£79,808 with the opportunity to progress to £88,453 per annum

Herts Legal is a large, innovative and vibrant legal team providing high quality legal services to Hertfordshire County Council and a variety of other clients. A key part of what makes Herts Legal such a great place to work is the excellent practice management and support team which enables our lawyers to focus on the law.

We are seeking an experienced and versatile leader for the Assistant Chief Legal Officer role with overall responsibility for a range of legal specialisms. We are seeking candidates with recognised expertise in any one or more of the following:-

• Property Law
• Housing Law
• Highways Law
• Commercial & Procurement Law,
• Planning & Environment Law

About the role
As an Assistant Chief Legal Officer you will lead at least two teams of specialists within a large and well supported legal team providing legal advice and support on a wide range of interesting projects. You will be required to:

• Have day to day management responsibility for leading and shaping the development of specialist legal teams of up to 30 qualified staff. You will line manage the senior lawyers and work with them to enable them to achieve their best.
• Contribute to the overall strategic management and development of a large and well supported local authority legal team as a member of the Legal Services’ management team.
• Liaise with client officers from HCC and Stevenage Borough Council (SBC) and others including senior Councillors to ensure that they and their local authority receive the best advice for their situation.
• Be the lead lawyer in at least one of the specialist areas and steer high profile matters involving HCC/SBC ensuring that the Director of Law & Governance, Chief Executive and Councillors are kept informed.
• Deputise for the Director of Law & Governance as the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
• Be the representative from, and promote, Legal Services on corporate Boards and Groups or as directed by the Director of Law & Governance.
•     Contribute to the maintenance of Legal Services’ Lexcel accreditation.
• Be the client relationship manager with client organisations, negotiating and agreeing appropriate levels of legal support for each.

About you
Essential criteria:

• Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with significant post qualification experience and specialist knowledge/experience in at least one of the listed specialisms.
• Experience in providing and promoting solutions to significant proposals and projects, and providing high level professional advice on a range of complex matters
• Senior legal experience within a large organisation
• Knowledge of how local authorities organise and deliver services
• Experience in managing and motivating staff
• Sustained record of continuing professional development

Desirable Criteria:

• Enthusiastic and keen for a challenge.
• Experience of Governance/Monitoring Officer/Deputy MO role

In summary, this role provides an excellent opportunity for you to widen and deepen your experience as a senior legal professional within one of the largest local authorities in the country.

To hear more about this opportunity please contact Quentin.Baker@hertfordshire.gov.uk for an informal discussion about the role.

How to apply
As part of your application, please upload your most recent CV. Ensure your CV is up to date with your employment history (including any employment gaps), and including any training/qualifications. We encourage you to include examples of where you have demonstrated the requirements/criteria in the advert / job profile to allow the panel to fully recognise your skills and abilities. You will have the opportunity to include a short covering paragraph within your application to give us a little more information about your skills, knowledge, and experiences.

Disability Confident
We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and guarantee an interview to anyone disclosing a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post.

Safeguarding
This role has been identified as requiring a Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) check.

English Fluency
The ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential for the post (for those whose language is a signed language the provision of a sign language interpreter who speaks English to the necessary standard of fluency will be required).

Closing date: 16 December 2024
Interview date: W/c 6 January 2024

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