Senior Lawyer - Employment

Due to growth in our work streams, we have an exciting and unique opportunity for you to join our legal services team at Staffordshire County Council.

We are a modern, progressive, and forward-thinking authority that is ambitious and empowers its employees to be courageous and innovative in their approach. Staffordshire Legal Services is a large in-house corporate legal team, offering a significant breadth of experience and expertise. We support and retain our lawyers, trainees, and support staff by offering a wide variety of work, an extensive benefits package, and training and mentoring to aid their progression. We want everyone to enjoy their work, feel challenged, and appreciated for what they do, making a positive difference to the lives of the people of Staffordshire.

Legal Services support the Council in fulfilling its functions and delivering its agenda and priorities, including the Staffordshire pension fund and a wide range of external clients. This makes the work interesting, challenging, high value, and high profile.

We recognize the importance of achieving a good work-life balance, supported by our extensive benefits package, which includes generous holiday entitlement, flexible and term-time working, agile working, employee discounts, a local government pension scheme, optional car lease, and staff parking discounts. Family-friendly policies such as maternity, adoption, paternity, and parental leave are also offered.

Main Responsibilities

• Providing legal advice on all aspects of employment law, including disciplinary, grievance, TUPE, redundancy, and equalities matters.
• Representing the Council in Employment Tribunals and other legal proceedings.
• Drafting and reviewing employment contracts, policies, and procedures.
• Supporting colleagues and senior managers with complex employment issues.
• Adhering to the Legal Services Unit's quality standards (Lexcel), including time-recording.
• Delivering training and updates on employment law developments.
• Handling confidential data sensitively and securely.

The Ideal Candidate

• Qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive, Solicitor, or Barrister.
• Building positive relationships with clients and the team.
• Comprehensive understanding of employment law.
• Understanding of public sector work; previous local government experience is not essential.
• Clear, confident, and effective communication skills.
• Strong advocacy, negotiation, and drafting skills.
• Ability to work independently and manage a varied caseload.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• Effective time management and prioritization skills.
• Ability to delegate work to generate capacity.

Interviews will take place on 28th August 2025. For informal inquiries, contact Manisha Makwana, Senior Solicitor (Employment), at .

About Staffordshire County Council

We are a unique county council with core values shaped by staff feedback and best practices. Our community spirit fosters a sense of belonging, pride, and ambition for a better future. We are committed to creating a supportive working environment that promotes full potential and work-life balance.

Our benefits include access to rewards and benefits, safeguarding and promoting welfare, and equal opportunities. We are a Disability Confident, Armed Forces Gold Award employer, and support care leavers with guaranteed interviews if criteria are met.