Principal Lawyer - Planning, Highways and Property

Job Description

Job Title: Principal Lawyer - Planning, Highways and Property
Salary: £63,393 – £73,167 per annum
Grade: H
Contract Type: Permanent
Working Hours: 37 hours per week

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and ambitious Lawyer to take a senior leadership role within Thurrock Council’s Legal Services Team.

• To lead the provision of high-quality, pragmatic and solution focused legal advice in relation to planning, highways and property matters.

• To act as a senior legal adviser and representative for the Council on complex, high profile, sensitive and strategically important matters.

• To manage, supervise and develop lawyers, legal officers, trainee solicitors, apprentices and other fee earners within the team

• To support the Head of Legal Services in the effective management, performance, development and improvement of the Legal Services function.

• To ensure that the Council receives timely, robust and commercially aware legal advice which supports lawful decision-making, good governance, value for money and delivery of corporate priorities.

About you:

You are an experienced, qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive authorised to practise in England and Wales. You are a motivated Lawyer looking for a role where you can combine high-quality legal work with leadership and real public impact. You have strong experience in planning, highways or property law and are confident providing practical, risk-based advice on complex issues.

You enjoy working closely with senior stakeholders, explaining legal issues in a clear and accessible way, and helping shape effective and lawful decisions. You are comfortable working in a fast-paced, politically sensitive environment and can manage competing priorities with confidence.

You are also someone who values people. Whether you have managed a team before or are ready to step into a larger leadership role, you are committed to developing others, supporting colleagues and creating a positive, inclusive team culture. This role is a leadership role and it is expected that at least half of your work will be supporting, managing and developing the team.

You will be comfortable advising senior officers and Members, working under pressure, managing competing deadlines and handling politically sensitive matters. You will also be committed to leading people well, improving service delivery and building constructive relationships with client departments.

You do not need to have full experience. What matters is strong legal judgement, credibility, resilience, curiosity, a commitment to public service and the ability to lead a team with confidence, clarity and fairness.

What we are looking for:

Legal Advice and Casework

The postholder will lead and provide specialist legal advice across planning, highways and property matters, including but not limited to:

• town and country planning law;

• planning obligations, including section 106 agreements;

• planning enforcement, appeals, public inquiries and judicial review risk;

• planning committee advice and member-level decision-making;

• highways agreements, including section 38 and section 278 agreements;

• section 50 licences, stopping up orders, diversions, traffic regulation orders and related highways matters;

• property acquisitions, disposals, leases, licences, easements, covenants, title issues and landlord and tenant matters;

• development, regeneration, infrastructure and strategic project work;

• local government governance, decision-making, vires, delegations and public law risk.

The postholder will be expected to manage a complex caseload personally, while also supervising and allocating work across the team.

Strategic Advice and Client Support

The postholder will:

• provide clear, practical and risk-based legal advice to senior officers, service areas, project boards and elected Members;

• advise Cabinet, Council, committees, sub-committees, panels and other formal decision-making bodies where required;

• support robust and defensible decision-making in a politically sensitive environment;

• work collaboratively with client departments to identify legal issues early and resolve matters proactively;

• provide legal input into major projects, regeneration schemes, infrastructure proposals and service transformation activity;

• support the delivery of the Council’s corporate priorities through high-quality, enabling legal advice;

• help client departments understand legal risk, governance requirements and appropriate decision-making routes.

Leadership and Management

The postholder will have direct line management responsibility for lawyers, legal officers, trainee solicitors, apprentices and/or other team members within the planning, highways and property legal team.

The postholder will be expected to:

• lead, motivate and develop a high-performing legal team;

• allocate work effectively, balancing complexity, capacity, risk and development needs;

• provide regular supervision, feedback, coaching and technical support, ensuring meaningful one-to-one conversations, quality annual appraisals and regular development discussions take place;

• manage performance, conduct, attendance and behavioural issues appropriately and in line with Council policies;

• support succession planning, resilience and professional development within the team;

• create a positive, inclusive and collaborative team culture;

• ensure team members understand priorities, standards, expectations and deadlines;

• promote accountability, professional judgement and continuous improvement.

Quality, Performance and Service Improvement

The postholder will:

• maintain high professional standards across the team’s legal work;

• ensure advice is accurate, timely, proportionate, clearly recorded and aligned with the Council’s governance requirements;

• support the development and improvement of legal procedures, templates, guidance, precedents and working practices;

• contribute to improvements in case management, reporting, file management and legal service processes;

• monitor workloads, performance, risk, client demand and service pressures within the team;

• support the Legal Services management team in developing a modern, efficient and responsive in-house legal service;

• identify opportunities to bring appropriate work in-house and reduce unnecessary external legal spend;

• provide training, guidance and knowledge-sharing to client departments and colleagues where appropriate;

• horizon scan legal and regulatory developments affecting planning, highways, property and local government practice.

Governance, Risk and External Spend

The postholder will:

• support the Council’s Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer in promoting good governance, lawful decision-making and ethical standards;

• promote compliance with the Nolan Principles, the Council’s Constitution, financial regulations, procurement rules and statutory duties;

• identify and escalate significant legal, financial, reputational or governance risks;

• commission external legal advice where required, ensuring instructions are clear, proportionate and properly managed;

• manage relationships with external legal providers to ensure quality, timeliness and value for money;

• challenge external spend where appropriate and ensure that legal work is retained in-house wherever this is efficient and appropriate;

• support budget monitoring, value for money, cost control and service efficiency within the team.

Deputising and Wider Corporate Contribution

The postholder will:

• support the Head of Legal Services in the management and development of Legal Services;

• deputise for the Head of Legal Services where required;

• participate in Legal Services management activity, service planning and transformation work;

• contribute to corporate projects, programmes and improvement activity;

• work flexibly across Legal Services where required, including providing advice on wider local government law and governance matters appropriate to the grade and nature of the role.

Essential qualifications: Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive authorised to practise in England and Wales
DBS Check: Standard level is required for this post

Benefits of Working with Us

At Thurrock Council, we value our employees and offer a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities (where applicable)
• Ongoing training and professional development
• Employee assistance programme and wellbeing support
• Staff discounts and local offers
• A supportive and inclusive working environment

Important Dates

Closing Date (Redeployment Only): 26th June 2026

Closing Date (Internal & External): 19th July 2026

Interview Date: TBC - Likely to be week commencing 20/07/2026 or 27/07/2026

Additional Information

If you have any questions about the role or interview process, please contact:

Lyra-Mai Mayari - Head of Legal Services

lyramai.mayari@thurrock.gov.uk

To view the Job Profile and Person Specification, please follow the link below:

Download Job Profile (PDF Document)

If the Job Profile and Person Specification list any qualifications as essential, please also upload copies of those relevant qualifications.

About us

Why Thurrock?

Working at Thurrock Council gives you the opportunity to join an organisation that is changing at pace, one where you can make a real difference to the lives of the people we serve.

Thurrock Council is moving towards a new community leadership approach which involves linking with local partners and communities as we shape our improvement for the years ahead.

This is an exciting time to join us, to shape the future success of our changing organisation and to have a positive influence on our borough.

Our location

Thurrock is located on the north bank of the river Thames. Our urban centres are a vibrant mix of established towns and new young communities, with a diverse and growing population of around 160,000 residents.

We are an emerging cultural and arts centre, home to the production centre for the Royal Opera House and the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural Skills. We have excellent retail and leisure opportunities, including Lakeside Shopping Centre, country parks, forests, and marshes.

Thurrock is just half an hour journey away from the centre of London by train and well connected by road.

Staff benefits

We offer lots of staff benefits, including a generous annual leave entitlement and hybrid working. We champion flexible working and job share applications are welcome.

Further information can be found here Employment benefits | Working for the council | Thurrock Council

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion

Thurrock Council is committed to equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident Employer, disabled people will be offered an interview where they meet all essential criteria on the person specification.

We serve a diverse community where people are different yet equal. Diversity underpins everything we do.

For further information about Thurrock Council please visit our website: Thurrock Council