Senior Lawyer - Child Care

Senior Lawyer – Child Care

Salary Scale: PO8 - £57,663 - £60,819

Hybrid with 1-2 days (minimum) in the office

Full of energy and culture, Waltham Forest is a progressive and innovative borough with a legal service to match. We provide our diverse client departments with the best possible service through our highly skilled professionals. As a Senior Lawyer, you’ll represent Children’s Social Care and be a specialist in your area. Part of our Lexcel-accredited practice, you’ll be a key member of our dedicated Families team and an asset to the Council.

At this senior level, you’ll manage a caseload of complex public childcare matters and give expert advice to the Children’s Social Care department. You’ll also support the Principal Lawyers and Assistant Director by giving guidance on corporate issues and attending management meetings where required. It’s a chance to help build good internal relationships – but your remit doesn’t stop there. You’ll also supervise a sub-team of legal professionals within the Family Team, undertaking 1-2-1s, appraisals and training as well as recruitment. It’s a great way to hone your leadership skills.

To be considered, you must be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister, or qualified Legal Executive with substantial post qualification experience. Reporting to our Principal Lawyers, you will personally undertake high priority complex and/or sensitive legal work within the team’s specialist areas. To excel, you’ll need excellent communication skills, both written and oral. Sound ICT skills and some understanding of Adult Social Care will be desirable too.

If you’re aiming to develop management skills, this is the ideal way to gain experience. Day to day, you’ll manage personnel and client liaison at a senior level. Ready to boost your expertise and help us change a child’s world every day? Apply now to be part of our team.

Please note that this role is subject to a Basic Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Equal Opportunities

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

For an informal discussion please contact Delina Teklehaymanot at Delina.Teklehaymanot@penna.com or contact Delina on 07752 791 517 for further information.