Job Description

To provide high quality and solution focused legal services to the City Council, schools and other clients in one of the following teams:

• Child Protection
• Commercial Law
• Property and Regeneration
• Adult Social Care and Litigation
• Planning and Regulatory Law

To be a senior advisor and representative in an area of legal specialism including complex, high profile and sensitive matters. To be able to provide advice on other legal matters affecting local authorities. To manage and develop lawyers and other fee earners. To support the head of law and legal management team in the management of the service.

Directly Responsible For:

• Lawyers and other team members
• Trainee Lawyers allocated to the team

Directly Responsible To:

• Head of Law

Main Areas of Responsibility:

• To undertake a full caseload of complex and often sensitive legal matters within one or more specialisms of the team and dealing with complex and sensitive matters
• To provide proactive and solution focussed advice that supports the delivery of the council's priorities and policies
• To manage and develop lawyers and / or other team members within your team ensuring the delivery of high quality and cost-effective legal services
• To be able to advise on legal matters relevant to public and local government law including on executive and committee decision-making, information governance and public law challenges
• To advise members and formal member level bodies including Cabinet, Council, committees and overview and scrutiny in respect of the team's specialism and as required by the City Director and / or their Deputy Director
• To support the City Director of Law & Governance in their role as monitoring officer and in promoting the Nolan Principles in the council and escalating matters as appropriate
• To externally commission legal work for the Council where required, ensuring value for money and high-quality advice and representation is received
• To ensure the service, teams and the wider Council is aware of the current and future law and practice affecting the authority
• To participate in the delivery of projects and programmes in the Legal Service and / or corporately
• To support the Head of Law with the development of legal procedures and policies
• To support the Head of Law in the delivery of value for money and income generation in the work of the team
• To have responsibility to authorise payments from an agreed expenditure budget
• To deputise for the Head of Law in their absence or as requested
• To manage lawyers and team members ensuring their performance management and development

The job holder will embed diversity and inclusion into the team and Council's working promoting non-discriminatory practices and challenging discriminatory practices at all times

To ensure compliance with statutory duties and corporate policies and standards and ensure within team, raising non-compliance including but not limited to health and safety, information governance, financial and procurement regulations.

Full Time 35 hours per week; 1 day onsite and 4 days WFH