Opus People Solutions on behalf of West Northamptonshire Council are recruiting for a Head of Law and Governance to join their team on a temporary contract

Start Date:

ASAP

Length:

4-5 Months

Working Location:

Guildhall / Remote

Working Hours:

37

Overall purpose of the role:

• To personally provide legal advice at the highest level across all legal disciplines to the Council and where appropriate its companies
• To lead, manage, plan and resource the delivery of the full range of legal services to the Council and where appropriate the Council's companies
• To act as the Council's Deputy Monitoring Officer as requested by the Monitoring Officer
• To lead and manage the Law and Governance in-house staff Team
• To manage the contract with the external legal firm Pathfinder Legal Services (formerly LGSS Law) a local authority owned company of which West Northamptonshire Council is a shareholder.
• To work collaboratively with all members of the Law and Governance Service to deliver excellent quality services across the full range of functions provided by the Service.

Main Responsibilities:

• Contributing to the achievement of the Council's corporate priorities and objectives by aligning the Legal Service to identified priorities.
• Assisting the Director of Legal and Democratic in developing and providing strong and effective legal and corporate governance of the Council through working closely with Directors and Assistant Directors to help create and embed any necessary changes in culture, practice or procedure to meet the needs of the Council and its Companies.
• In consultation with the Monitoring Officer providing appropriate challenge at all levels across the Council to ensure that the Authority, its companies, officers and councillors are legally compliant and good governance prevails.
• Contributing to strong and robust leadership and management of the Law and Governance Service.
• Keeping the Head of Service informed of matters which are politically sensitive, high profile, critical or otherwise higher risk.
• Leading, managing and inspiring members of the in house Legal Team.
• Attending and actively participating in management team meetings and events to help the Law and Governance Service meet its objectives and ensuring that a corporate and co-ordinated approach is adopted and maintained in the provision of all services.

Qualifications/Experience Needed:

• Detailed understanding of relevant legislation
• Extensive experience of leading and managing professional teams and managing change.
• Strong understanding of financial and commercial pressures and issues of service delivery in the public sector
• Strong understanding and use of corporate policies and procedures such as financial management, information management, data protection, safeguarding and health and safety
• Ability to interpret complex legislation and explain it to a variety of audiences. Ability to give authoritative advice on the spot and deal with emerging legal issues.
• Experience of owning, setting and managing budgets, fees and charges in a public sector yet commercial environment