits including Civil Service Pension Scheme, flexible working, 28+ days holiday, and more. 

About the Electoral Commission 

The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.

As we enter a bold new chapter under our five-year Corporate Plan, we are increasing our workforce and transforming how we plan and deliver core services. This post plays a central role in that journey.

About the role

We are looking for up to two Legal Research Assistants to join our legal team. This is an opportunity to contribute to meaningful public service work while developing your research and analytical skills in a supportive and collaborative environment.

In this role, you will support the legal and policy research that underpins the Commission’s Corporate Plan projects and wider reform activity. You will work closely with colleagues across the Commission’s legal and policy teams, helping to gather, review, and assess the practical impact of the current law and to contribute to developing options for reform. You will also be involved in translating research and options into clear and accessible briefings for decision makers, including senior leaders.

Although situated within the Commission’s legal team, the role is primarily a research role. It is therefore not necessary for the post holder to be a qualified lawyer, but rather to be able to demonstrate research and analytical skills. This role would suit someone who enjoys research, values accuracy and clarity, and is interested in how law and policy operate in practice.

What you will do 

In this role, you will:

About the team

You will be joining a friendly, collaborative and supportive legal team that values openness, shared learning and constructive challenge. The team works closely with colleagues across the organisation and plays a key role in developing and improving electoral law, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to work that helps shape and protect democracy.

The team welcomes people from a wide range of academic and professional backgrounds. While the role requires degree level education, a law degree is not essential. An interest in social policy, public law or democratic processes, alongside strong research skills and curiosity, is highly valued.

The team culture is inclusive and encouraging, making this an excellent environment for graduates or those early in their career to build confidence and develop expertise in legal and policy research. Your work will support and complement that of experienced lawyers, helping to free up capacity for complex legal matters while giving you exposure to high level issues and the opportunity to make a meaningful contribution to the Commission’s work.

Who we’re looking for

We are looking for someone who brings the following:

Essential

Desirable

If you do not meet every requirement but feel this role could be a good fit, we encourage you to apply. We are interested in your potential as well as your experience.

Why work for us? 

We offer a supportive working environment with opportunities to learn and develop. We are open to flexible working arrangements and are happy to discuss what this could look like for you.

We are committed to equality of opportunity and welcome applications from all sections of the community. We particularly encourage applications from people from underrepresented groups in the legal profession

We offer a strong total reward package, including:

How to apply

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.

When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:

Do not include: 

Do include: 

If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV. 

Supporting disabled applicants

The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and nondisabled applicants.

If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.

Key dates

Interviews may be conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams.