Senior Lawyer - Social Care (Child Protection)
In addition to your salary, we offer a range of benefits including:
- Great holiday benefits - most roles include 28 days annual leave every year on top of public (bank) holidays, increasing to 32 days after five years. In addition, there is a holiday purchase scheme allowing staff to purchase up to 5 additional days of leave each year.
- Excellent pension - everyone who works for us can join the national Local Government Pension Scheme, widely regarded as one of the best available.
- A full range of family friendly policies including enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity support.
- Access to an award-winning employee benefits programme that includes a health cash plan, a low-cost bike purchase scheme as well as high street discounts and money off entertainment and travel.
- Salary sacrifice car scheme - eligible employees can access low‑cost leasing of electric and low‑emission vehicles.
- Blue Light Card - employees working within social care can qualify for an additional range of discounts from national retailers and local businesses.
Why join us? Along with more on our Benefits, discover why Working at the City Council could be the right move for you here Working at the Council | Milton Keynes
Roles are either ‘site based’ or ‘home based’.
Site based roles are mainly based at the workplace, with the option to work from home for up to two days a week, depending on service needs.
Home based roles are mainly based at home, with the expectation of attending the workplace up to one day a week.
The working arrangement for each role is set by the manager, based on service requirements.
Job IntroductionWe’re recruiting a Senior Lawyer to join our social care legal team, Law and Governance service at Milton Keynes City Council. This is a role where you’ll provide clear, timely and trusted legal advice on child protection matters.
The team supports the local authority in its safeguarding duties for children and adults.
This ensures that children and adults receive the right support to ensure their needs are met.
The work is extremely important to ensure that the social care teams make safe and lawful decisions for the children and adults in our area.
In this role, you’ll help colleagues make well-informed decisions that protect local people and support good governance. You’ll work closely with the Principal Lawyer, Deputy Principal Lawyer, social care colleagues, barristers, external solicitors and partner organisations.
It’s a rewarding role for someone who values high-quality legal work and wants to make a difference for Milton Keynes. We’re dedicated, respectful and collaborative, and we’re looking for someone who can bring those values into their legal practice every day.
This role may be suitable for home working, following an assessment. Home‑based roles require a minimum of one day per week working from the office or site
Interviews for this role will be held on 25th August 2026
At Milton Keynes City Council, we aim to make a difference every day. We’re dedicated, respectful and collaborative. We act as one council, and we work hard to create cleaner, safer and healthier communities while tackling inequalities and supporting people to thrive.
We take pride in our supportive work culture and try to go that extra mile when it comes to investing in our colleagues.
Find out more about working with us here: www.mkcounciljobs.org.uk
Role Responsibilities- Deliver high-quality legal advice and services that support child protection work and help the Council meet its objectives.
- Manage medium and high-level child protection cases, making sure work is completed to a high standard and delivered on time.
- Undertake advocacy in court where appropriate, supporting your own matters and wider team priorities when needed.
- Take responsibility for cases from instruction through to completion, giving clear written and verbal advice throughout.
- Build strong working relationships with internal colleagues, external solicitors, barristers and partner organisations.
- Support the Principal Lawyer and Deputy Principal Lawyer by helping to supervise junior lawyers and paralegals and contribute to team performance targets.
- Your legal qualification as a Solicitor, Barrister, Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives, or equivalent relevant qualification, is essential.
- Experience in local government law and child protection work will help you make a strong contribution from the start.
- A strong understanding of complex legal matters will support safe, lawful and well-reasoned decision making.
- Confidence when drafting legal documents and explaining complex information in plain English is important.
- Proven skills in managing pressure, meeting deadlines and negotiating complex matters will help you succeed.
- An approach that is dedicated, respectful and collaborative will help you work well with colleagues, partners and local services.
Milton Keynes City Council is a large, modern and financially stable employer with around 2,500 people working across our eight areas. Together we provide local residents and businesses with a wide range of important round-the-clock services and aim to make our city a better place to live.
We work hard because of the demands placed on us, like protecting children from harm or preventing homelessness. However, working for the city is always rewarding and everyone has the opportunity to make a real difference.
We’re very proud of our diversity and are committed to having a workforce that reflects the community we serve. Whatever your background, you will be welcome here if you share our values of being dedicated, respectful and collaborative.
We offer great training and support and because of the size and scale of the organisation there are always new opportunities to explore when it’s time for a new role.
If you’d like to know more about how we do things and what matters to us, take a look at our short booklet What makes us Milton Keynes City Council.
Salary range
- £53,460 - £58,749 per year