Principal Lawyer - West Midlands, United Kingdom - West Northamptonshire Council

Description

Are you an experienced Adult Social Care Lawyer looking to expand your skills, progress your career and step into a leadership role? Join the new Legal Team at West Northants Council, one of the newest and the fourth biggest Unitary Council in England.

For more information please contact Julia Rickards, Head of Legal (People), on for a confidential discussion.
Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
  
• Cycle to Work scheme.
  
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
  
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
  
• Car Lease scheme
  
• Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
  
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
  
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
  
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
  
• Our West Ways of Working – We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
  
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.
  
  What will you be doing?
  

  As Principal Adult Social Care Lawyer you will sit within our People legal team, supporting the Head of Legal (People) in the management of the team and working collaboratively with our Officers and elected Members in the work they undertake.
  
  

  You will be our technical specialist with duties including:
  
  

  • Managing a full caseload of Public Sector Adult matters such as mental health, community care, safeguarding, ordinary residence, deprivation of liberty and Court of Protection, including conducting advocacy.
    
  • Advising the Council on a wide range of Adult Social Care matters, delivering training where necessary.
    
  • Advising on policy, strategy and procedure relating to Adult Social Care issues.
    
  • Advising on pre-action and Judicial Review matters relating to Adult Social Care law.
    
  • Supervising and delivering training to a dedicated legal team.
    
    About you
    Whilst experience of advising on Adult Social Care law is essential, local government experience is not. What's more important is a passion for delivering an excellent legal service, a desire to help shape and deliver an exemplar local authority legal service and a drive to progress and achieve your own ambition.
    About us
    At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.
    
    Our vision is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.
    
    Hear more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council
    
    We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner
    
    The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.
    
    

    If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email for support.
    
    

    West Northants Council, where careers thrive.