Legal Services aims to give the best possible legal and insurance service to the Council. As an organisation we have a simple goal – to deliver the best possible services to the people of West Sussex. We do this through the people who work for us so it’s paramount to us to ensure that our employees are supported and valued. Does this sound like a place you’d like to be a part of? We’re on the lookout for a Senior Lawyer to join us in our ongoing mission to deliver excellence!

As a Senior Lawyer, you will work within the Commercial Team in Legal Services to provide a quality legal service to client groups across the County Council. Key areas include commercial contracts and procurement and other work areas as required by the Senior Lawyer Commercial Team Leader.

 Your primary focus will be to provide clear, robust, and balanced advice on commercial contracts, construction contracts and procurement matters within the Commercial Team in Legal Services.

• Qualified solicitor with at least five years post-qualification experience.
• You will have demonstrable experience and expertise in commercial contracts, construction contracts and public procurement.
• You will have a track record of shaping and implementing major projects or managing high profile and complex cases and transactions with no supervision.
• You will need to be able to work under pressure in a fast-paced environment to meet the urgent needs of the client service.
• You will be part of a team providing commercial and procurement advice to a wide range of client departments across the Council and you will have good IT skills to be able to use the case management system.
• You will undertake research and provide advice which requires developed interpretation and analysis skills as well as partnership working with both colleagues and clients in order to deliver a solution to wide range of issues.
• You will be engaged in interesting work within an experienced, supportive team which develops and values its staff. You will need to be able to work flexibly to meet the demands of the team.

Working for us

As well as adding real value to our service users and our communities, as an employer we recognise our employees are central in being able to achieve this. To recognise this we want to help support your development and provide an great place to work ensuring you can fulfil your full potential, have access to a range of benefits including:

• an excellent local government pension scheme
• generous holiday entitlement of 30 days (plus opportunity to buy additional leave)
• a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role
• maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave
• volunteering opportunities
• training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring
• a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over £1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform
• health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans

The reference number for this role is CRS00890.

For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Jonathan Brown (Principal Lawyer) at Jonathan.Brown@westsussex.gov.uk. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.

Closing date: 2 March 2025

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