General Accountabilities of the Role:
* Provision of legal advice, representation, and assistance across the Council to Members and staff colleagues on all aspects of Town and Country Planning law and related areas, including at public meetings where required.
* Understand the role of Legal Services and contribute to the delivery of the Legal team’s Service Plan and the Council’s Corporate Plan.
* Contribute to, and assist in, the effective operational management of the Legal Services team to deliver a high quality and cost-effective legal service.
Other Duties:
* Be a trusted adviser to Members and colleagues in specialist knowledge areas, and at all levels of the organisation.
* Day-to-day management responsibility, support, develop, coach and mentor staff reports.
* Manage an ongoing legal caseload with minimal supervision.
* Represent or support the Council at legal proceedings and Inquiries (either with or without Counsel).
* Undertake continuing professional development as required and maintain an up-to-date knowledge of all relevant legislation and case law.
* Exhibit and promote the highest professional work standards throughout the team.
* Contribute to required policy development across the Council.
* Attend statutory meetings as required as legal adviser and on behalf of the Monitoring Officer Draft, review and negotiate legal requirements and planning documents.
* Represent the Council in planning inquiries, appeals and judicial reviews.
* Attend our Planning Committee meetings.
* Collaborate with colleagues across departments to ensure a co-ordinated approach to planning matters.
Qualifications, Education and Professional:
* Fully qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive/Relevant professional qualification. (Essential)
* Membership of other relevant professional bodies. (Desirable)
Knowledge & Experience:
* Substantial experience in Town and Country Planning law (Essential)
* Proven knowledge of the local government statutory framework and relevant current and emerging legislation, case law, guidance, and best practice. (Essential)
* Attending and addressing Committees in the area of specialism. (Essential)
* Relevant court and Inquiry procedures (Essential)
* Working within a local government legal team. (Desirable)
* Advising on general public law and constitutional matters. (Desirable)
* Attending and assisting at inquiries. Inquiry advocacy. (Desirable)
* Best practice, innovation, and continuous improvement in the delivery of Legal services (Desirable) Staff management (Desirable)
Business Skills:
* Excellent communication and negotiation skills with the ability to liaise effectively with a range of stakeholders (Essential)
* Scrutiny of new legislation (Essential)
* Proactive approach to workload management. Ability to work on own initiative, prioritise and manage workload within set deadline (Essential)
* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with keen attention to detail (Essential)
* Understand modern digital approaches to improve service delivery (Essential)
Political Skills:
* Understanding of the political nature of local government and the democratic process (Essential) Working in a political environment and alongside elected Members (Essential)
Personal Behaviours:
* Able to collaborate and communicate openly and be approachable and fair (Essential)
* Ambitious, creative, and open-minded (Essential)
* High level of personal integrity (Essential)
Other:
* Flexible in working arrangements to respond to needs of the business (Essential)
* Available to attend out of hours meetings where necessary (Essential)