Lawyer / Senior Paralegal (Highways)

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About the role

Would you like to join an authority where you can progress your legal career and be supported in excelling professionally? Join the new Legal Team at West Northants Council, one of the newest and the fourth biggest unitary councils in England. As part of this growing team, you'll be contributing to the development of an exemplar local authority legal service. We're focused on your career development, wellbeing, and offering a flexible and supportive work environment to help you succeed and progress.

What will you be doing?

In this role as a Highways Paralegal, your key duties will include:

• Assisting Senior Lawyers, the Principal Lawyer, and the Head of Legal with all highways-related casework.
• Managing your own substantive highways caseload, including s38 agreements, s278 agreements, local event orders, s59 agreements, and s6 agreements.
• Advising clients on highways matters as needed.
• Working on complex, major highways projects, including Sustainable Urban Extensions and significant road infrastructure schemes.
• Attending client meetings to provide legal support and advice.
• Preparing standardised documentation and procedures as required.
• Supporting planning lawyers by advising on the planning process, enforcement, preparing legal agreements, and assisting with planning committees when necessary.
• Assisting in the training and supervision of Legal Assistants as needed.

About you

We're looking for someone with experience in Highways Law and a passion for delivering excellent legal services. The ideal candidate will:

• Be committed to contributing to an exemplar legal service.
• Have a keen interest in developing their legal career within a local authority setting.

• Be capable of managing a substantive highways caseload.
• Enjoy working on complex projects and providing clear, practical advice to clients.
• Be a team player who's eager to support and collaborate with colleagues.

Local government experience is not essential, and we encourage applicants from other sectors or those returning to work after a career break. We offer flexible working arrangements and support through mentoring, coaching, and training to help you achieve success.

For more information, please visit our designated legal recruitment pages at https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/spotlight-our-key-services-careers-and-... or contact Katherine Hall, Head of Legal (Place), on 07826 511563 for a confidential discussion.

View our colleagues, Jana and Victoria talk about their experience working with our team.

Our benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
• Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
• Car Lease scheme
• Professional subscriptions / registration - if your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees
• Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
• Ongoing training and development opportunities.
• A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
• Our West Ways of Working - We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
• Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

About us

We're a new council, following one of the largest shake-ups in local government reform in recent history. As a new authority, we're embarking on an exciting journey to deliver exceptional services for our residents, customers and communities.

Our vision at West Northamptonshire Council is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

Hear more from Anna Earnshaw, our Chief Executive, about working for West Northants Council: https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU

At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

When potential is unlocked, talent thrives.

Choose a career that offers you a true sense of achievement, fills you with pride and challenges you in a positive way, every day.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.

Should you require the Job Description in another format or language, please contact: Careers@westnorthants.gov.uk