Senior Lawyer - Employment Team & Commercial & Contracts

Contract: Permanent – Full Time

Locations: LLOYD HOUSE, BIRMINGHAM, B4 6NQ, GB or Staffordshire Police HQ, Stafford, Staffordshire, ST18 0YY, GB

Salary: £56,988 - £61,983

An exciting opportunity has arisen to become part of the in-house legal team at West Midlands and Staffordshire Police. Joint Legal Services are looking to recruit a Senior Lawyer for the Employment Team and a Senior Lawyer for the Commercial and Contracts Team. Both roles will be based at West Midlands Police Headquarters in Birmingham but involve an element of agile/remote working.

As a Senior Lawyer, you will act on behalf of the Chief Constables of West Midlands and Staffordshire Police as part of a legal services collaboration. Working independently and as part of a team, you will be responsible for providing advice and support to the client departments of both police forces, having conduct of a complex and interesting caseload.

There is also an excellent opportunity to develop knowledge in other areas of police law and practice in order to support the wider organisation. You will support a Principal Lawyer in providing leadership and direction to an ambitious team of lawyers and support staff in providing a comprehensive legal service. You will have excellent analytical skills, first rate drafting skills, and be able to demonstrate sound and balanced judgement with good attention to detail.

If you would like any further information regarding these roles, please contact a member of our Business Support Team at ls_joint_services@westmidlands.police.uk

The main duties and responsibilities for the role of the Senior Lawyer roles are as follows:

• To advise and provide representation (including advocacy where required) in relation to legal proceedings and hearings before the relevant Courts & Tribunals
• Support the Principal Solicitor in the leadership and development of a team of lawyers and support staff within JLS
• Support the strategic objectives of JLS by leading on the delivery of objectives and projects
• Supporting the Principal Lawyer in accountability for budget spend and/or the financial oversight and accountability for their team, including delegation for settlement of claims and authorisation of expenditure on external costs
• Performance management of the team
• Identify and manage risk
• Allocation and delegation of work to the team
• Work with external legal services (including Counsel) where necessary
• Provide timely legal advice to all clients as required
• Carry a complex case load providing advice and advocacy as required
• Draft legal documents
• To carry out any other duties commensurate with the purpose and grading of the post that may from time to time be determined

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

Please see link attachment for full Job Specification - Senior Lawyer – Commercial and Contracts: https://ecwz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/cs/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&fldFile=fFileGUID:7EEB908360D5F0553E1C500573D63460&fldBrowsingMode=contribution

Please see link attachment for full Job Specification - Senior Lawyer – Employment: https://ecwz.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/cs/idcplg?IdcService=GET_FILE&fldFile=fFileGUID:532139DDBCBCCBDB5BB8CBB4D4CCEF30&fldBrowsingMode=contribution

Prospective officers and staff must be held to a higher standard of behaviour and accountability than members of the public, and that therefore their right to privacy can be fettered in certain circumstances. This is to ensure that members of the police are fully aware and accountable for the unique powers entrusted to them and the standards of professional behaviour they swear to uphold.

Vetting: Successful applicants will be required to pass Management Vetting and Security Clearance scrutiny prior to commencing their role, this will include a full background & financial disclosure as part of the vetting process

Hours: Full-Time (36.5 hours) between core hours.

Interviews: Interview dates to be confirmed.

Contact: If you would like any further information regarding these roles, please contact a member of our Business Support Team at ls_joint_services@westmidlands.police.uk

West Midlands Police is a Disability Confident Leader - the highest level an organisation can achieve under the scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions.  As part of our commitment, we operate a ‘Disability Confident Interview Scheme’ - all candidates who declare a disability and meet the essential criteria for the role will be offered an interview. 

It is important to note that there may be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled people who meet the essential criteria for the job. For example: in certain recruitment situations such as high-volume, seasonal and high-peak times, the employer may wish to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled people and non-disabled people. In these circumstances, the employer could select the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job, as they would do for non-disabled applicants.

"Diversity and Inclusion Vision:  Maximise the potential of people from all backgrounds through a culture of fairness and inclusion to deliver the best service for our communities".

Closing date: 7th October 2024.