The Solicitors Regulation Authority is searching for new lay and solicitor members to join its board – but certain categories of practitioner need not apply.

In the job specification for solicitor members, the SRA pinpoints applicants who have provided legal services through an alternative business structure, or practised in a high street firm. Those from an organisation that provides digital or online advice, or come from a relevant academic field, are also being encouraged to apply.

Non-solicitor members need to have either used professional services from the perspective of a small business, offered support and advice to consumers, or have experience of competition within markets.

The four vacancies have arisen because existing members of the board have come to the end of their term. The SRA says it now wants to increase diversity among its members and wants to reflect the communities that solicitors serve and the diversity of the profession itself. Applicants should have an ‘appetite for contributing to strategic change, a demonstrable commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion and enthusiasm for acting as an ambassador externally and within the organisation’.

Anna Bradley, chair of the SRA Board, said: ‘I am keen that we bring real diversity to our thinking, whether that is diversity of race, of gender, or of thought and culture. 

‘That’s key to delivering what is a busy and dynamic programme of work as we bed in a comprehensive reform programme, transform the way that would-be solicitors qualify and support the sector to make the most of technology.’

Salaries for the roles are described in the job advert as ‘competitive’. The most recent costs statement produced by the SRA, covering the 2018/19 year to the end of October, showed that total salary costs and expenses for board members was £380,000. The board, which meets behind closed doors having excluded members of the public and media, consists of 11 members, of whom four are female and one is from a BAME background. Applications for vacancies close on 22 September.