Legal officer (SO1)

Be Bold, Make a Difference, Show you Care
JOB ROLE PROFILE AND PERSON SPECIFICATION

Post Title and Number: Legal Officer_(Disrepair)

Present Grade: SO1 Dept: CEX_____________________

Service/Section/Team: Legal__________________________________

Reports to (title): Principal and Assistant Principal Lawyers____________________________________________

Purpose of the Role:

To assist in providing / provide a comprehensive legal service to colleagues throughout the Council, to maintained Schools and to the Council’s Local Authority Trading Companies.
To be responsible for their own work as allocated by management, always ensuring value for money for the Council, communication with the client and working to the Lexcel standard.


Dimensions including Structure Chart:

1. Annual budgetary amounts with which the role is either directly or indirectly concerned: N/A
Director of Law and Governance

2. Structure Chart:



Principal Lawyer / Assistant Principal Lawyer





Senior Lawyer



Lawyer




Legal Officer

3. Number of direct reports: None

4. Nature of reporting relationship between post holder and line manager - The post holder will be supervised and managed by the Principal or Assistant Principal Lawyer

5. Any other relevant statistics

Key Accountabilities:

Insert the most important and frequent accountabilities first.

(You are not restricted to eight accountabilities)

Accountabilities
Anticipated level of time  
H = High
M = Medium
L = low
1. As one of the members of the Legal Services Team to provide cover for Paralegals, Legal Officers and lawyers during his/her/their absence as appropriate.

M
2. To assist the senior members of Legal Services in ensuring that the Council complies with all legislative requirements and providing a pro-active as well as reactive legal service.

H
3. To conduct all aspects of Local Authority legal work, as allocated, and working with appropriate supervision. The work will include drafting, advice and court attendance (representing the Council) where appropriate. The post holder will have experience in at least one of the following areas:
· Housing including disrepair;
· Civil litigation including employment;
· Contract and procurement;
· Planning;
· Prosecutions;
· Property (commercial and residential, including Right to Buy);
· Adult safeguarding;
· Child safeguarding;
· Adoption;
· Homelessness;
· Community care;
· Judicial Review;
· Education;
· Governance;
· Advocacy
H
4. To provide pro-active solution focussed legal advice
H
5. To adopt best practice in the management of individual matters through the appropriate use of the Legal Services case management system and good legal practice management standards, including the use of appropriate software packages.

H
6. Where authorised, instruct Counsel to advise the Council.
M
7. To be aware of the Council’s policy on Risk Management and to escalate any new, emerging or potential risks to the post holder’s line manager.

H

8. Any other duties reasonably requested by management
H
9. Carry out all accountabilities in compliance with the Council’s Policies and Procedures
H

Key Relationships (Internal and External):



Equality and Diversity:

The Council has a strong commitment to achieving equality in its service to the community and the employment of people and expects all employees to understand, comply with and promote its policies in their own work.

Health and Safety:

The post holder shall ensure that the duties of the post are undertaken with due regard to the Council’s Health and Safety Policy and to their personal responsibilities under the provisions of the Health and Safety at work Act 1974 and all other relevant subordinate legislation.

For a more detailed definition of these responsibilities, refer to the current versions of the Corporate Health & Safety Policy, Group Safety Policy and employee information leaflet entitled "Health & Safety Policy; Guidance on Staff Health & Safety Responsibilities".

Corporate Health and Safety Responsibilities
All employees have personal responsibilities to take reasonable care for the health and safety of themselves and others. This means:

1. Understanding the hazards in the work they undertake;
2. Following safety rules and procedures;
3. Using work equipment, personal protective equipment, substances, and safety devices correctly; and
4. Working in accordance with the training provided and only undertaking tasks where appropriate training has been received.

Employees shall co-operate with the Council by allowing it to comply with its duties towards them. This requires employees to:

· take part in safety training and risk assessments and suggest ways of reducing risks; and
· take part in emergency evacuation exercises.

Employees shall report all accidents, ‘near miss’ incidents and work-related ill health conditions to their manager/supervisor/team leader.

Employees shall read the Corporate Health & Safety – Organisation Part B Policy to ascertain and understand their responsibilities as an employee, line manager, Assistant Director or Director of the Council.

Information Security:

In order to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of Council information, including information provided by customers, partner organisations, and other third parties, where applicable, employees will comply with the Council’s Information Security Policy.

Statement of Commitment to Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults through safer employment practice:

Enfield Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and vulnerable adults. Safe recruitment of staff is central to this commitment, and the Council will ensure that its recruitment policies and practices are robust, and that selection procedures prevent unsuitable people from gaining access to children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff employed to work with or on behalf of children and young people in the Council must be competent.

All staff working with Children & Vulnerable Adults should be aware of and share the commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults when applying for posts at Enfield Council.





Page 1 of 6
Job Role Profile and Person Specification
Published 18/10/2010
Last revised 24.9.20
PERSON SPECIFICATION

Job Title: Legal Officer (Disrepair) Grade: SO1

Department: CEX Team: Legal Services

HOW TESTED
Application – A
Test – T
Interview – I
Job Specifics – Skills, Experience, Knowledge & Abilities

Essential:

1. As a regular and intrinsic part of this role requires you to speak to members of the public in English, the ability to converse at ease with customers and provide advice in accurate spoken English is essential and consistent with the requirements of this role. This role also requires you to be polite and courteous when conversing with the public.

2. Experience of or an interest in disrepair and be willing to develop and learn further skills/areas of work

3. Working knowledge of at least one other of the following areas of work:
· Housing
· Civil litigation including employment;
· Prosecutions;
· Property (commercial and residential, including Right to Buy);
· Judicial Review;
· Governance;
· Advocacy;

4. Demonstrable experience of effective team working.

5. Good oral and written communication and comprehension skills.

6. The ability to prioritise own workload when experiencing conflicting demands to ensure deadlines and targets are met.

Desirable:
1. An awareness of the laws, practices and procedures of administration and local government








A/I





A/I
Behaviours

Appropriate behaviours are key to the delivery of our vision for Enfield.

We want staff who will work collaboratively, flexibly, and constructively, and exhibit this ethos in all their dealings with residents, colleagues and partners. Our leaders will be exemplars of the following behaviours and encourage them in staff at all levels; 

Take Responsibility
We want staff who are willing to make decisions and be accountable for them. Staff should have a positive can-do attitude where they see problems as challenges which can be overcome. They should accept responsibility for service delivery, be clear about their service offer and deliver what they promise.

Open, Honest and Respectful
We want staff who are comfortable and confident to acknowledge the difficulties and the barriers they face. They should also be able to constructively challenge the way things are done where there is evidence that it impedes service delivery. Challenge should be conducted in a professional, courteous manner with the aim of reaching a mutually agreeable resolution.

Listen and Learn
We want staff who are prepared to actively listen and reflect on customer concerns with a view to understanding the customer’s point of view. Staff should be able to receive constructive criticism and be prepared to adapt the way they operate and deliver services where appropriate.

Work Together to find solutions
We want staff who can work collaboratively with other departments and partners, freely sharing their knowledge and skills to identify solutions to address customer concerns.

Candidates: Please ensure you address these behaviours in your responses to the essential (and desirable if applicable) criteria above.



A/I

Competencies:

Candidates: Please ensure you address these competencies in your responses to the essential (and desirable if applicable) criteria above.

1. Customer focus
2. Deliver service performance
3. Focus on continuous improvement
4. Political awareness and context


A/I
Special requirements

Candidates: Please note you will be expected to meet these requirements of the role and they will be explored with you at interview.

None


I

Hybrid working, 2 days in the office. For the first week, the candidate will be required to come in for a minimum of 4 days so that they can be shown our processes.

To assist in providing / provide a comprehensive legal service to colleagues throughout the Council, to maintained Schools and to the Council’s Local Authority Trading Companies.
To be responsible for their own work as allocated by management, always ensuring value for money for the Council, communication with the client and working to the Lexcel standard.
1. As one of the members of the Legal Services Team to provide cover for Paralegals, Legal Officers and lawyers during his/her/their absence as appropriate.
2. To assist the senior members of Legal Services in ensuring that the Council complies with all legislative requirements and providing a pro-active as well as reactive legal service.
3. To conduct all aspects of Local Authority legal work, as allocated, and working with appropriate supervision. The work will include drafting, advice and court attendance (representing the Council) where appropriate. The post holder will have experience in at least one of the following areas:
* Housing including disrepair;
* Civil litigation including employment;
* Contract and procurement;
* Planning;
* Prosecutions;
* Property (commercial and residential, including Right to Buy);
* Adult safeguarding;
* Child safeguarding;
* Adoption;
* Homelessness;
* Community care;
* Judicial Review;
* Education;
* Governance;
* Advocacy