About the role
Are you ready to take the next step in your career and do you want to be supported in achieving the step after that? We have created a brand new in-house Legal Team to support the Northamptonshire Children’s Trust. Join the existing Legal Team at West Northants Council, one of the newest and the fourth biggest Unitary Council in England.
If you have experience in Child Care Law, we want to hear from you. Whether you are looking to develop your local government experience, change sector into local government or return to work after a career break, you won’t find a better place to do so.
Whilst local government experience is not essential, a passion for delivering an excellent legal service in a fast-paced environment and a desire to help shape and deliver an exemplar local authority legal service is.
What will you be doing?
Your duties will include:
- Representing the Council in all type of proceedings, including complex matters.
- Carrying out advocacy in the Family Court.
- Advise the client department in respect of emergency or urgent applications and to provide representation at Court in respect of these cases.
- Advising upon and conducting proceedings relating to the care and protection of children and young people.
- Being a lead within the team and providing guidance and support to other members of the team.
- To prepare and deliver training to the client department.
About you
West Northants is a great place to work. With a focus on career development, wellbeing, flexibility and support, this is an opportunity for you to take the next step on your career journey in a supported environment. We have mentoring, buddying, coaching, training and many other opportunities available to assist and develop you, to ensure your success in the role and your ongoing progression and success within the Council. We will also consider any version of flexible working you can come up with.
If you are an Admitted Solicitor/Advocate or Barrister and have good working knowledges of key childcare legislation along with experience of working in local government or private practice, then we need to talk to you. You should also have proven advocacy skills. If this role appeals to you then please contact Julia Rickards, Head of Legal (People), on 07585 405339 for a confidential discussion.
Our benefits
You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.
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.
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 careers@westnorthants.gov.uk for support.
West Northants Council, where careers thrive.
Attached documents
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