Social Care and Education Principal Solicitor

Salary range: Grade 17 £68,571- £71,055 p.a. plus fantastic benefits
Contract: Permanent 
Hours of work: 36 hours per week
Location: Croydon

Principal Childcare Lawyer

Social Care & Education Legal Team – Croydon Council

Croydon is one of London’s largest and most diverse boroughs, home to vibrant communities, businesses and neighbourhoods. As a Council, we continue to transform the way we work, with a strong focus on delivering high-quality and sustainable services for our residents.

We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Principal Childcare Lawyer to join our Social Care & Education Legal Team.

This is a senior role within the team, combining the conduct of complex and high-profile public law children matters with responsibility for supervising and supporting lawyers, advocates and paralegals. You will also work closely with the Head of Social Care & Education Law, deputising where required and contributing to the continued development of the team and wider Legal Services Division.

About the role

As Principal Childcare Lawyer, you will provide high-quality legal advice and representation to Children’s Services across a broad range of child protection and public law children matters.

You will have conduct of complex cases and provide clear, pragmatic and solution-focused legal advice, while supporting the effective management and development of the wider team.

Your responsibilities will include:

Managing a caseload of complex and sensitive public law children matters, including care proceedings and other applications under the Children Act 1989.

Advising Children’s Services on all aspects of child protection, adoption and related children’s social care matters.

Providing advice and representation in relation to pre-proceedings and the Public Law Outline.

Attending Legal Planning Meetings, strategy meetings, case conferences, reviews and other multi-agency meetings.

Conducting advocacy in the Family Court where appropriate and instructing Counsel in complex or specialist proceedings.

Ensuring cases are prepared and conducted in accordance with relevant legislation, case law, court rules and Practice Directions.

Proactively identifying legal and organisational risks at an early stage and developing effective strategies to address them.

Providing clear, confident and persuasive advice to social workers, managers and senior officers.

Developing innovative and legally sound solutions to complex problems.

Providing day-to-day supervision and professional support to lawyers, in-house advocates and paralegals within the team.

Conducting regular one-to-one meetings and supporting the appraisal and development of staff in conjunction with the Head of Social Care & Education Law.

Supporting the allocation, monitoring and progression of work across the team.

Deputising for the Head of Social Care & Education Law as required.

Leading or contributing to projects and service improvement initiatives.

Supporting the ongoing development of the Social Care & Education Legal Team and the wider Legal Services Division.

Preparing and delivering legal briefings and training to client officers, colleagues, elected Members and other stakeholders.

Developing and maintaining effective professional relationships with Children’s Services, colleagues and partner organisations.

Contributing to effective risk management and ensuring significant legal or service risks are appropriately escalated.

About you

We are looking for an experienced Solicitor or Barrister who can demonstrate strong technical expertise in public law children work together with the leadership skills required to support and supervise others.

You will have:

A current practising certificate entitling you to practise in England and Wales.

At least three years’ post-qualification experience and substantial relevant experience in childcare/public law children work.

Strong knowledge of child protection law, children’s social care law and Family Court procedure.

A good understanding of the legal and governance framework within which local authorities operate.

Experience of managing complex and sensitive childcare proceedings.

Strong advocacy, legal drafting, negotiation and analytical skills.

The ability to identify legal risks and provide clear, practical and proportionate solutions.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to advise confidently and persuasively.

Experience of supervising and supporting lawyers or other legal professionals.

The ability to organise and prioritise both your own workload and the work of others.

The ability to work effectively under pressure and respond to urgent and unforeseen demands.

Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build constructive relationships with client departments and colleagues.

A flexible and collaborative approach, with a commitment to maintaining high professional standards.

Experience of working within a local authority legal service and familiarity with legal case management systems would be advantageous.

Leadership and development

This role provides an opportunity to play an important part in the continued development of the Social Care & Education Legal Team.

You will support the Head of Social Care & Education Law in maintaining high professional standards, developing staff, improving ways of working and ensuring that the legal service remains responsive to the needs of Children’s Services.

You will also have opportunities to lead on projects, contribute to wider service development and deputise for the Head of Social Care & Education Law where required.