Solicitor - Built & Natural Environment - Ref: RT09421

£41,881 - £46,845 per annum

A position has arisen for a qualified solicitor to join the Built & Natural Environment Team in Legal Services.  The Team is sub-divided into a planning team and a property team.  This vacancy relates to the planning team.

The successful candidate will be expected to manage a wide ranging caseload of both straightforward and complex legal work of any nature relating to the built and natural environment, with a bias towards planning, enforcement, environment and pollution, highways, transportation, housing, and regeneration, as well as governance.  You will provide high quality well researched legal advice and assistance to client departments, to members of the Council and to Planning Committee.  Experience in planning is essential.   (This role does not deal with residential or commercial property or conveyancing.)   You will be expected to work remotely from home for most of the time with occasional attendance at the office, in Walsall, to carry out specific tasks, to attend meetings and training, as required, and to attend Planning Committee. 

Walsall Council exists to serve the people and communities of Walsall, by representing and working with them to protect and improve the quality of life for all - particularly the most vulnerable.  As a unitary authority, Walsall has responsibilities for the provision of all local government services within its administrative area.  The Built & Natural Environment Team provide legal advice and assistance on a very wide range of issues, from commons to listed buildings, redevelopment schemes to contamination.  This role will suit a lawyer with an analytical focus and an aptitude for research and problem solving.

Historically Walsall was a regional market town with the first grant of royal charter in approximately 1220 and its market place established by 1309.  It then played a major part in the heavy industry of the Black Country during the industrial revolution, producing significant growth in the town and leaving a lasting legacy.  More recently Walsall benefitted from substantial regeneration including the delivery of a newly rebuilt hospital and college and development of the Walsall Waterfront offering new residential accommodation, hotels and leisure facilities.  Its current focus, on Walsall and Willenhall town centres is to deliver a visionary and deliverable framework of physical changes over the next 15-20 years, bringing ongoing investment into the area.  In addition to this, plans for the new passenger railway service linking Walsall to Wolverhampton via Darlaston and Willenhall are already well advanced as is the new sprint bus service linking Walsall to Birmingham, and to the other Black Country regions of Dudley, Sandwell and Wolverhampton.

As an employer we provide an attractive employment package that includes:

• A generous annual leave entitlement offering a minimum 28 days leave per year (for this post) plus 9 concessionary days and a flexible working scheme that allows up to a further 12 days leave per year
• Access to an award winning pension scheme
• Recent investment in technology to fully enable agile working with the use of Microsoft Teams, virtual telephony, and Office 365
• A genuine commitment to equality of opportunity for our staff and customers – we aim to employ a representative workforce that reflects the communities we serve

We advertise vacancies because we want the best talent available. If that's you, we're waiting for your application.

Should you have any queries or questions about this role, please contact:

Alison Sargent – Principal Solicitor Built & Natural Environment.

Tel: 01922 654834

Email: alison.sargent@walsall.gov.uk

View Job Description & Employee Specification

Closing date for applications: 8 October 2021

This post is covered by the Government’s Code of Practice on the English Language Fluency Duty for public sector workers.  The postholder will be required to communicate verbally with customers and provide advice and/or information in accurate spoken English.