Permanent Principal Commercial Lawyer

Principal Commercial Lawyer

Hybrid working arrangement

London Borough of Lewisham

£75,273 to £81,411

Discover yourself in Lewisham where what you do makes a difference to the vibrant and culturally diverse communities! The London Borough of Lewisham is a brilliant place to work with a dynamic team and environment.

Are you a local government Lawyer with experience managing a team? Sellick Partnership are excited to be exclusively recruiting to a brilliant new Permanent Principal Lawyer post to join the friendly Legal team at the London Borough of Lewisham. This role will be managing the Place team which includes Planning, Property, Environmental, Contracts, Education and Employment law, the desired candidate will be expected to attend the office in Catford twice a week.

The main duties of this role include:

• To undertake the most complex legal advice and assistance and to manage and take responsibility for service delivery for a team within Legal Services to the highest professional and client care standards
• To deputise for the Head of Legal Services
• Allocation of work to appropriate members of staff, ensuring adequate training and development of staff and regular staff performance appraisals
• Advising Mayor and Cabinet, Council, Committees, relevant members, the Monitoring Officer and senior officers as required
• Contribute significantly to decisions affecting Legal Services including assisting in developing and implementing future strategy
• Project manage, as appropriate, major tasks on behalf of Legal Services as well as assisting in meeting the strategic objectives of Legal Services
• Managing a team of around 12-14 and ensuring adequate training and development including presentation of training courses and seminars for staff members
• Liaising with clients in respect of service delivery, how to improve performance and standards within the team
• Supporting/assisting Counsel as appropriate
• Scrutinise reports drafted by staff in other directorates, ensuring that they are robust and preparing legal implications paragraphs as appropriate
• Manage the finances and human resources of the team and ensure business plan objectives are met
• Keep abreast of all current legal and professional legal requirements, informing and instructing colleagues as necessary
• Introduce new procedures, as required, including those required under ISO9001 arrangement, whether arising from new legislation, changes in Council policy, new management practices or otherwise and in consultation with other affected departments. Prepare any necessary documentation

The successful Principal Lawyer - Place will possess:

• A current practising certificate (either as a Barrister, Solicitor or Legal Executive)
• A can-do attitude with the confidence to lead and develop a team
• Experience of managing a team
• Strong experience in at least one of the below areas of law:
• Regeneration
• Property
• Procurement and Contracts
• Planning
• Environmental Law and public realm
• Commercial Law
• Ability to anticipate problems and solve them accordingly
• Must be dependable and self-reliant
• Experience working in a local government setting
• May be required to attend committees occasionally

The Principal Lawyer role includes some excellent benefits such as:

• Local Government pension scheme
• Bike loan and season tickets
• Significant discounts in local cafes, shops and restaurants
• Discounted Gym membership
• Generous maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Access to a health insurance scheme
• Supportive staff networks
• Flexible working arrangements

Interested in applying for the Principal Lawyer role?

Please apply as soon as possible to be considered for this position, or contact Rayhaneh Tehrani in our Manchester office for an informal discussion about the role.

Diversity

Lewisham Council is a Disability Confident employer. They welcome and encourage job applications of all abilities. If you require any reasonable adjustments in the application or interview, please contact the lead contact on this advert. We will make reasonable adjustments to make sure our disabled applicants and those with health conditions are supported throughout our recruitment process. We support the access to work scheme, further details are available at www.gov.uk/access-to-work/apply

Sellick Partnership is proud to be an inclusive and accessible recruitment business and we support applications from candidates of all backgrounds and circumstances. Please note, our advertisements use years' experience, hourly rates, and salary levels purely as a guide and we assess applications based on the experience and skills evidenced on the CV. For information on how your personal details may be used by Sellick Partnership, please review our data processing notice on our website.