Flood & Planning Senior Managing Lawyer - 36504

Environment Agency; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working patterns

Job summary

Environment Agency in Birmingham or other permitted locations seeks a senior lawyer to lead the Flood & Planning legal team, delivering practical, risk-aware advice on flood risk management, planning and public law. You will guide complex matters, manage a diverse team and align work with EA strategies.

You will advise Executive Managers and Board-level clients, foster external partnerships, and promote inclusive leadership while ensuring delivery within time and budget constraints.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with a current practising certificate in England and Wales.
• Significant experience leading a legal team and advising on high-profile matters.
• Strong knowledge of flood risk management, planning and public law is essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Flood & Planning legal team, delivering high-quality, risk-based advice.
• Set strategic direction, manage people and budgets, and drive organisational change.
• Advise senior clients, build relationships with government lawyers and external providers.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Legal advisory

Stakeholder engagement

Communication

Education

Qualified Solicitor or Barrister (England & Wales)

Job description

Number of jobs available 1

Region East of England, South East, South West, West Midlands, Yorkshire and the Humber

City/Town Birmingham , Bristol , Exeter , Leeds , Peterborough , Reading

We are looking for an outstanding lawyer and leader to become our Flood & Planning Senior Managing Lawyer. You will lead the Environment Agency’s Flood & Planning legal team, delivering high-quality, highly efficient legal services that support the EA Corporate Strategy, EA Business Plan and Legal Strategy. You will provide timely, pragmatic and risk-based legal support on flood and coastal erosion risk management, planning and related public law matters. The team’s work includes legal advice on statutory powers and duties, policy and legislation, projects and operational delivery, regulation, enforcement, appeals, litigation and flood incidents.

You will set the team’s strategic direction, plan and prioritise its work, and manage people and financial resources to meet time, cost and quality targets. Working largely autonomously, you will lead on the most complex, sensitive and high-profile legal matters, drawing on your specialist expertise and that of the wider team. You will advise and influence senior clients, including Executive Managers and the Executive Directors Team, supporting sound, lawful and risk-based decision-making. You will lead client care as a trusted partner, build clients’ legal capability and maintain effective relationships with government lawyers, partner organisations, counsel and other external providers.

As a senior leader in Legal and Audit Services, you will role model EA guiding principles and leadership behaviours, recruit, develop and motivate colleagues, promote wellbeing and inclusion, and lead performance management and organisational change. You will lead agreed cross‑cutting portfolios that contribute to the Legal Strategy and improve services across Legal Services, adapting the team’s work and supporting collaboration across teams as organisational needs change.

We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please clearly state any preferences regarding your working arrangements in your application.

The Flood & Planning team sits within Flood and Corporate Legal Services and supports the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal erosion risk management and planning functions. It is a nationally dispersed team delivering strategic and operational advice, including support for flood incidents. We value inclusive leadership, professional excellence, collaboration and practical, solution‑focused advice.

Experience/skills required

• Significant experience of handling complex and sensitive legal issues and providing calm, pragmatic, risk‑based advice.
• Experience of managing and leading a team of lawyers, or other relevant management experience, including developing people and improving team performance.
• Significant experience advising in one or more relevant specialist areas, e.g. flood and coastal erosion risk management law, planning, major projects, public and administrative law, judicial review, civil litigation, regulation, enforcement, statutory powers and duties, or the development and implementation of legislation and policy. A strong understanding of public law is essential.
• Thorough, up‑to‑date knowledge of relevant legislation, with experience of assimilating unfamiliar areas of law quickly.
• Well‑developed communication and influencing skills, with experience of writing clear legal briefings for director, board or government‑level use, drafting correspondence in response to parliamentary questions, and presenting to different audiences, including Executive Directors and Boards.

Contact and additional information

You must be a qualified solicitor or barrister with a current right to practise in England and hold a current practising certificate.

You will have experience of working effectively at national level and/or with government, and the ability to build strong internal and external networks with legal peers. You should also be confident using digital tools, with a willingness to develop capability as technology evolves.

The role can be based in Bristol, Exeter, Birmingham, Reading, Peterborough or Leeds. National travel will be required. The post is permanent and full time, and flexible working requests, including job share, are welcomed.

We aim to hold interviews week beginning 30 November 2026.

Please refer to the additional information for the full job description

For recruitment queries, contact [e-mail].

Competence 1: Leads People

Description Please provide an example of how your leadership inspired and motivated others to achieve a shared goal in challenging circumstances.

Competence 2: Influences and Persuades Others

Description Describe a situation where you positively influenced the actions of others, particularly where there was initial resistance.

Competence 3: Shapes organisational approach & delivery

Description Tell us about a time when you shaped organisational delivery or improved an approach or way of working.

Role specific professional membership requirements

You must be a Solicitor or Barrister qualified to practise in England and Wales on appointment.

If you are applying from the Civil Service please note that the Environment Agency is not a part of HM Civil Service and you would not be a Crown Servant in the event of being appointed. Therefore, you will not be eligible for continuous service. For applicants who currently work in local government or other bodies listed in the Redundancy Payments (Continuity of Employment in Local Government etc) (Modification) Order 1999, you may be eligible for continuous service for the purpose of calculating any future redundancy payment. If you are unsure of your status then you should contact your own HR Team. We are fully committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce to reflect the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please include clearly any information regarding your preferred working arrangements on your application. We also have a Guaranteed Interview Policy to support those with a disability who are seeking employment. We have committed to guaranteeing an interview to anyone with a disability whose application meets the minimum criteria for the post. The Environment Agency, as a Non-Departmental Public Body, is committed to providing value for money and utilises Central Government frameworks and contracts for all external recruitment needs. For this reason, we are unable to engage with the market directly through post, email or phone calls . Should you wish to become a support supplier on one of these frameworks or contracts please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/become-a-crown-commercial-service-supplier/becoming-a-supplier-through-the-crown-commercial-service-what-you-need-to-know for more information.Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.Although the Environment Agency is a non‑departmental public body sponsored by Defra, we subscribe to and align with the candidate guidance on the use of artificial intelligence found on the Civil Service Careers website .Please review for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.