Skip to main content

Principal Advocate

Employer
Birmingham City Council
Location
Birmingham
Closing date
28 Feb 2025
Reference
2557
View more categoriesView less categories
Sector
Local Councils
Job Type
Legal
Contract Type
Permanent
Working Pattern
Standard
Hours
Full-Time

Job Details

Principal Advocate

Permanent

Grade 6 - £50,788 - £62,801

Consultation grade - subject to formal evaluation under the Pay Equity Review

Working 36.5 hours per week

We have openings across the following legal teams:

1x Criminal Litigation

1x Housing 

A brilliant opportunity to join a dynamic, progressive legal service where you will be given the opportunity to work on some incredible projects and cases, while learning and developing as a leading local government lawyer.

Birmingham City Council's legal service is unique and one of the largest in-house local authority legal teams. The City Council is on its journey of resetting, reshaping and restarting and everyone within legal services is essential to the Council's success and achieving beneficial outcomes for our citizens. You could be part of this. 

Legal Services covers all areas of work that the Council undertakes, from employment to property, from adult social care to contracts. The variety of work that our team undertakes is wide and at the highest level. The work is challenging and rewarding in equal measure. Based in Victoria Square in the City Centre, you will have excellent transport links, access to Courts and tribunals, partner organisations and all the benefits that working in the wonderful City of Birmingham brings.

Birmingham City Council is committed to achieving excellence, putting our citizens first, acting courageously and being true to our word. If this resonates with you, then we want to hear from you.

Due to a redesign of the service, we have several vacancies across different specialisms within the team.

You will be a skilled lawyer providing high-quality legal support to support the Council's strategic goals. This role includes managing complex and politically sensitive caseloads, representing the Council. The ideal candidate will possess exceptional leadership and legal expertise. You will advise on legal and evidential matters at the request of a colleague or client and take instructions from colleagues as an alternative to counsel.

Key responsibilities:

  • Acting as a lead legal advisor to ensure compliance with statutory duties and obligations, to protect the best interests of the Council
  • Providing high quality, innovative, well researched and comprehensive specialist legal advice
  • Attending courts, tribunals, public inquiries or other meetings, undertaking advocacy and representing clients in negotiations and discussions
  • Appearing as advocate in the higher courts representing the Council, undertaking a wide range of hearings
  • Drafting court documents, briefing notes and legal documents
  • Providing evidential strengths and weaknesses in a case and advise on appropriate next steps or options

You will need to possess a current practising certificate as a Solicitor/Chartered Legal Executive or be a member of the Bar who has completed pupillage/registered Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives. You will also need to possess a Higher Rights Qualification or be willing to obtain shortly after appointment.

Benefits of working at Birmingham City Council:

  • 30 days annual leave – Increases to 33 days after 5 years and 35 days after 10 years, plus option to purchase additional leave
  • Access to voluntary benefits providers that support health, wellbeing and making the most of your leisure time
  • Family friendly policies e.g., maternity/adoption, paternity, shared parental leave, carers’ leave
  • Health and wellbeing support networks e.g., independent, and confidential employee assistance and counselling, occupational health, etc.
  • Employee communities and support groups including Corporate Black Workers Support Group, Disability and LGBT+ Networks, Menopause Support Forum, etc.
  • We are a disability confident employer
  • Membership of the West Midlands Pension Fund, with generous employer contributions
  • Access to ‘My Rewards’ – over 800 individual brands providing discounts and savings including high street stores, supermarkets, utility, and insurance providers, as well as great days out … to name but a few!
  • Opportunities to join great salary sacrifice schemes e.g., Cycle to Work, Annual Travel and Car Parking, as well as making the most of Tax and National Insurance savings (additional schemes to launch soon)

For any informal enquires please contact: Deborah Carter-Hughes (email Deborah Carter-Hughes) or Julia Lynch (email Julia Lynch)

Application via CV & Cover Letter

Please upload your up-to-date CV and cover letter via the attachments part of your application, this is required for shortlisting. The cover letter should include how you meet the person specification and which legal team you are interest in. Unfortunately, we cannot consider any applications without a CV and cover letter attached. 

We want to ensure your recruitment journey with us is a positive and equitable one, so please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments, additional support, accessibility needs, or if there is any way in which we can support you through your application.

We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the communities we serve. Our data tells us that for this level of role, ethnic minorities are underrepresented and therefore we will use positive action to support us to achieve diverse shortlists. This may mean that recruitment times are a little longer, but we think this is worth it to achieve our aim.

Job Description and Person Specification

 

Company

Working for Birmingham City Council is more than just a job; it's about making life better for the 1 million plus people who live and work in the city.

We welcome people from diverse and underrepresented communities and encourage applications from, those with caring responsibilities, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic, neurodivergent, disabled and LGBT+ people. As part of our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, we are committed to promoting and supporting the physical and mental health of all our staff and removing barriers to improve inclusion.   We are making significant strides to understand and continuously improve our employees’ experience and we are committed to implementing progressive diversity talent management.

Information for applicants with a disability

We are a proud Disability Confident Employer.  We encourage applicants to disclose disabilities, so we can support them fully during our recruitment process and make any necessary reasonable adjustments. Please contact: 0121 675 7070 option 3 (lines open between 8.45am to 5.15pm Monday to Friday).

If you require an application in an alternative format, such as Braille or you are unable to complete an application form via WMJOBS, please contact bccHR@birmingham.gov.uk. When you have completed your application form this can be returned to bccHR@birmingham.gov.uk or for Braille applications these can be posted to, Recruitment Team, 2nd Floor, 10 Woodcock Street, B7 4BG.

The Council is a fantastic place to work. You will find an organisation that is both challenging and supportive; with a leadership impatiently adventurous in its pursuit of excellence. 

There is a clear vision which is ensuring that the Council is working for communities today and building for tomorrow, we focus our resources on five key priorities:

  • A Prosperous Birmingham: through a focus on inclusive economic growth, tackling unemployment, attracting inward investment, and maximising the benefits of the Commonwealth Games.
  • An Inclusive Birmingham: through a focus on tackling poverty and inequality, empowering citizens, promoting diversity and civic pride, and supporting and enabling all children and young people to thrive.
  • A Safe Birmingham: through a focus on making the city safer, safeguarding vulnerable citizens, increasing affordable housing, and tackling homelessness.
  • A Healthy Birmingham: through a focus on tackling health inequalities, encouraging physical activity and healthy living, supporting mental health, and improving outcomes for adults with disabilities and older people.
  • A Green Birmingham: through a focus on street cleanliness, improving air quality, continuing the route to net zero, and becoming a city of nature.

We see the Council’s role as providing strategic leadership – that’s being able to visualise a new future for the city and equipping others to share our vision. We want to ensure the provision of services for all, so we can support those least able to support themselves by working with partners and putting citizens and neighbourhoods at the heart of our decision-making.

We are always looking for people who put the customer at the centre of their approach, with a commitment to excellence to help us achieve our vision.  We will support you to develop and thrive in your role, building a pathway for long-term success, with lots of development opportunities, such as apprenticeships.

In return, we offer you excellent terms and conditions, generous annual leave, a great pension scheme, well-being support, annual travel passes and discounts at a number of city centre establishments.

Birmingham City Council is a Foundation Living wage employer - known as the Birmingham Living Wage. The Birmingham Living Wage, is determined by the Living Wage Foundation on an annual basis by the Centre of Research in Society Polity at Loughborough University. The current rate can be found at: www.livingwage.org.uk.   

For the awards and support for our employees, please follow https://www.birmingham.gov.uk/homepage/169/job_vacancies  

Company info
Website
Telephone
0121 675 7070
Location
Birmingham City Council
Birmingham
West Midlands
B2 2XU
United Kingdom

Get job alerts

Create a job alert and receive personalised job recommendations straight to your inbox.

Create alert