The job market is likely to be more competitive than for some time in the coming months. But even those most desperate to find employment might baulk at the prospect of becoming chief ombudsman of the Legal Ombudsman service, based on its own efforts to find a new head.

The problem is the recruitment advertisement doesn’t exactly sell the job. Indeed, the way this role is described makes it sound like the job from hell.

The ad is headed with a recent negative headline (‘Legal Ombudsman needs to shape up’) and begins by admitting it has been a ‘challenging few years’ for the embattled ombudsman. Not a terribly positive start. With no little under understatement, the advert states the organisation is ‘keenly aware there is still much to be done’ to turn the place around.

The successful candidate will be an ‘extraordinary leader’ with a track record of achievement working at board level in a ‘complex organisation’. The advert suggests this will be a ‘demanding role, and you will need to demonstrate high levels of personal resilience in managing competing pressures’.

That last sentence hints that this is not the type of job you take on lightly. Still, the £120,000 salary on offer might make some of those pressures a little more tolerable.

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