Coventry City Council’s Legal Service is part of the public sector  providing in-house legal support to Coventry City Council. The team offers a professional comprehensive, tailor-made service to address legal issues of every description. The team is highly motivated, eager to develop and face challenges head on.

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic Lawyer in the People team to work across Adult Social Care Work.  Some knowledge of Children’s Social Care and/or Education work would be helpful.  

An exciting mix of work is covered by the People team, including all aspects of children’s social care (including pre-proceedings work), adult social care, mental health, mental capacity, immigration support, deprivations of liberty, Court of Protection work, inquests and education law.  If successful, you will have the chance to be part of this busy, challenging but supportive team and although your role will be primarily focused on Adult Social Care, there will be opportunities to work across other areas of work covered by the team, always with the aim of providing a quality legal service to our clients.    

You will be a qualified solicitor, barrister, or Chartered Legal Executive with good knowledge and experience working in Adult social care.  As stated, some knowledge of Children’s social care and/or education work would also be helpful.   

You will have strong drafting skills and be able to give sound, pragmatic legal advice on complex matters to Officers and Members within the Council.  You should have some advocacy experience and be willing to cover hearings, particularly in front of the Court of Protection.  

You must be able to work effectively as part of a team and establish good relations with our Members, client departments, outside agencies and partners.  Always customer focussed, you will understand the nature of local government in-house legal services and demonstrate a willingness to contribute positively to service development and continuous improvement. 

Good organisational, communication and IT skills will be required, as well as the ability to adapt and to work to tight deadlines and give sound, practical advice.  You need to be able to draft legal correspondence and documentation, carry out legal research, conduct training sessions, act as an advocate in courts and tribunals and attend Council Member meetings. 

For full details please see the Job Description and Person Specification. 

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interview date:  Week commencing 5th September 2022

Coventry is a lively, multicultural city, which embraces old and new. Around the modern city centre there are traces of history everywhere – in the old city walls, the timber-framed buildings and the reconstructed medieval Spon Street. But Coventry has always had an eye on the future, and is now firmly focused on regenerating and re-inventing itself to meet the challenges of the 21st Century. With major developments and new projects taking place right across the city, Coventry City Council is the place to be !

There's a huge buzz about the city – Coventry ranks as the 8th best city to live, work and do business in the UK, and it was the UK City of Culture 2021. We believe this will help put Coventry on the map for all the right reasons as you can feel the sense of local pride throughout the city. It also offers a unique, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to those joining us to play their part in it.

We genuinely believe that Coventry City Council is a special place. You will be joining Coventry City Council during an exciting time to become part of a team that contribute to achieving our visions for the city. We have made our council a place where we look after our people, making sure you're happy in your work and given everything you need to succeed. We've created friendly, welcoming workplaces where everyone is working towards the same cause, providing the best possible services for the city of Coventry.

As a council with improvement at its heart, we’re committed to making life better for the people who live and work in Coventry. We’re equally concerned with the quality of life enjoyed by our people, so by joining us, you won’t just be helping the community, you’ll be helping yourself too.

Not only do you get to work alongside great people that are helping to improve services for our community we offer great benefits too ! 

For your valued contribution we will provide a fantastic benefits package including;

• Flexible working arrangements
• Generous annual leave allowance starting at 27 days and rising to 32 days
• Opportunity for Salary Match and Pay progression through multiple increments
• Outstanding local government pension scheme
• Learning & Development with access to certified courses.
• Access to an award winning Occupational Health Team
• Vibrant employee networks 
• Lifestyle savings
• Salary Sacrifice Schemes; Car Scheme, Cycle to work and more
• Interest free travel loans
• Payroll giving scheme
• Workplace parking scheme
• Maternity, paternity and adoption Leave
• And much more