Job Title	Head of Professional Conduct (Temporary)
Team	Professional Conduct
Reporting to	Executive Director of Regulation
Responsible for	Professional Conduct Manager Professional Conduct Operations Manager Disciplinary Proceedings Manager Investigations Manager (recruitment pending)
Job purpose	The purpose of this role is to lead and efficiently manage the Society’s regulatory duties insofar as they involve dealing with regulation of solicitors' professional conduct and complaints investigation to ensure effective and lawful regulation of the solicitors' profession in Scotland.
Key responsibilities	Lead the Professional Conduct Team including Managers, Complaints Reporters, Clerks to the Professional Conduct Sub-committees and Fiscals, ensuring compliance with the Society’s HR policies and procedures. Ensure that complaints are handled and investigated competently and timeously and that any sanctions are enforced. Plan and oversee Professional Conduct Team budget including income, staff and other costs. Create an annual operating plan for the Professional Conduct Team that fits with our overall plan and long-term strategy, has the necessary resource and support to deliver on it and the appropriate Key Strategic Measures to manage performance. Innovate new strategies for the handling of complaints in line with legislation, changes to legislation, regulatory best practice, recommendations from the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) and the SLCC Annual Plan. Operate as a key member of the Regulation Directorate’s management team, building positive working relationships with the Executive Director of Regulation and other senior managers in the Regulation Directorate and contributing to the implementation of the Society’s strategy. Collaborate and co-operate with other team leaders in the senior management group across the Law Society, to deliver cross team initiatives. Work closely and effectively with various Law Society committees including the Regulatory Committee, the Professional Conduct Sub-committees (x2) and the Complaints & Oversight Sub-committee Develop positive and influential working relationships with colleagues internally and key external stakeholders such as the SLCC, the SSDT, the Scottish Government, the Legal Defence Union and others. Respond effectively to corporate complaints from those affected by the complaints process and to handling complaints from the SLCC. Influence potential legislative or regulatory change to bring about improvements to the complaint handling process for the benefit of the public and the profession. Contribute to the Society’s responses to external policy consultations, or correspondence from the SLCC, SSDT, Scottish Government or other external stakeholders. Prepare and deliver talks and training (internally and externally) about the Society's complaints investigation function, and broader points of professional conduct policy or practice Work positively with the Communications team to ensure the Society responds appropriately to press enquiries. Carry out any other reasonable duties that may be expected by the Executive Director of Regulation.
Date	7 July 2025

Essential	Desirable
Qualifications & training	LLB and Dip LP A Scottish Solicitor with an unrestricted practicing certificate
Work experience	Experience of handling service or professional conduct complaints Experience of structuring and leading a team Demonstrable success in change management and/or performance/business improvement initiatives Experience of developing and delivering priorities within operating plans which align to organisational strategic objectives Used to handling a high-volume workload in a fast paced environment, working to strict timescales Experience of quality control including the interpretation of statistics and management data Experience of preparing and managing budgets	Extensive experience of handling conduct complaints Track record of working successfully with committees Experience of working in a regulatory role in a law firm Project management experience Experience of reviewing reports and providing guidance to improve quality
Knowledge & skills	Excellent communication skills Good presentation skills Excellent analytical skills	Knowledge of case management systems (Visual Files), secure e-mail (Egress) and membership database (iMIS) Knowledge of key legislation underpinning Scottish solicitor regulation – namely the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 and the Legal profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Acy 2007
Competencies & values	Demonstrates our values of respect; openness; progress; integrity; and inclusion Team player Resilient and stress tolerant Comfortable with driving change
Other	Some evening & out of normal hours work required Able to work effectively from home and from the Society’s Edinburgh office