Senior Commercial Lawyer

Job title: Senior Commercial Lawyer
Job Category: Interims
Location: Cunard Building, Water Street, Pier Head, Liverpool, Merseyside, L2 2BS, Liverpool City Council
Hours Per Week :35.00
Pay: £49.44 per hour
Full Time 35 hours per week; 1 day onsite and 4 days WFH.
Must be qualified solicitor, barrister, FCILEX (in all cases authorised to practice in England and Wales) and authorised to conduct litigation under the Legal Services Act 2007.
Must be experienced and proficient in the drafting of social care and public health contracts, advice on the specific legal regimes affecting the procurement of such contracts, and the conduct of social care and public health commissioning activity.

To be a senior advisor and representative in an area of legal specialism including complex, high profile and sensitive matters. To be able to provide advice on other legal matters affecting local authorities. To manage and develop lawyers and other fee earners. To support the head of law and legal management team in the management of the service.
Main Areas of Responsibility:

To undertake a full caseload of complex and often sensitive legal matters within one or more specialisms of the team and dealing with complex and sensitive matters

To provide proactive and solution focussed advice that supports the delivery of the council's priorities and policies

To manage and develop lawyers and / or other team members within your team ensuring the delivery of high quality and cost-effective legal services

To be able to advise on legal matters relevant to public and local government law including on executive and committee decision-making, information governance and public law challenges

To advise members and formal member level bodies including Cabinet, Council, committees and overview and scrutiny in respect of the team's specialism and as required by the City Director and / or their Deputy Director

To support the City Director of Law & Governance in their role as monitoring officer and in promoting the Nolan Principles in the council and escalating matters as appropriate

To externally commission legal work for the Council where required, ensuring value for money and high-quality advice and representation is received

To ensure the service, teams and the wider Council is aware of the current and future law and practice affecting the authority

To participate in the delivery of projects and programmes in the Legal Service and / or corporately

To support the Head of Law with the development of legal procedures and policies

To support the Head of Law in the delivery of value for money and income generation in the work of the team

To have responsibility to authorise payments from an agreed expenditure budget

To deputise for the Head of Law in their absence or as requested

The post holder will be required to demonstrate the ability to perform at the following competency level: Level 2.
The competency framework can be found here.

This job description is not intended to be either prescriptive or exhaustive. It is issued as a framework to outline the main areas of responsibility. You will be expected to carry out any other duties that may reasonably be required in line with your main duties and changing priorities of the organisation.
Person Specification
Assessment methods used: I = Interview, P = Presentation, A = Application, E = Exercise, T = Test, AC = Assessment Centre
Qualification and training
Essential

Qualified solicitor, barrister, FCILEX (in all cases authorised to practice in England & Wales) (A)

Must be authorised to conduct litigation under the Legal Services Act 2007 (A)

Expert knowledge and understanding of the law and procedure relating to the relevant area of specialism (A/I)


Desirable

An understanding of public law as it applies to local authorities, including decision making and governance

Management training relevant to the seniority and nature of the role Experience


Essential
Experience of providing complex and specialist legal advice to a local authority or similar organisation (A/I)

Experience of the supervision of staff (A/I)
Experience of building and maintaining positive relationships with clients (internal and external) and delivering their needs (A/I)
To provide legal advice in the team's specialism, including advising and representing the Council in internal and external forums (A/I)
To provide risk based and solution focussed advice to clients (I)
To work under pressure and with minimal supervision (A/I)
To support the delivery and cost effectiveness of legal services through continuous improvement (I)
To be able to manage and motivate team members (A/I)
A skilled communicator to a range of audiences in writing and verbally (A/I)


Desirable

Experience of working on projects

To work collaboratively at all levels and in a non-hierarchical way

To have an understanding of working in a political environment

To promote and advance diversity and inclusion and challenge inequality in the service and Council

To support the work of the monitoring officer Commitment


Essential

Experience of working on projects (A/I)

To work collaboratively at all levels and in a non-hierarchical way (I)

To have an understanding of working in a political environment (I)

To promote and advance diversity and inclusion and challenge inequality in the service and Council (A/I)

To support the work of the monitoring officer (I)