Closing date: 05 November 2023

Southwark Council

Specialist Governance Lawyer

Salary: £56,271 - £69,990

Job Description:

The Role

You will join a team of well-rounded lawyers providing high quality legal support to the council on a range of complex issues. As our go-to expert on governance you’ll use your deep specialist knowledge to advise a variety of decision makers, up to the Chief Executive and the Council Leader. You’ll also offer guidance and support to other members of the legal team including the Monitoring Officer, to help develop our knowledge and understanding of governance. You will also manage a team including a governance lawyer and corporate information governance specialists. This role will require developing strong working partnerships both inside and outside the council, as well as keeping up to date with changing legislation.

About Southwark:

We are the largest local authority social landlord in London, managing 55,000 homes lived in by 40% of Southwark’s residents. We are home to over 18,300 businesses including iconic London venues and social enterprises and we have a young, diverse, and growing population.

At Southwark we are committed to making our borough just and fair and are taking positive action to tackle inequalities.  Our residents and communities are our greatest asset and the passion we have for Southwark is shared by millions of Londoners who enjoy our outstanding cultural offer, use our hospitals and attend our universities. Our refreshed borough plan and focus on Southwark Stands Together, (which is our work with Southwark’s communities and the council’s staff to tackle racism, injustice and inequality) underpins all that we do.

About You

You will be a highly experienced solicitor, with an extensive record of handling complex high value and/or sensitive litigation cases and managing risk, including areas such as governance, freedom of information and GDPR. With an understanding of the political sensitivities of our work and an understanding of governance, you’ll be aware of the impact your advice could have for both the council and the communities we serve. This means you’ll need the ability to develop good working relationships with people both inside and outside the council and to explain complex legal concepts clearly and concisely, both verbally and in writing. You will have the ability to manage and develop other lawyers.

Whether you are already working as a specialist lawyer in this area, or you have detailed knowledge and understanding of governance and information governance and are looking for an opportunity to apply it in a more specialist role, we would like to hear from you.

Additional salary details

Benefits and more information:

In your role, we want you to feel supported, challenged and rewarded. You will benefit from our family-friendly policies and a local government pension scheme, plus many other staff benefits. You will join a friendly, supportive team that strives for excellence and values its members.

For more information on our staff benefits, please visit:

https://jobs.theguardian.com/minisites/southwark-council/life-at-southwark-benefits-and-more/ -

https://jobs.southwark.gov.uk/why-us/

- This post attracts a JNC benefits package of the value of £2,724 Per annum.

Recruitment timetable

Recruitment Timetable

Advert Closing Date: 11.59pm on 05/11/2023

Interview Date: 25/11/2023

We are an organisation who is passionate about our people and understands that richness of diversity is a requirement to provide the best possible services to our communities. This is demonstrated through our council-wide ambitious commitment to tackle racial inequality in our communities and workforce through our Southwark Stands Together initiative. We particularly welcome applications from members of the black, Asian and ethnic minority communities to increase representation at senior management level in the Council.

Guaranteed Interview Scheme

As part of our commitment to inclusion, we offer guaranteed interviews for specific groups of people. To qualify, you'll need to meet the minimum requirements for the role, and identify with one of the below criteria:

- Members of the Armed Forces and veterans

- Are currently in care, or have previously been in care

- If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term health condition

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