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Job Purpose

This is an excellent opportunity to appoint an Interim Commercial Lawyer, 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

Candidates must be suitably experienced and proficient in the drafting of social care and public health contracts, advice on the specific legal regimes affecting the procurement of such contracts and the conduct of social care and public health commissioning activity.

Part of the role will be the covering of a heavy caseload of such matters in order to cover a period of long term absence and as such, applicants need to have the ability to start such work immediately and complete cases to challenging timescales.

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.

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

Key Responsibilities

• 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.
• This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive, it is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility at the time of writing. To carry out other tasks as may reasonably be required.

Supervision and Management Responsibility

• Ensuring activities are planned to include meaningful one to one conversations, quality annual appraisals and regular workforce planning and development.
• Manages performance and behavioural issues effectively Budget and Financial Responsibility:
• Being fully accountable for managing the council's resources well and complying with statutory requirements. This includes managing time, avoiding unnecessary waste, reuse and recycle resources to reduce personal impact.
• Monitor financial performance and deliver within budget.
• Monitor financial performance, deliver within budget and seek savings and efficiencies by exploring opportunities to draw funding where appropriate.

Qualifications, Training and Experience

Essential

• Qualified solicitor, barrister, FCILEX (in all cases authorised to practice in England & Wales).
• Must be authorised to conduct litigation under the Legal Services Act 2007.
• Expert knowledge and understanding of the law and procedure relating to the relevant area of specialism.

Desirable

• An understanding of public law as it applies to local authorities, including decision making and governance.
• Management training relevant to the seniority and nature of the role Experience.

Essential

• Experience of providing complex and specialist legal advice to a local authority or similar organisation.
• Experience of the supervision of staff.
• Experience of building and maintaining positive relationships with clients (internal and external) and delivering their needs.
• To provide legal advice in the team's specialism, including advising and representing the Council in internal and external forums.
• To provide risk based and solution focussed advice to clients.
• To work under pressure and with minimal supervision.
• To support the delivery and cost effectiveness of legal services through continuous improvement.
• To be able to manage and motivate team members.
• A skilled communicator to a range of audiences in writing and verbally.

Desirable

• Experience of working on projects.
• To work collaboratively at all levels and in a non-hierarchical way.
• To have an understanding of working in a political environment.
• To promote and advance diversity and inclusion and challenge inequality in the service and Council.
• To support the work of the monitoring officer Commitment.

Essential

• Experience of working on projects.
• To work collaboratively at all levels and in a non-hierarchical way.
• To have an understanding of working in a political environment.
• To promote and advance diversity and inclusion and challenge inequality in the service and Council.
• To support the work of the monitoring officer.