2 year Fixed Term Appointment

Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is seeking a qualified solicitor to join our Legal team, reporting to our Head of Legal. This is a new role within a team of three solicitors and a legal and insurance business partner.

We would love to hear from you if you have excellent commercial contract drafting and negotiation skills, and experience in one or more of the following areas:

intellectual property law matters, particularly copyright and trade marks;
public law, including procurement law;
data protection and freedom of information law; and
personal injury law, and/or health & safety;
dispute resolution.

About the role

In this role, you will join our Legal team, which sits within the Finance and Corporate Services Directorate and is headed by the Head of Legal.

HES is a unique organisation with a broad range of functions. We are a ‘non-department public body’ (NDPB) with charitable status, and we also have a large commercial business, looking after some of Scotland’s leading visitor attractions. The breadth of our organisation’s remit results in a really varied and interesting legal caseload.

As an in-house solicitor, your role will involve assisting our Head of Legal in providing advice to the organisation on a wide range of matters, enabling us to manage our legal risks. You will also be involved in implementing processes, controls and business improvements to embed a positive culture of legal risk management.

As a small team we are proud of the impact we have within the business and are serious about creating value through the work we do. You will be at the forefront of creating that value through delivering practical and high-quality legal advice, and through being a trusted advisor to colleagues on legal issues. You will have exposure to colleagues at all levels and across all areas of the business, giving you a real understanding of the wide variety of work we do at HES.

About you

To be successful in this role you will have good attention to detail while also being able to keep an eye on the bigger picture. You will be highly self-motivated with good personal organisation skills, and you will be comfortable adapting to changing demands in a fast-paced environment. You will have a desire to improve yourself and others and be passionate about doing good work for the benefit of the public. You will be curious about what others do and why they do it and will be able to take an objective view and bring a fresh perspective to find solutions to problems.

Interested?

Visit our website to view the full job description and for information about applying online for this interesting and exciting opportunity.

Closing date: midday, Wednesday 22 April 2026.

1 contract Legal jobs in Prestonpans, East Lothian