Principal Lawyer - Social Care, Education & Safeguarding

Our Story:

Halton is a vibrant local authority with a rich history and heritage, featuring two iconic bridges that connect communities across the River Mersey. Located in Cheshire, Halton boasts excellent transport links between Liverpool and Manchester, as well as close proximity to both Liverpool John Lennon and Manchester Airports.

Our progressive community strategy aims to bring about meaningful, long-term improvements that enhance lives. It’s an exciting time to join us as we develop new policies and transform the way people access services.

We are immensely proud that when asked what’s great about working for Halton, the most popular response from our workforce has been ‘our colleagues’.

Our Team:

We are seeking to recruit a Principal Lawyer – Social Care, Education & Safeguarding. In this role, you will join our Social Care legal team and take responsibility for managing our Child Care, Adult Social Care, and Education legal services.

The Legal Team at Halton Borough Council plays a pivotal role in supporting the Authority by providing high-quality, timely, and business-focused legal and procedural advice. As Principal Lawyer, you will lead the Social Care and Education legal team, delivering expert legal guidance in line with the direction of the Head of Service.

Our team is dedicated to providing advice that is both efficient and cost-effective, ensuring the Council receives best value while addressing the complex and evolving needs of the local community.

Your Contributions:

It is essential that you have a recognised legal qualification as a Solicitor, Barrister, or Chartered Legal Executive with litigation and advocacy rights.

• Substantial post-qualification experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including drafting complex legal documentation, providing advice under time pressure, meeting deadlines, and negotiating effectively.
• Strong collaborative approach, with proven experience working with a wide range of stakeholders and building effective relationships with clients and internal teams.
• Demonstrable ability to manage a team alongside the competing demands of an active caseload, using a proactive, problem-solving approach.
• Strong IT skills, including proficiency in Microsoft Office or equivalent systems (e.g. G Suite, Mosaic).

As this role involves regular travel across the borough and sometimes further afield, a driving licence and access to a vehicle are essential requirements. Where appropriate, reasonable adjustments will be made in accordance with the provisions of the Equality Act.

Our Offer:

Aside from working with a great team, our employees have access to a fantastic range of benefits, including:

• A generous annual holiday allowance starting at 34 days per year (including bank holidays), increasing with long service with the option to purchase an additional four-days of unpaid leave for our Annual Christmas Closedown
• Membership of our defined benefit, salary-linked Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) with generous employer contributions
• 3 x Salary Life Cover via Local Government Pension Scheme
• Investment in your personal development
• Free Car Parking at HBC sites
• Flexible working arrangements
• Extensive employee benefits platform including discounted shopping, car leasing, gym memberships, wellbeing hub and Employee Assistance Programme.

Next Steps:

At Halton Borough Council, we want all of our candidates to feel well-informed so if you would like to have an informal chat about this role, please contact Jayne Doran Head of Legal Social Care, Education and Safeguarding. Jayne.Doran@halton.gov.uk or 0151 511 5189

Interview date TBC

At Halton Borough Council we want to ensure that our communities are represented across our workforce and a vital part of this is to encourage diversity in all respects. We are committed to making our recruitment practices barrier-free and tailored to best suit the needs and strength of the individual. This includes making adjustments for people with a disability, neurodiversity or with long-term health conditions. If you require accommodations, please reach out during the recruitment process so that we can make this the best possible experience for you – resourcing@halton.gov.uk

Please refer to the attached Job Profile for further information about the role and our values.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy earlier than the specified date should we receive sufficient applications. If you’re interested, please complete your application as early as possible.

We look forward to receiving your application!