Location: based in Civic Hall, Leeds.  Legal Services operates hybrid working; 2 or more days in the office, up to 3 days from home per week.

As a Deputy Team Leader (General Property) you’ll thrive on leading a small team dealing with property law matters, while handling your own caseload.

Leeds City Council is one of the largest employers in the region with over 14,000 employees. We seek to recruit and develop talented individuals who embody our council values and ambitions.

About you

As a Deputy Team Leader (General Property), you will bring to the role:

• Knowledge of the law and practice relating to property law, particularly residential property.
• Experience of dealing with a personal caseload and providing advice to clients.
• Strong problem-solving skills which enable you to deal with new information quickly and resolve a wide range of legal problems.
• Leadership skills which help you to manage and motivate staff.
• An ability to communicate effectively with a wide range of people.

About the role

As our next Deputy Team Leader (General Property) you will be responsible for managing a team of Legal Officers dealing primarily with Right to Buy cases, residential acquisitions and highways adoption agreements, as well as providing general property law advice.  You will spend a lot of time working closely with members of your team to provide them with advice, guidance and direction on how to progress matters they are working on, and particularly how to resolve issues they face.

You will allocate work to individual members of the team and supervise and oversee progress of the Right to Buy work, which is handled collectively by members of the team. You will also assist the Section Head and Section’s Team Leaders in liaising with managers in the relevant client departments which instruct the General Property team.

Your own caseload will consist of the more complicated matters dealt with by the General Property team and dealing with enquiries from other Council departments on a wide range of property law issues affecting the Council’s housing portfolio.

The role is integral to our Property and Development Section, within which the General Property sits.  The Property and Development Section includes two other teams: the Commercial Property team, which deals with a wide range of matters covering commercial property, regeneration and loans and grants; and the Development team, which deals with planning law and highways law matters.

The Property and Development Section works very closely with the other sections and teams in Legal Services, including its litigation teams and the Housing Law team, to provide the Council with a wide range of in-house legal advice and support.

What we offer you

We take pride in offering the best employee experience, with benefits including:

• a competitive salary and annual leave entitlement plus statutory holidays.
• membership of the West Yorkshire Pension Fund with generous employer contributions.
• flexible and hybrid working arrangements subject to service requirements.
• a clear career pathway and continuing professional development opportunities. 
• a range of staff benefits to help you boost your wellbeing and make your money go further.

How to apply

Please complete the online application form by clicking on the 'Enquire/Apply' button below.

Read our guidance for further advice. Please check your information carefully and ensure you complete all sections before submitting your application.

If you have any queries or would like an informal chat about the role please contact Sarah Blenkin, Section Head – Property and Development Section. Call 0113 37 89057 or email sarah.blenkin@leeds.gov.uk.

Interviews are expected to be held week beginning 12 May

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. 

We promote diversity and want a workforce that reflects the population of Leeds and the communities we serve. Leeds City Council is recognised in Stonewall’s Workplace Equality Index 2024. We are also an Age-friendly Employer, a Mindful Employer and a Disability Confident Leader. 

All new Leeds City Council appointments are made subject to the satisfactory completion of a six month probationary period. 

This role is based in the UK. Home Office guidance states that candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK prior to commencing employment, either as a UK or Irish citizen, under the EU Settlement scheme or having secured any other relevant work visa.

If you do not have the right to work in the UK, candidates must consider their own eligibility for sponsorship for a particular role through the Skilled Worker route before applying. To be eligible for sponsorship you'll usually need to be paid the 'standard' salary rate of at least £38,700 per year or meet one of the other eligibility criteria. For more information visit Skilled Worker visa on the government website. Please ensure you are eligible before applying.

Job description

Job purpose

Provide management and work in the Property and Development Section which covers the following areas of work, Planning and highways law, Commercial and residential property, regeneration projects, local government law, subsidy control, grant funding and secured lending providing a high quality, value for money legal service, which actively supports the delivery of the Council’s strategic objective. 

Responsibilities 

• Manage the General Property Team which covers the following specific areas of work: residential property matters (including Right to Buy), highways adoption agreements and general property advice. Provide management specifically in relation to the appointed Team within the Section.
• Deal with advice and legal transactions, with more complex advice and transactions being dealt with by higher graded officers. 
• Contribute directly to the generation of external income and work flexibly across the Service as and when required. 
• Undertake a substantial personal caseload of legal professional work in the area of residential property, property matters related to the Council’s housing portfolio, and other landlord and tenant work. 
• You may be required to work from any of the Council's establishments or from any other suitable place of work identified by the Council including attending meetings, outside the boundaries of Leeds City Council;.
• Provide support on at least one other area of law as required, and any other local government legal matters and /or matters dealt with by Legal Services. 
• Draft and negotiate legal documentation, agreements and advice. 
• Contribute directly to the generation of external income and work flexibly across the Service.
• Provide advice to clients, through a variety of different methods. 
• Provide and develop high quality legal services for clients.
• Maintain an awareness of all legislative and case law developments which might impact on the work of clients and advise them as appropriate. 
• Prepare and deliver training for clients and colleagues with regard to law and practice relating to their functions and work. 
• Meet all professional requirements, for example and as appropriate, the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority) competence framework in relation to personal development and SRA Standards.
• Undertake work for other authorities under partnership and/or other arrangements.
• Improve own practice through observation, evaluation, discussion with colleagues and development programmes.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues, knowing when to seek help and advice.
• Contribute to the overall ethos, work, and aims of the service.
• Carry out such other duties within Legal Services and the Council, and for other clients as may be reasonably required commensurate with the grade.
• The duties outlined are not meant as an exhaustive list and will also comprise any other duties within the spirit of the post commensurate with the job evaluation outcome for this post.

Qualifications

Solicitor or Barrister entitled to hold a practising certificate or FCILEX

Essential requirements - Candidates will only be shortlisted if they can demonstrate that they meet all the essential requirements.

• Able and willing to work flexibly across the service and travel outside the boundaries of Leeds City Council working at different sites /areas depending on need. 
• A flexible approach to working hours with the ability if required to work out of normal hours to respond to emergency situations.
• Able to work effectively as part of a team and to demonstrate organisational and time management skills prioritising own and team’s work to meet conflicting deadlines.
• Able to manage and motivate staff, and contribute to their development through appraisal, supervision and training.
• Able to support staff to feel motivated and engaged in the values, vision and direction of the service, promoting the values of the Council through appropriate behaviour and professionalism.
• Able to communicate effectively with a wide range of people including internal and external partners and customers.
• Able to develop constructive working relationships and work in partnership with others internal and external to the council.
• Able to grasp and assimilate new information quickly.
• Able to resolve a wide range of legal problems in a local government context.
• Able to draft and prepare clear and concise documents(both bespoke as well as making appropriate use of precedents) which are legally effective and accurately reflect the client’s instructions.
• Able to carry out effective legal research to find solutions by investigating the factual and legal issues, analysing problems and communicating the results.
• Able to contribute directly to generate external income.

• Knowledge of the law and practice relating to property law.
• Knowledge of relevant financial regulations required to carry out financial transactions.
• Understand the importance of confidentiality and the confidential nature of the work.

• Experience of managing and dealing with a personal caseload.
• Experience of providing advice to clients.
• Experience of the use of information technology e.g. word, spreadsheet, database etc.
• Experience of using organisational and time management skills to meet own and team’s work.

Essential Behavioural & other Characteristics

• Understand and embrace Leeds City Council Values and Behaviours and codes of conduct.
• Committed to continuous improvement in all areas and work towards delivering the Best City Ambition of Health & Wellbeing, Inclusive Growth and Zero Carbon.
• Able to understand and observe Leeds City Council policies and procedures.
• Carry out all duties having regard to an employee’s responsibility under Health, Safety and Wellbeing..
• Willingness to actively participate in appraisal, training and development activities to ensure up, to date knowledge and skills.