Senior Lawyer (Adults)

There has never been a more exciting time to join Wirral Council. We’ve got ambitious targets to meet and to achieve everything we have promised to our residents, we need people who are ready to deliver the very best for our communities and show how they can #BeTheDifference. Our vision is to secure the best possible future for our residents, defined by the community prosperity we create and supported by our excellent people and services. If you strive to #BeTheDifference and want to be at the heart of our change and improvement journey, then this could be the perfect job for you.

As a qualified and practising barrister, solicitor or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, you will take responsibility for the conduct of contractual matters, drafting, litigation or proceedings arising from the duties and functions for your specialist area.

We are looking for candidates with extensive experience of providing legal advice relating to adult social care issues. You will have excellent communication and IT skills and the ability to work effectively as part of a busy team of solicitors and legal assistants. You will be confident in handling complex cases, conducting advocacy and managing a caseload of court proceedings and advice matters. You will have the ability to work well under pressure and assist the Principal Lawyer to manage a busy workload to tight deadlines.

About the Senior Lawyer role:

We're recruiting for a Senior Lawyer to join our Safeguarding team, focusing on Adult Social Care. This is an excellent opportunity for a dynamic and experienced solicitor, barrister or chartered legal executive to enhance our busy but friendly in-house Safeguarding team.

Key requirements of the role include:

As Senior Lawyer you will have extensive experience in dealing with a wide range of Adults Social Care matters. This includes handling a caseload of complex cases, and advice which will include matters such as (but not limited to):

• Court of Protection
• Deprivation of Liberty
• Mental Capacity Act
• Care Act

Key attributes of the Senior Lawyer include:

The ideal Senior Lawyer candidate will be proactive and self-motivated; you will have excellent technical skills and a good level of experience in dealing with Adults Social Care matters.

You will also have excellent communication skills both written and verbal. The ability to deliver complex advice clearly and communicate effectively with officers internally, and externally with courts, barristers, professional bodies and members of the public is essential.

You will have a willingness to embrace change and, in time, develop your own ideas about how the wider team can function efficiently and effectively.

Local government legal work is varied and whilst at times it can be challenging, it is also very rewarding.

There will be times when you need to work under pressure and balance conflicting priorities, however, you will be supported in doing this. You will also be supported to demonstrate a commitment to your own professional development and a willingness to undertake training and develop new skills as required.

If you are a Wirral resident, are unemployed or out of work, and require help with your application, please contact Involve Northwest’s employment and skills team on info@involvenorthwest.org.uk or contact 0151 644 4500 or 0151 652 4349.

If you’re already a Wirral Council employee, as part of our Talent Strategy, we’re committed to strengthening opportunities for our people to learn, grow, progress and thrive. For many of you, this may be preparing and applying for your next role with us, and we're passionate about ensuring you feel supported throughout your internal recruitment experience. Please get in touch if you want to know more about some of the ways in which we could support you by emailing recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Working at Wirral

You’ll also want to know what it’s like to work here so, as a start:

Our values are more than just pieces of paper on our walls! We’ve all played a role in developing these, so they reflect the immense pride we have in what we do, what matters to us, what inspires us and inform how we think, approach things and behave.

We believe in ensuring staff are well looked after, staff wellbeing is a priority for us. We’re serious about recognising and rewarding people for the great things they do. You’ll benefit from our track record of developing, growing and investing in our people.

We have a range of staff benefits including staff discounts, an excellent pension scheme which includes a generous employer contribution rate, immediate life cover and ill-health protection. We have a strong flexible working approach, hybrid working, family-friendly employment initiatives and an annual leave package starting with 28 days leave plus public holidays.

We have an inclusive, engaged culture, everyone has a voice, everyone is valued for their contribution and understands the role they play in delivering our strategic priorities.

Each voice is heard, each contribution valued. We embrace diversity in our workforce and recognise it is critical to our success. We support an inclusive culture that champions differences and nurtures a sense of belonging. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds, who share our values and our commitment to inclusion to apply for roles with us.

We want you to be your best at work, we create the conditions to help you thrive and we mirror this in our recruitment process. If you’d like us to do anything differently during the recruitment process to make it barrier-free and as accessible as possible please contact recruitment@wirral.gov.uk

Please note that in accordance with the Council’s policy, employees who are in a formal redeployment situation will be considered in the first instance for all vacancies.

It is Council policy not to re-appoint any employee who has left under the terms of the Council's Early Voluntary Retirement (EVR) scheme or who have left with a voluntary severance (VS) package, unless in exceptional circumstances.

Applications will be accepted until midnight on the closing date.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications.

Applications can only be accepted through the Jobs page following registration.  Forms received via the post will not be processed.

All applicants invited to interview must evidence their right to work in the UK.  Details of required documents can be found by clicking the link at the bottom of the Jobs page.

The job description and other supporting documents will not be accessible once the vacancy closing date has passed so if a copy is required you should download it now.

We do not accept applications or CV’s from recruitment agencies, unless otherwise stated. Therefore, any candidates submitted via a recruitment agency will not be considered for this role.