Senior Lawyer – Highways and Planning
Staffordshire County Council is a modern, progressive, and forward-thinking authority that is ambitious and empowers its employees to be courageous and innovative in their approach.
Join a team where your expertise shapes the future of Staffordshire.
Staffordshire County Council is a modern, forward‑thinking authority with big ambitions. We empower our people to be bold, innovative and to take pride in the work they do.
Staffordshire Legal Services is one of the largest and most diverse in‑house legal teams in the region, providing high‑quality, high‑impact work across every Council function, the Staffordshire Pension Fund, and a wide range of external clients. Our caseload is consistently interesting, varied, and often high profile.
Why Join Us?
We genuinely prioritise work–life balance—our staff survey tells us we don’t just say it, we live it. Our benefits include:
• Generous holiday allowance, increasing with service, plus the option to purchase additional leave
• Agile, flexible and term‑time working arrangements
• Local Government Pension Scheme with generous (29.5%) employer contributions
• Employee discounts, staff parking discounts, and an optional car lease scheme
• Family‑friendly policies, including maternity, adoption, paternity and parental leave
• A collaborative, supportive team culture where your contribution truly matters
These will include delivering support in relation to Highway and Planning matters, as follows:-
- Advising on County Planning matters including applications received and work generated and planning enforcement.
- Negotiating complex planning obligations on behalf of highway and education clients.
- Negotiating highway agreements on behalf of highway clients.
- Giving advice in relation to a full range of often complex Local Authority statutory Highway and Planning functions
- Managing client files in accordance with Lexcel requirements and supervising other members of the team.
We are looking for you to be a qualified Chartered Legal Executive (with practice/advocacy rights), Solicitor or Barrister with:
- A comprehensive understanding of Highway and Planning law
- An in-depth understanding of the work carried out within the public sector, although previous local government experience is not essential.
- An ability to clearly, confidently and effectively communicate.
- Meticulous attention to detail.
- Effective time management, prioritisation skills and an ability to work under the demands of competing pressures.
- An ability to delegate work in order to generate capacity.
‘We’re happy to talk flexible working’.
If you’re unsure whether your skills are the right fit, we encourage you to get in touch for an informal discussion. Please contact John Rowe, Principal Lawyer at john.rowe@staffordshire.gov.uk or Imran Razaq, Deputy Legal Services Manager at Imran.razaq@staffordshire.gov.uk
Interviews will take place during week commencing 17 August 2026.
Our Recruitment Process: We anonymise applications during shortlisting to ensure only relevant information is considered. Please complete your application fully, especially the supporting statement, to highlight what you’ll bring to the role.
About Staffordshire County CouncilWe are no ordinary county council:
Our Values:
The core of who we are as an organisation. Just like we all have personal values that shape our thoughts and behaviour, organisational values drive how we think and act collectively.
Our values were created and shaped by colleague feedback and national best practice and they sit at the heart of People Strategy:
We have a real sense of community spirit that brings our people together. This feeling of belonging means we are all connected to what we do and take pride in the difference we make every day for Staffordshire people. We are ambitious and our sights are set firmly on a better future.
We look forward and race ahead - that goes for your career too.
Our benefits:
We recognise that it is our employees that are central to everything we do. We aim to create a supportive working environment where employees can achieve their full potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.
In addition to your salary, as a member of staff, you will have access to Our rewards and benefits - Careers at Staffordshire
Our recruitment process:
As an Authority we are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.
Staffordshire County Council is an equal opportunities organisation and Disability Confident employer. We encourage applications from all background and communities
As part of our commitment as a Disability Confident employer, a Gold Award Armed Forces employer and our commitment to supporting care leavers - we offer a guaranteed interview as long as your application meets the minimum criteria for the post.
Salary range
- £50,269 - £54,495 per year