There has never been a better time to join the multi-award winning Legal Services team at the City of Wolverhampton Council. We are a progressive organisation and passionate about making our city a better place for all who live, work and travel here.

The city has seen rapid development with major projects like The Halls, the Interchange, i54, Way Youth Zone, City Learning Quarter, the rollout of full fibre connectivity and more exciting developments are planned for the gateways into the city including proposals relating to the ‘Levelling Up’ agenda.

Wolverhampton benefits from being in a prime location; with excellent transport links to Birmingham, Shropshire and neighbouring Black Country towns making the City of Wolverhampton Council an employer of choice for people across the West Midlands.

Solicitor/Barrister – Permanent 2 posts

Whether you are on the market looking for a challenge or tempted to see what is on offer? A role at the City of Wolverhampton Council could be what you are looking for.

Legal Services supports every function and service within the City of Wolverhampton Council, which will provide you with genuine opportunities for you to enhance and grow your career in local government. As part of the Commercial Property team, you will be at the forefront of providing all property, planning, highways, transportation and education advice to the Council.

The Commercial Property team of Legal Services is seeking two qualified and experienced solicitors or Barristers to be part of its team.

The successful candidates will have an opportunity to manage a caseload on a wide range of matters covered by the team including but not limited to planning, commercial property development, regeneration projects, landlord and tenant matters, wayleave agreements, statutory school conversions, purchases, sales and compulsory purchase orders.

This will be a full-time role and we can offer flexible and hybrid working.

To be successful you will be either a Solicitor or Barrister with demonstratable experience in commercial property and/or planning law. Knowledge in providing advice in relation to statutory school conversions, compulsory purchase orders and highways would also be an advantage to these roles.

You must also be a team player with willingness to provide support to other lawyers in Legal Services and act as a point of contact on a variety of cases. As a great communicator you must be able to demonstrate excellent oral and written communication skills in taking instructions, providing advice to the Council, drafting agreements, attending meetings and carrying out research together with: -

• providing legal advice and services to client organisations in the areas of commercial property, planning law and constitutional matters to ensure compliance with statutory duties to protect the best interests of the Council;
• managing a full caseload and delivering advice within the timescales required by the client; and
• acting as a source of legal advice and support to any of the client Councils’ Committees and Directorates as directed

For the role, you should have at least 4 years’ experience in a legal office dealing with work relevant to the post, local government experience is an advantage, although not essential as training can be provided.

Benefits to you:

We can offer you an excellent benefits package including a competitive salary with pay progression through multiple increments, Local Government Pension Scheme, generous annual leave entitlement, homeworking, workplace parking at a number of sites in the city, leisure concessions, annual travel card scheme, salary sacrifice for cars/ cycles and many more savings.

Closing Date: 11^th December 2022 at 23.59

Interviews: week commencing 19^th December 2022

If you are interested in applying for this position and would like further information about the role, you can contact Jessica Adeniran on 01902 554948 or Tracey Christie on 01902 554925.

Diversity

We are committed to building a workforce that is reflective of the diverse community we serve. We want to attract the best applications from people of all backgrounds and underrepresented groups because we strongly believe in adding value through diversity, inclusion, and equality. Our employees enable us to deliver services that are accessible, inclusive, and reflective of Wolverhampton residents.

We encourage, inspire and value an inclusive culture here at the council where employees can flourish, thrive and be themselves. We have four staff equality forums for employees to join. These help to ensure our workforce has a voice, employees feel empowered to speak up and where everyone is treated with respect - Learn more here

Recruitment of Ex-Offenders

We are committed to the fair treatment of all our employees, potential employees, or users of our service regardless of offending background. The Council uses the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) for any vacancies that require a DBS check to obtain information about applicants to assess their suitability for employment in positions of trust. We do not discriminate unfairly against any individual on the basis of a conviction or any other information revealed as a result of a DBS disclosure - Learn more here

Employment Information Workshops

If you are considering applying for an apprenticeship or a role where the salary is £18,333 to £27,514 (Grades 2-5), and would like to visit us to learn about the application process and what it is like to work for us, please book onto one of our monthly briefings - Learn more here  

Working for us

For more information about working for our organisation including the culture of the Council, the Council plan and vision, staff equality forums, core HR policies and much more please click here.

Supporting documents
Solicitor JD (Generic) - position no 168297 March 2022.docx