Closing date: 12 April 2024

Manchester City Council

Principal Lawyer

Salary: Grade 11 £52,882 - £56,451 (Bar at £55,301) per annum pro rata

Job Description:

About The Role

This role is subject to -

  • Qualification and registration - Qualified solicitor, barrister, Chartered Lawyer or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives holding a current practising certificate.
  • DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance - this post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (amended in 2013). Appointable candidates will be required to apply for a Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. Information provided by you, or the DBS will be dealt with in a confidential manner and in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice which can be viewed here. We have a policy on the Employment of Ex-Offenders, and it is available upon request.

Put your legal experience to work for Manchester

Having investment into our structure we are growing our already effective team of lawyers, legal officer and business support team who produce incredible, outstanding results with an enhanced vision for the future.  Aligning ourselves with Children’s Services to deliver safe, efficient, and effective services to families, the enhanced vision is supported by new team structures, an enriched training, mentoring and coaching tool and a new Case Management System.  Highly valued by our clients, our excellent relationships and continual looking for better ways of doing things and achieving greater heights produces an innovative, responsive, inclusive and transparent legal service.

At the heart of everything we do is:
● the safety and needs of children
● high-quality representation of Children’s Services.

There is little else in life graver than a parent or carer losing a child from their care. How do we do this emotionally demanding work and not burn out? It’s through teamwork – working together, trusting each other, combining our experience, and sharing our knowledge and expertise to get the right result. 

We support each other, laugh, interact, problem-solve and have difficult conversations. This promotes deep learning and a strong sense of belonging and common purpose, creating effective mutual relationships that achieve our team’s goals.  We feed on one another’s contagious enthusiasm for our projects with a dynamic team spirit made possible by the synergism between us all.

About the Candidate

★ Are your skills and legal mind being rewarded?
★ Do you work together as part of a supportive team?
★ Is your work wide-ranging and varied?
★ Are you achieving your goals?

Be part of our incredible journey.

Why work with us?

We offer our lawyers flexible start and finish times with an effective hybrid working-practice model.  There’s opportunity for development and variety thanks to the way our teams practise in our Lexcel-accredited and supported legal service.

Legal work for public services in Manchester, Salford and Rochdale Councils and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority puts you among the few practitioners in England’s first, and biggest, devolved region, where major decisions are now taken in-house rather than in Whitehall and by NHS administrations. 

If practising in a supportive public service legal team is the right cultural fit for you, please get in touch for an informal discussion.

To arrange an informal discussion on these roles please contact Jonathan Broad, Head of Children & Families Legal Services on email at jonathan.broad@manchester.gov.uk

Manchester City Council is an Equal Opportunities Employer and we positively welcome applications from all candidates regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

As part your application, please submit your Curriculum Vitae and detailed Expression of Interest setting out how your skills and experience meet the role profile.

IF YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY, PLEASE READ OUR LEGAL SERVICES BLOG Put your legal experience to work for Manchester City Council. | greater jobs

For further information and to apply, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/mpujntcz