Lawyer (Family)

Job Description

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Salary: PO3-PO6 £45,750 - £57,402

Retention Bonus/ Market Supplement: Plus a Golden Hello Payment may be available for eligible candidates of up to £3,000

Contract Type: Full-time Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 24/06/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s):

Adult Social Care Lawyer 03/07/2026 (AM)

Family Child Care Lawyer 03/07/2026 (PM) and 06/07/2026 (AM and PM)

Reference: 2167

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 a Home Office–licensed sponsor; however, for this specific role we are not able to provide Skilled Worker visa sponsorship. To be considered, you must already hold a form of UK work authorisation that does not require sponsorship.

Lawyer - Adult Social Care
As part of the Adult Social Care legal team, you will deal with a wide range of adult social care and community care matters, including court of protection proceedings. Ideally, you’ll be equipped with advocacy skills in order to represent the Council before the courts, particularly in court of protection proceedings, but this is not essential.

Lawyer - Family Child Care

Join us, and you will be initiating and conducting care proceedings under the Children’s Act 1989. You’ll have a varied and challenging caseload, including all aspects of care and adoption proceedings and advice work, as well as matters in pre-proceedings.

>> Click here to download the Role Profile <<

Key Responsibilities:

Lawyer - Adult Social Care

The ability to manage a varied community care caseload, dealing with court of protection proceedings, ordinary residence disputes and providing legal advice and assistance to our Adult Social Care department. To join us, you must be a qualified solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with considerable experience and PQE in adult social care/community care law.

We are looking for professionals with excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing, and a real dedication to the job. You will work within a friendly, welcoming and supportive team where your professional development will be nurtured and appreciated.

With the drive to meet deadlines, you’ll be able to work flexibly. And, with your commitment to the role, you’ll have what it takes to change lives for the better, right across our borough.

Lawyer - Family Child Care

We’ll be expecting you to give timely and accurate legal advice, deal with a complex caseload and stay up to date with relevant legislation. You must therefore be a qualified solicitor or barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with considerable experience and PQE.

With experience in another local authority or large organisation, you’ll have accurate knowledge of practice and procedure in relation to child care law including, care and adoption proceedings, and private law proceedings. Advocacy experience in a wide variety of care proceedings in the Family Court is also desirable or at least a willingness to develop this skill.

We are looking for professionals with excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing, and dedication to the job. You will work within a friendly, welcoming and supportive team where your professional development will be nurtured and appreciated day to day.

With the determination to meet deadlines, you’ll work flexibly, including outside normal office hours if necessary. And, with your commitment to the role, you’ll have what it takes to a change a child’s life.

Qualifications and Requirements:

Lawyer - Adult Social Care

A qualified solicitor, barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with considerable experience and PQE in adult social care/community care law.

Lawyer - Family Child Care

A qualified solicitor or barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with considerable experience and PQE.

Terms and conditions:

• Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks;
• Satisfactory declaration of interest;
• Satisfactory DBS check;
• Continued professional body registration;

Find Out More About These Opportunities

We recognise that moving roles is a significant decision, and we are keen to give prospective candidates the opportunity to learn more about our teams, the work we do and what it is like to work at Waltham Forest.

We are therefore offering informal in-person sessions at our offices at Waltham Forest Town Hall on Tuesday 16 and Tuesday 23 June 2026 between 10.00am and 4.00pm. These sessions will provide an opportunity to discuss the role, meet team members and view our offices. Attendance is by pre-arranged appointment, and candidates are invited to book a convenient time slot.

For those unable to attend in person, we will also be offering informal discussions via Microsoft Teams on 16 and 23 June 2026. These discussions will also be available by pre-arranged appointment.

To arrange either an office visit or a Microsoft Teams discussion, or if you would like an informal discussion about he roles, please contact the panel members:

Lawyer - Adult Social Care

Charlie Woods Charlie.woods@walthamforest.gov.uk

Lawyer - Child Care

Sahdiah Ikram Sahdiah.ikram@walthamforest.gov.uk

Edna Wilson-Cole edna.wilson-cole@walthamforest.gov.uk

We welcome conversations with prospective applicants and would be pleased to discuss the opportunities available within our Children Protection team.

Recruitment Timetable

Closing Date: 24th June 2026

Shortlisted candidates will be notified by 30th June 2026

Interviews will take place on the following dates:

Lawyer - Adult Social Care - The morning of 3rd July 2026

Lawyer - Child Care - The afternoon of 3rd July 2026 and all day 6th July 2026

How to Apply:

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer:

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value.

To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

For more information on the benefits of working for the Council, please visit https://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/jobs-and-training/find-jobs-and-other-opportunities/working-us.

Contact Information:

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact

Lawyer - Adult Social Care Charlie Woods - Principal Lawyer - Charlie.woods@walthamforest.gov.uk

Lawyer - Child Care Sahdiah Ikram - Principal Lawyer Sahdiah.ikram@walthamforest.gov.uk and Edna Wilson-Cole - Principal Lawyer - edna.wilson-cole@walthamforest.gov.uk

If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post, please contact our Recruitment Team via email at recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk.

The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Click here for further information on the Human Resources recruitment privacy notice.

Fraud Awareness Notice
The London Borough of Waltham Forest only advertises vacancies via our official website and approved recruitment platforms (e.g. Jobsgopublic).

We will never ask for payment or request sensitive personal or financial information as part of our recruitment process.

If you are contacted by a third party claiming to represent the Council, please verify the vacancy via our official careers website before sharing any information.

If you have concerns about a job advert or communication, please report it to:
fraud@walthamforest.gov.uk