£47,240 - £53,133 per annum. Plus £4,000 Market Supplement

Mid Kent Legal Services
This is a hybrid working role.

About Us

Mid Kent Legal Services (MKLS) is part of Mid Kent Services, a shared services directorate formed by Swale, Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Borough Councils. MKLS provides high quality legal services across the three Authorities encompassing Property and Regeneration, Planning, Contentious, Contracts & Commissioning and Corporate Governance. MKLS’s vision is aligned to the Partner Authorities for which it acts which is forward thinking, progressive and innovative. We look at utilising technology to maximise lawyers' time to deliver an efficient service to our clients.

MKLS is a supportive and nurturing environment which provides opportunities to progress through learning and development.

We are now looking for Senior Lawyers (Contentious) to join us on a permanent basis, working up to 34 hours per week.

The Benefits

- Salary of £47,240 - £53,133 per annum + £4,000 market supplement
- Local Government pension scheme
- Generous annual leave plus office closure between Christmas and New Year
- Options to purchase extra leave
- Wellbeing support includes confidential advice, counselling, flu vaccines
- Immediate access to a benefits platform offering discounts on leisure, retail, and fuel
- Salary sacrifice schemes including Cycle to Work and car scheme
- Generous sick pay
- Free parking across the 3 Partner Authorities’ sites
- Season ticket loans for rail/bus travel
- Career development

This is the ideal opportunity for an experienced contentious lawyer with a track record of providing high-level legal advice to join our forward-thinking shared service.

With a competitive salary, exceptional benefits, including a brilliant pension scheme and opportunities for professional growth, you’ll enjoy a rewarding career and with hybrid working and will be able to save on commuting time and expenses on the days when you are not travelling to one of the offices.

What’s more, we offer outstanding working arrangements, with the majority of your time spent working from home and a 34 hour working week including 1pm finishes on Fridays. On top of this, we offer a number of working options such as compressed hours, nine day fortnights and part-time working all within an inclusive and supportive working environment where your wellbeing is prioritised.

The Role

As our Senior Lawyer (Contentious), you will manage a caseload of complex, high profile contentious work for the Councils within our shared service.

Ensuring we operate at the forefront of legal excellence and align with Lexcel standards, you will provide high-level legal advice and services to elected members, committees, senior managers and staff across all three local authorities.

You will supervise less senior fee earners and Legal Support Officers, ensuring high-quality support in legal transactions.

Additionally, you will:

- Stay updated on developments in contentious law/legal practice
- Represent MKLS in internal working groups and external meetings
- Deputise for the Team Leader when required
- Uphold the Councils’ policies

About You

To be considered as our Senior Lawyer (Contentious), you will need:

- To be a qualified solicitor, barrister, chartered legal executive or have equivalent qualification and experience
- Post qualification legal practice experience in contentious law, including criminal and/or County Court and/or inquiry procedures
- Experience providing legal advice and support to senior leaders and key decision-makers in contentious law and practice
- Experience advising Members on all aspects of contentious law and procedures
- Experience operating in politically sensitive environments
- Knowledge and understanding of the political nature of local government and democratic process
- A full, valid driving licence

Other organisations may call this role Senior Legal Counsel, Lead Lawyer, Legal Services Manager, Solicitor, Barrister, Chartered Legal Executive, or Senior Legal Manager.

Webrecruit, Mid Kent Legal Services and Maidstone, Swale and Tunbridge Wells local authorities are equal opportunities employers, value diversity and are strongly committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all employees and all applicants for employment. Equal opportunities are the only acceptable way to conduct business and we believe that the more inclusive our environments are, the better our work will be.

So, if you’re looking for a great new opportunity as a Senior Lawyer (Contentious), please select the button shown to be taken to our website where you can submit an application and read testimonials from our teams about their experience of working with us.

This vacancy is being advertised by Webrecruit. The services advertised by Webrecruit are those of an Employment Agency.

Closing date: 18 February 2025

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