Solicitor/Lawyer

Job Introduction

Role Purpose

Support and assist the Head of Legal Services and the Legal Services team to deliver an efficient, effective and responsive service to clients in relation to the law in children’s social care, child protection and education, in line with strategic objectives.

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 Councils as and when required in all childcare and education related legal proceedings
• Deliver clear, consistent and accurate legal advice to officers, members and clients on all matters relating to children’s social care, child protection and education 
• 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 for officers and members and updates on changes in the law as appropriate

The Ideal Candidate

• Qualified solicitor or barrister or Chartered Legal Executive 
• Some post qualification experience in children’s social care and child protection proceedings
• Up to date knowledge in children’s social care and child protection proceedings
• Demonstrable experience of persuasion and negotiation 
• 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 with 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
• 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

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 for further details see here

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.

DBS

BCP Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of the community and expects all staff and volunteers to share the same commitment.  Applicants to this post will be required to complete the appropriate level of Disclosure & Barring Service Check. Please refer to the Job Description or Role Profile for more details.