About Us: 

Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. 

We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents. 

London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is a proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment. 

About the role: 

We are looking to recruit two experienced Contracts Lawyers to join the Commercial Law Team at Waltham Forest Legal Services. You will be a UK qualified solicitor with at least 3 years Post Qualification Experience in contracts and commercial law. You will be part of small team of Contracts lawyers advising on contract and procurement law across the full range of local authority services including construction, social care, ICT, professional and other services and across all types of contractual arrangements. Therefore, you will hold a varied and interesting caseload that will enable you to make full use of your experience while providing an exciting opportunity to develop further your skills and expertise. The chance to undertake some casework in other areas of the Commercial Law Team is also possible. 

You will have experience of contract and procurement law especially advising in relation to the Procurement Act 2023, and all contractual matters. You will have strong experience in drafting, reviewing and negotiating various goods and services contracts, framework agreements, call-off contracts, advising on data sharing and data protection matters relevant to contracts, and be comfortable and assured in dealing with related issues including, amongst others, TUPE, intellectual property and the subsidy regime. You will be confident in drafting bespoke contractual provisions and demonstrate both a ‘can-do’ and a commercial attitude for the benefit of the Council as your client.

The salary we can offer will be commensurate with your experience and we are looking to appoint at the upper end of the available salary range. In addition to the salary we have the discretion to offer up to £3,000 as a ‘Golden Hello’ payment to the right successful candidate(s).

We offer hybrid working with the standard approach being one day per week in the office and the remainder working from home. However, as noted below as a Council we are willing to consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Responsible for giving timely and accurate legal advice, undertaking advocacy (where required in the role) and providing guidance and support to clients
• To deal with complex casework and arrange representation in courts, tribunals or inquiries in order to ensure the Council’s position is represented in the most cost effective and efficient manner
• Advise and undertake work in all aspects of the responsibilities of the role
• Keep up to date with all legislation, case law and best practice to assure the quality of legal advice and support to clients
• Ensure compliance with all relevant professional standards including the Solicitors Code of Conduct
• Undertake original drafting of complex legal documentation for the areas of responsibility in the role
• Ensure that risk and conflict of interest is constantly monitored in respect of all casework undertaken

Qualifications and Requirements: 

• Practising Solicitor or Barrister or FILEX 
• Relevant post qualification experience in the legal profession.
• Ability to handle complex legal matters within area of responsibility.
• Excellent communication skills both orally and in writing 
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines whilst handling a diverse workload 

Terms and conditions: 

Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.  

Closing date: 31 May 2026

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