Senior Lawyers

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

Support and assist the Head of Legal Services to deliver an efficient, effective and responsive service to clients in relation to adult social care.

Main Responsibilities

• Provide specialist input to the Service Director and the Head of Legal Services in the delivery and improvement of its services and business strategies
• Represent the Council as and when required at Hearings and any related legal proceedings
• Procure external legal assistance when requested to do so
• Take necessary action under the relevant legislation and case law and ensure appropriate professional standards are maintained in line with accepted good practice
• Manage a busy caseload
• Deliver training and workshops to clients

Specific Qualifications and Experience

• Qualified solicitor or barrister or Chartered Legal Executive
• Extensive post qualification experience in the relevant areas of the law, equivalent to PQE 5
• Up to date knowledge of relevant areas of the law and proceedings
• Demonstrable experience of persuasion and negotiation at a senior level

Personal Qualities & Attributes

• Ability to provide creative and innovative solutions to complex procedural and legal issues
• Tact and diplomacy
• Ability to work on own initiative and represent Legal Services at all levels within the authorities and externally
• Ability to give complex and specialist advice in highly sensitive and pressurised situations  Ability to deliver pragmatic and cost effective advice and solutions to clients
• Ability to work with limited supervision and manage a busy case load.
• This job description is not exhaustive and reflects the type and range of tasks, responsibilities and outcomes associated with this post.

Job Requirements

Must be able to travel, using public or other forms of transport where they are viable, or by holding a valid UK driving licence with access to own or pool car

The Ideal Candidate

We are seeking to recruit Adult Social Care lawyers to  undertake varied, high-quality work with like-minded and supportive colleagues who are committed to public service and excellent client care.  

Ability to work with limited supervision and manage a busy case load.

If you would like a confidential conversation about the role prior to applying please contact Elizabeth O’Sullivan on 01202 123963

About BCP Council

BCP Council provides services to a diverse community of 400,000 residents and employs more than 5,000 people. Our area includes over 15 miles of beautiful world-renowned coastline. We can offer career defining roles to transform and improve services. By working with us, you can help deliver a vision of a thriving, word-class, prosperous and inclusive place for generations to come.

Our Benefits

We offer an excellent benefits package to colleagues. Find out more on our website

As a result of the creation of BCP Council in 2019, we are working on simplifying our terms and conditions of service and will be creating a single pay structure which is to be applicable for all employees. It is important to us that we offer benefits that our colleagues value as part of their total employment package and we are reviewing these to make sure we have it right. We have been in a process of collective bargaining since 2019 and have positively worked forward to reach an agreed position with the unions for the new contractual offer. This has taken longer than we hoped and therefore we are having to consider all alternative avenues available to enable us to remove inequality in the organisation as a result of bringing together 3 councils. 

We are in the process of establishing a timescale for implementation, and all colleagues joining us will be included in these changes. We want to reassure everyone that whichever route is taken to reach the new terms and conditions, we can honour continuous service and there will not be any job reduction as a result of the implementation of Pay and Reward.  If you have any questions at all about this process, please feel free to raise this with the hiring manager.