Location: Flexible across the North of England, but with a requirement to regularly work from our office in Manchester

Transport for the North overview:

Transport for the North was established in 2018 as the first Sub-national Transport Body in England and was formed to transform the transport system for the North of England, providing the strategic infrastructure needed for enhanced economic growth.

As a partnership, we bring together the North’s local transport authorities and business leaders together with delivery partners, like Network Rail and National Highways, and work closely with government. We work with our partners to support and enable delivery of the North’s Strategic Transport Plan ambitions to drive sustainable and inclusive growth. 

Our role is to add strategic value by ensuring that funding and strategy decisions about transport in the North are informed by local knowledge and requirements. As a partnership, we have powers devolved from central government to work together to deliver strategic transport priorities.

Our vision is of a thriving North of England, where modern transport connections drive economic growth and support an excellent quality of life.

Role overview:

Lead a Legal and Democratic Services Team, acting as a trusted advisor, providing recommendations and challenges to senior management to guide decision-making on matters that affect the strategic direction of TfN. You will be expected to contribute to the development of strategic objectives and long-term plans. 

Provide TfN’s Boards and Directorates (including Rail North) with expert legal advice and manage the full range of professional legal, democratic and corporate information management services to support achievement of our corporate objectives and strategic priorities. This includes leading the administration and effective operation of all TfN Boards and Committees, working closely with political members as necessary.

Act as TfN’s Monitoring Officer ensuring compliance with all associated legal duties and responsibilities.

Please note, this post is politically restricted. The successful applicant must refrain from participating in any political activities, publicly expressing support for a political party or undertaking other politically related activities.

What we’re looking for:

The successful candidate will hold an appropriate legal qualification and will have demonstrable relevant legal experience at a senior level within a similar organisation. You’ll have extensive working knowledge of the Local Government Act, the implications of the Freedom of Information Act, Data Protection Legislation and Environmental Information Regulations, as well as other associated legislation. 

Drawing on your previous experience of working within a political environment, including previous experience advising and working with Elected Members / Members officers, you’ll be confident in advising TfN Members and senior officers on a range of constitutional and legal governance matters. You will be able to lead a team to provide effective and efficient democratic services across a range of boards and committees.

You’ll be able to use your strong influencing and stakeholder management skills to influence senior leaders across TfN and partner organisations, and you’ll use previous experience in a similar organisation to lead delivery within TfN and balance multiple competing demands.

In return, as well as a competitive salary, our other benefits are: 

• 28 days holiday per annum (pro-rata for part time employees)
• Access to the Local Government Pension Scheme
• Access to various salary sacrifice benefits, including Travel Pass purchase scheme
• Access to TFN’s Flexi-Time Scheme, allowing accrual of up to 18 additional days leave per year

For an informal discussion about this exciting role, please contact: Brian Gallagher on 07716 098175 or via brian.gallagher@penna.com. 

All candidates will be required to prove their right to work in the UK as part of the recruitment process.

At TfN, we welcome and encourage applications from everyone regardless of age, disability, gender, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation. We are particularly keen to encourage applications from women, members of ethnic minority groups and people with disabilities who are currently under-represented.

As part of our commitment to diversity and inclusion, all applications will be considered on their merit.

As an organisation we always strive to do the right thing and understand that in order to make a difference in our society and workplace, we must be committed to respecting equality and diversity, showing kindness, tackling discrimination and promoting inclusion and have signed the CIHT Diversity and Inclusion Charter Statement to further endorse our commitment. We are also an accredited Living Wage Employer, this means that every employee earns a real Living Wage and are recognised as Disability Confident employer (stage 2) acting as a disability confident champion within our local and business communities and business networks.

Closing date: 20 November 2024 @ 12:00
Interview date: W/c Monday 2 December 2024

For further information or to apply, please click on the 'Enquire/Apply' button below.