Salary £38,890 – £44,863

Ref L&G/21/154493

Closing Date 11th July 2021

There has never been a more interesting and exciting time to work within the Law and Governance Directorate at Wirral Council. We are busy expanding our team of lawyers, to provide us with the right mix of people and skills to respond to the innovation, improvement and growth around us and provide an excellent legal service to the Council and our communities.

In order to achieve our objectives, we are looking for several Assistant Lawyer/Lawyer roles within planning, property, contracts and commercial. These are exciting roles that will provide forward thinking, customer focused and professional legal advice, to its client bodies, services and functions with legal, procedural and business services. A key focus for this role will be to support the success of large-scale regeneration activity and economic growth ambitions for Wirral.

The post holders will provide legal advice and services to the Council’s Members, officers and external bodies and identify, research and anticipate the effects on service provision of new developments in the law. Key requirements of this post will be to draft, prepare and comment on committee reports, policy documents and other briefing papers for Senior Officers. This will include the provision of wider local government and regulatory, procedural and administrative law advice for the Council and its services and for that purpose inform oneself of all material matters in addition to the areas of the practice normally assigned. You will also ensure compliance with the Governance and Assurance Directorate’s and the Team Business Plan(s), the Legal Services’ Practice Manual and quality assurance requirements.

We are looking for people with strong organisational skills and a passion and drive to deliver results consistently and provide high standards of customer care. You will be a qualified barrister, solicitor, legal executive (Fellow) or equivalent (subject to or awaiting QLTS). You will further demonstrate knowledge of local government legislation and guidance with an awareness of current local government issues including governance arrangements, decision making and corporate governance.

The successful candidate will work on their own initiative, be solution focused, pragmatic and escalate matters where appropriate. They will further show tact, diplomacy, empathy and political awareness with resilience, especially in dealing with competing and demanding pressures and potentially emotionally difficult situations and information. Ultimately, you will demonstrate a commitment and enthusiasm to making a difference for residents, you will role model our values and will be an ambassador for the Council.

This post is politically restricted at Sensitive level.

For an informal discussion about the role, please contact Vicki Shaw on 0151 691 8481 or email vickishaw@wirral.gov.uk

Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.

Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration. Forms received via the post will not be processed.

All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK. Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the Jobs page.

The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.