Job Ref W1261

CWAC NJC Grade 5/Salary £19,698 – £21,748

Closing Date 12/7/21

Cheshire West and Chester Council brings a fresh and energetic approach to providing top quality services for its many customers and communities. West Cheshire is a place where everyone can Thrive – through our core values of Teamwork, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Value for Money and Empowerment.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a dedicated Property and Environment Legal Support Officer to join our Lexcel accredited Legal Services team at Cheshire West and Chester Council. This role is within the Environment, Employment and Property Team and will provide legal and professional support to the Council in the areas of right to buy disposals, deferred payment agreements relating to care fees, landlord and tenant and planning and highways.

The successful candidate will be someone with a keen interest and enthusiasm for property and environment work and understanding and meeting the demands of the Council. An ability to adopt a common sense and commercial perspective to legal issues with a concern for quality of service is key. The successful candidate will be able to communicate clearly and concisely, both verbally and in written form, with excellent organisational skills, an ability to effectively prioritise and manage their own workload and possesses excellent IT skills.

The main duties will be to carry out straightforward legal tasks including tenancies at will, standard licence to underlet and assign, right to buy transactions, lodging and removing charges at the Land Registry, processing bond releases, straightforward highway and planning agreements and post-completion planning and highway matters.

Legal Services is a busy, supportive team. This role offers an interesting and varied workload and the support and encouragement to develop your potential. This is an excellent opportunity for any candidate who is interested in obtaining skills and knowledge in the areas of Property, Planning and Highways as well as Local Government law. Our core values are those of the Council – Teamwork, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Value for Money and Empowerment.

The role is 37 hours per week with a salary of £19,698 to £21,748 per annum. Currently as a team we are working from home and longer term, there will the opportunity to continue with flexible working arrangements. The Council offers generous leave allowances (25 rising to30 days a year) and excellent pension provision.

We are open to applications from candidates undertaking an approved apprenticeship but this is not a pre-requisite of the vacancy.

If you would like further information regarding the role, please contact either lee.hubbard@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk or chrisa.tsompani@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk to arrange an informal chat.

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis. We may decide to close the advert before the closing date if we have sufficient applications so please do not delay in submitting your application.

The contractual work location for this role is listed above however you may be required to work from a range of work locations or sites within the Borough and may also be required to work from home, depending on the needs of the service.

Applicants using Internet Explorer have experienced issues uploading attachments (supporting information and CVs) in the past, so if you are using IE we would suggest that you use a different browser when you submit your application –  for example Google Chrome.

In your application you should ensure that you provide evidence of how you have demonstrated meeting the Council’s core competencies of Teamwork, Honesty, Respect, Innovation, Value for Money and Empowerment.

Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.

If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date then it is likely that you have not been shortlisted on this occasion, however please do not be discouraged from applying again.

Cheshire West and Chester Council are committed to equality and diversity in employment.  Please click the Equality Policy for more information.

Cheshire West and Chester Council have adopted a Local Living Wage for our employees which means that all employees will receive a minimum of £9.30 per hour for all contracted hours.

For any technical enquiries please email Sourcingteam@ecwip.co.uk Please quote job reference number in all correspondence.