Principal Lawyer - Advocacy Team

Are you an experienced advocate and legal leader looking for an opportunity to shape and develop a specialist advocacy service?

We're seeking an exceptional Principal Lawyer to lead and develop its Advocacy Team, providing expert legal advice, overseeing complex and sensitive cases, and supporting the Council to meet its legal obligations and corporate priorities.

As a senior member of the Legal Services management team, you'll lead a team of lawyers, advocate lawyers and paralegals, ensuring the delivery of a professional, customer-focused and cost-effective legal service.

We seek the best talent from the widest pool of people as diversity and inclusion is the key to our success. Reading Borough Council is a Disability Confident Employer and is committed to the recruitment and continued employment of people with disabilities.

We support hybrid working, it’s important to us that working arrangements are designed to enable our employees to excel and within this role you’ll have the opportunity to work in a way that suits your lifestyle.

About The Role:
As part of the Berkshire Joint Legal Team, you'll join a specialist shared legal service across Berkshire providing expert legal support across Adult Social Care, Children's Social Care, Education, and Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

Working alongside experienced colleagues from a range of disciplines, you'll benefit from a collaborative environment, opportunities to share knowledge and expertise, and exposure to a diverse range of complex and rewarding work.

As Principal Lawyer, you will provide leadership, direction and expertise to the Advocacy Team, managing a varied portfolio of complex legal work while supporting the wider objectives of the Council.

You will:

• Lead, manage and develop a team of legal professionals, ensuring high-quality performance and service delivery.
• Act as a senior legal adviser on complex, high-risk, high-value and sensitive matters.
• Oversee and supervise advocacy across a broad range of proceedings and hearings.
• Conduct and supervise significant, complex and high-profile cases.
• Provide strategic legal advice to senior officers, elected Members, committees and partner organisations.
• Contribute to service planning, transformation projects and the continuous improvement of Legal Services.
• Advise on governance, decision-making, risk management and legal compliance.
• Represent Legal Services at senior meetings, boards and committees.
• Support the Monitoring Officer in discharging statutory duties where required.

Advocacy experience is important to the role, alongside the ability to lead a team, manage competing priorities and deliver sound, proportionate legal advice in challenging circumstances.

About You:
You will be a confident and experienced legal professional with significant post-qualification experience and a strong track record of handling complex legal matters. You will bring excellent analytical, communication and advocacy skills, together with the ability to influence and advise stakeholders at all levels.

You will also have experience of leading or supervising legal professionals, managing competing priorities and driving service improvement. You will be comfortable working independently, exercising sound judgement and navigating politically sensitive issues with professionalism and resilience.

We're looking for a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of CILEX (with litigation rights) holding a current practising certificate in England and Wales.

You will have:

• Significant post-qualification experience, ideally within local government or a comparable public sector environment.
• Extensive experience managing complex legal matters and high-risk cases.
• Strong advocacy skills and experience overseeing advocacy services.
• Experience leading, supervising and developing legal professionals.
• The ability to build credibility with senior officers, Members and external stakeholders.
• A strong understanding of governance, decision-making and risk management within a public sector setting.
• Excellent communication, leadership and organisational skills.
• A commitment to innovation, continuous improvement and excellent client service.

You’ll be part of a team that relies on each individual to play their part to the best of their ability. As well as the colleagues that you work closely with every day, you’ll also be part of Team Reading, playing your personal part in making Reading a successful and vibrant place.

Our vision is to ensure that Reading realises its potential as a great place to live, work and play, and that everyone shares the benefits of this success. Our values and behaviours guide how we will achieve this:
Work Together as one team - work collaboratively, with each other and with our partners, and demonstrate the Team Reading values in everything we do
Drive Efficiency - show initiative, be adaptable to change and put forward ideas to help improve delivery and efficiency. Take responsibility for our own learning and development and for reaching our potential.
Be Ambitious - be demanding of our own performance – striving to be even better – and be prepared to engage with and challenge leaders in a constructive and positive way.
Make a Difference to Reading - maintain the highest levels of customer service and be flexible and willing to provide the services needed at the time they are needed.

Our offer:
We offer a supportive environment to grow and develop your career with the opportunity to put your ideas across. Innovation and ambition are strongly encouraged, and you’ll get a great feel for that working in our friendly and collaborative environment.

A competitive salary alongside a range of benefits including:

• Generous holiday entitlement - 25 days holiday each year plus bank holidays - rising to 30 days after 5 years and 33 days after 10 years' service, with the option to buy additional leave
• A wide range of flexible working opportunities
• Modern working environment at the Civic Offices in the heart of Reading
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Life Assurance - three times your annual salary (for members of the LGPS)
• On-site day nursery (Kennet Day nursery) rated outstanding by Ofsted
• Season Ticket Loan - a loan to help with the cost of your rail or bus journey, to and from work
• Lease car salary sacrifice scheme allowing you to lease a brand new, greener car for three years. The monthly fee includes insurance, servicing and road tax

For more information on this position please contact Jayne La Grua, Director – Legal at Jayne.LaGrua@reading.gov.uk

Closing Date: Sunday 8th November 2026
Interview Date: To be confirmed
Interview Setup: In person at the Civic Centre, Bridge Street, Reading, RG1 2LU