Legal Services Manager, Property Team

Legal Services Manager, Property Team

Permanent, Full Time

£70,543 to £82,992 per annum

Location: Chelmsford

Working Style: Anywhere worker

Closing Date: 4th December 2024

This role has a hybrid working arrangement. We will expect you to
attend our Chelmsford offices approximately 2 - 3 days per week. There
will also be a requirement to visit other sites throughout the
operational area, as required.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a new leader for our Property Team. The team has a
large volume of interesting and rewarding work including supporting the
Council’s £1.7 billion estate which covers approximately 350 buildings and
around 1,500 sites ranging from residential care, waste, country parks,
schools and corporate offices in addition to providing high quality legal
advice to external clients.

This is a brilliant opportunity for the right person to continue to develop
the team, to contribute to the growth of Essex and to work on complex and
interesting projects such as major transport schemes.

Essex County Council (ECC) is a diverse and large organisation that strives
for excellence and delivers an outstanding service for residents across
Essex. The in-house legal service, ELS, prides itself on providing a
comprehensive legal service to the Council – most of our work is done
in-house. We pride ourselves on valuing the people who work for us and
providing a supportive working environment, where people work hard to do
their best for Essex. The work can be demanding, and we expect resilience
but our senior leaders are committed to ensuring that ELS is a place where
people want to stay.

This post is a strategic leader in the legal service focused on managing a
team of legal professionals.

In addition, as part of the ELS leadership team, the role has a strong
voice in the running of the service and plays a key role in maintaining our
Lexcel accreditation.

We're looking for someone with excellent technical legal skills and
relevant experience who can quickly pick things up and manage a team of
specialists within the property area.

They will need to be able to operate effectively in a complex
politically-led organisation. Their influencing skills will be critical in
order to articulate options and risks when advising Senior Leaders and
Councilors.

To read more about us please visit:

Corporate Services

Accountabilities

· Lead, manage and motivate a team of lawyers, paralegals and
caseworkers to provide exemplary legal advice to internal stakeholders
within ECC and external customers.

· Accountable for the provision of high quality advice and
interpretation to clients to underpin and inform decision making.

· Accountable for providing legal services to support different
functions within the Council, in order to, protect and mitigate potential
legal risks for ECC.

· Responsible for contributing to business development targets
across the team.

· Develop and maximise opportunities to attract external legal
work across the breadth of different sectors with whom ECC collaborates in
support of ECC strategic aims and objectives to build new revenue streams.

· Accountable for ensuring professional conduct and governance
across the Council to meet Corporate and Statutory responsibilities and
requirements.

· Accountable for driving compliance with the Lexcel standard and
preparing the service for renewal of its Lexcel accreditation.

· Work collaboratively with stakeholders and partners to ensure
solutions are robust, providing direction and guidance to achieve positive
outcomes.

· Specific individual and shared targets and objectives are
defined annually within the performance management framework.

The Experience You Will Bring

· Qualified solicitor or barrister or legal executive with full
practising certificate and at least 5 years’ post qualification experience.

· Expert knowledge and experience in property law, with a local
government focus e.g. commercial property, residential conveyancing,
academy conversions, major projects and complex property transactions,
leases, licences, sales and disposals, option agreements and overage.

· Experience of working with senior personnel and Directors and
other key stakeholders

· Knowledge and understanding of providing legal advice in a
public sector setting

· Experience of leading a team of qualified professionals

· Persuasion and influencing skills

· Evidence of creativity in exploring business opportunities

Pay and Reward

You’ll also have access to the MyReward, a unique platform for Essex County
Council employees to take advantage of including:

- Healthcare and Dental Plans at corporate rates

- Discounts and benefits at many local and national outlets
including supermarkets, shopping, restaurants, technology purchases and
holidays

- Discounts across Essex County Council’s businesses, including
Country Park Membership, ACL and more

- Generous holiday and special leave allowances (including the
option to purchase extra holiday)

- Local Government Pension Scheme.

- Life Assurance of three times annual salary

- Employee wellbeing and counselling

- Travel discounts & season ticket loans

- Learning and Development opportunities/coaching & mentoring

- Payment of professional fees for approved professions

- Eye care vouchers

- Lease car scheme (dependent on business needs).

You can read more here:

https://workingforessex.com/working-here/pay-reward

Interviews expected be held in person at Seax House, Chelmsford, December 2024

Why Essex? Essex County Council has a location to be proud
of. Our 1,300 square miles stretch from Constable Country to the Thames
Estuary, from the dynamic M11 corridor to the traditional seaside resorts
of Clacton and Walton on the Naze. England’s oldest city, Colchester, and
two of its newest – Basildon and Harlow – are right here. Along with the
City of Chelmsford, the county town, they form our major population
centres. It means real choice and makes Essex the ideal place for your
career. Read more

about us.

Essex County Council is proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We’re
committed to interview all disabled applicants who choose to apply under
our Job Interview Scheme if they meet the minimum requirements of the job.
Please speak to our Recruiters if you require any reasonable adjustments
during the process.

We’re also committed to interview all veterans and care leavers, who meet
the minimum requirements of the role for which they are applying.

As part of employment with Essex County Council (ECC) should your role
require a DBS check you will be required to register with the DBS update
service. The DBS update service ensures all registered DBS certificates
are kept up to date and allows authorised parties to view the status of
your certificate. This is an annual subscription, and you will be
responsible for ensuring this is maintained. For further information on
the DBS update service please go to

https://www.gov.uk/dbs-update-service

Essex County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the
welfare of children and vulnerable adults, and expects all employees
and volunteers to share this commitment.

If you would like to be kept up to date on other relevant opportunities,
blogs, news, events and industry related news at Essex County Council,
please join

The Essex Talent Community

If you have queries on this role or require anything further, please email

resourcing.team@essex.gov.uk

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