Historic Environment Scotland
Paralegal
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Paralegal
Legal & Insurance Operations Officer
Starting salary: £34,721 per year Contract: Fixed-term, 2 years Grade: 3 Location: Longmore House, Salisbury Place, Edinburgh, EH9 1SH Working hours: 35 hours per week Interviews: In-person at Longmore House, week commencing 27 July 2026
About the Role
This role sits at the core of Historic Environment Scotland (HES)’s legal and insurance operations, supporting solicitors, managing casework, and maintaining critical infrastructures. Ideal for those who thrive on attention to detail, problem-solving, and handling fast-paced tasks, this position plays a vital role in safeguarding Scotland’s heritage while driving process improvements across legal and insurance functions.
For further details about the role and team, see the full job description.
Benefits
Joining Historic Environment Scotland offers the following:
- Civil Service Pension: Employer contribution of 28%
- Annual leave: 25 days (scales to 30 days after 3 years) + 11.5 public holidays
- Reimbursement for relevant professional subscriptions
- Support for education and personal development, including study leave for work-related courses
- Flexible working hours (where practicable)
- Free entry to all HES properties and up to three guests plus free entry to English Heritage, Manx, and Cadw sites
Key Responsibilities
- Managing sensitive information:
- Handle legally privileged and highly confidential data with professionalism, discretion, and accuracy.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
-
Supporting legal functions:
- Assist the Head of Legal and solicitors in legal research, drafting, formatting, and preparing documents.
- Liaise across HES departments to ensure seamless legal and insurance processes.
- Serve as an initial point of contact for legal requests, documenting details and managing stakeholder expectations.
-
Insurance claims management:
- Gather evidence, coordinate witnesses, and support timelines for insurance claims.
- Maintain accurate records and ensure smooth processing.
-
Legal workflow & data management:
- Triage incoming legal requests, prioritising workload and escalating risks.
- Manage legal shared inboxes, workflows, and information systems (including contract, IP, and insurance records).
- Update documents, registers, and systems (e.g., SharePoint) to maintain consistency and accuracy.
-
Document control:
- Maintain and update legal templates.
- Draft and issue standard legal documents (under legal supervision).
-
Process improvement:
- Contribute to ongoing refinement of legal templates, processes, and contract management systems.
-
Administrative support:
- Assist with financial and procurement tasks (e.g., purchase orders, invoices, expense management).
-
Team collaboration:
- Participate in cross-departmental projects, including CPD tracking and professional fees administration.
Key Requirements
Essential
To apply successfully, submit a cover letter (up to 1,200 words) addressing how you meet the essential and desirable criteria with real-life examples. Refer to CV & Cover Letter Guidance.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
- Qualification: At least SCQF Level 7 equivalent in law or related studies (e.g., SCQF framework link).
- Experience: Proven legal work experience (e.g., in-house, private practice) or relevant studies.
- Technical skills:
- MS Office 365 proficiency (SharePoint, Teams, Word, Excel, Visio, Adobe Acrobat Pro (for signing/e-sourcing), Outlook).
- Experience drafting, formatting, and maintaining complex legal documents/templates.
- Core competencies:
- Strong understanding of basic legal principles.
- Organisational skills with ability to prioritise, manage workloads, and meet deadlines in a high-pressure environment.
- Analytical, communication, and problem-solving skills at a professional level.
- Attention to detail in handling sensitive material.
- Relationship-building to work effectively with colleagues, managers, and external stakeholders.
Desirable
For further details on desirable skills, refer to the full job description.
Diversity & Inclusion
HES is committed to a diverse workforce and encourages applications from all backgrounds, including Gaelic speakers. Accommodations (e.g., alternative application formats) are available via recruit@hes.scot or 0131 668 8600. Right to work in the UK is required.
Apply now by following the instructions here.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills