Principal Lawyer - People Team

About the role

Lead Legal Excellence for our People Team

We are seeking an experienced and strategic leader to manage the People Team for the Council’s Legal Services function, overseeing both in-house provision and external legal support. Reporting to the Head of Legal, you will play a key role in supporting the delivery of the service and providing professional leadership across the People team.

The Principal Lawyer is a senior member of Legal Services, responsible for delivering high-quality legal advice, leading complex casework and supporting the organisation’s strategic objectives. The role ensures that legal risk is effectively managed while enabling informed decision-making across the organisation.

Interviews will take place w/c 10th August 2026 and will include a presentation as part of the selection process.

What will you be doing?

Lead and shape the People Team, setting direction, driving high performance, and ensuring the delivery of timely, solution-focused legal advice to client services.

Support the Head of Legal, ensuring strong governance, ethical standards, and that all Council decision-making is lawful and compliant. Provide legal representation and advice to Committees, Sub-Committees and other Council Boards as required.

Provide expert advice to client services on complex, high-risk matters.

Manage legal risk, overseeing major casework, litigation and ensuring robust risk identification, mitigation, and communication.

Lead, develop and manage a high-performing team, promoting professional excellence, continuous improvement and a positive, values-driven culture.

Oversee the use of external legal providers, ensuring high-quality advice and value for money.

Oversee budgets, efficiency and sustainability.

Drive service improvement, enhancing systems, processes, and digital capability to deliver modern, effective legal services.

About you

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or FCILEx
• Evidence of continuing professional development
• Extensive experience in a relevant specialist area to include Childcare, Adult Social Care and Education.
• Experience managing complex, high‑risk and high‑profile legal matters.
• Experience managing staff and leading legal teams of multiple legal disciplines/specialisms.
• Experience in local government or wider public sector including strong knowledge of local government law, governance, the Constitution and decision‑making processes.

Please see the Job Description/Person Specification for more information.

Our Benefits

Here at North Northamptonshire Council, we’re transforming for the better, using all our creativity and imagination to create the best life for our local people.

You’ll find that we have a wide range of careers that may be more surprising than you think!

Why choose us?

We offer a vibrant working environment with:

• a competitive salary
• a pension scheme, where we pay a significant contribution on top of your contribution. It provides life cover and ill-health protection.
• lots of opportunities to develop your skills, knowledge and potential in a large unitary council
• generous leave entitlement (28 days, rising to 33 days) and bank holidays, plus the option to buy up to an extra 10 days
• hybrid and flexible working arrangements, where practicable for service needs to help you with a healthy work-life balance.

We provide a range of great benefits such as an Employee Assistance Programme, an Employee Benefits Scheme, wellbeing support, travel rates at HMRC rates, as well as supporting a range of active Employee Network Groups.

About us

Our Values and Behaviours

Our values define who we are and how we operate, by forming the foundation for how we interact with our customers, colleagues and provide our services. They are also at the forefront of our decision making and delivery and are:

Customer-focused
Respectful
Efficient
Supportive
Trustworthy

Our key commitments help ensure that the priorities we make, now and in the future, maintain the necessary breadth of focus in those areas that we believe matter most.

Disability Confident Employer

We are proud to be a recognised Disability Confident Employer and is committed to providing an inclusive recruitment process and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role.

Our Employment and Disability Service provides bespoke support to individuals facing barriers to employment, helping them work towards their goals to start, stay and succeed in employment. For further information please click here The Employment and Disability Service (EADS) | North Northamptonshire Council

Armed Forces Community

The council obtained the Gold status award for the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS).

Further information can be found at Jobs and careers | North Northamptonshire Council (northnorthants.gov.uk)