Principal Lawyer & Advocacy Leader – Public Sector

Reading Borough Council; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Competitive salary

Life Assurance

On-site facilities

Job summary

Reading Borough Council is seeking a highly experienced Principal Lawyer to lead its Advocacy Team within the Berkshire Joint Legal Team. You will provide expert legal advice on complex, high-risk matters, oversee advocacy across proceedings, and support the Council to meet legal obligations and corporate priorities.

You will lead, develop and motivate a team of lawyers and paralegals, act as a senior adviser to officers and elected Members, and contribute to strategic legal planning, governance

Qualifications

• Significant post-qualification experience, ideally within local government or a comparable public sector environment.
• Extensive experience managing complex legal matters and high-risk cases.
• Strong advocacy skills and experience overseeing advocacy services.
• Experience leading, supervising and developing legal professionals.

Responsibilities

• Lead, manage and develop a team of legal professionals, ensuring high-quality performance and service delivery.
• Act as a senior legal adviser on complex, high-risk, high-value and sensitive matters.
• Oversee and supervise advocacy across a broad range of proceedings and hearings.
• Conduct and supervise significant, complex and high-profile cases.
• Provide strategic legal advice to senior officers, elected Members, committees and partner organisations.
• Contribute to service planning, transformation projects and the continuous improvement of Legal Services.
• Advise on governance, decision-making, risk management and legal compliance.
• Represent Legal Services at senior meetings, boards and committees.
• Support the Monitoring Officer in discharging statutory duties where required.

Skills

Advocacy

Leadership

Strategic advisory

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Solicitor/Barrister/CILEX qualification

Job description

Reading Borough Council is seeking a highly experienced Principal Lawyer to lead its Advocacy Team within the Berkshire Joint Legal Team. You will provide expert legal advice on complex, high-risk matters, oversee advocacy across proceedings, and support the Council to meet legal obligations and corporate priorities.

You will lead, develop and motivate a team of lawyers and paralegals, act as a senior adviser to officers and elected Members, and contribute to strategic legal planning, governance