Senior Lawyer Advocate

Gloucestershire County Council; Gloucester; On-site; GBP 43,000 - 53,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

LG Pension scheme

25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5

Career development opportunities

Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to Work scheme

Job summary

Gloucestershire County Council seeks a Lawyer Advocate or Senior Lawyer Advocate to join the Children and Families team in Gloucester, handling child protection matters and providing advocacy across courts. The post offers opportunities for career progression and professional development.

You will work with a dedicated team, have flexible working where possible, and benefit from a generous leave scheme and pension. The role involves managing high‑quality legal work in a supportive environment.

Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor, Barrister or Cilex with current practising certificate and rights to conduct litigation for England and Wales.
• Significant post-qualification experience in children’s law.
• Excellent advocacy skills and ability to present cases persuasively at all court levels.
• Commitment to mentoring and developing others, fostering learning and best practice.

Responsibilities

• Manage a complex caseload of public children law matters, including non-accidental injury and cases with international elements.
• Conduct advocacy and representations across courts.
• Work as part of a wider team within the children and families legal section, in pods with support staff.

Skills

Qualified solicitor or Barrister or Ci

Advocacy skills

Interpersonal skills

Mentoring & development

Job description

• Job Title: Senior Lawyer Advocate
• Job Location: Shire Hall, Block 2, 1st Floor
• Salary: £43,149 - £53,051 per annum (Career grade progression) plus a 20% Market Rate Supplement
• Hours per Week: 37.00
• Contract Type: Permanent
• Closing Date: 22/11/2026
• Job Requisition Number: 15097
• This post is not open to job share

Child Protection Lawyers (With opportunity for career progression)

Lawyer or Senior Lawyer posts depending upon experience.

Benefits include: LG Pension scheme, flexible working, 25 days annual leave up to 30 days after 5 years continuous service.

This is a career grade post

The job profiles are for Grades 9 (Lawyer Advocates) and 10 (Senior Lawyer Advocates).

Our lawyers play a vital role in improving outcomes for children. If you want that sense of satisfaction that comes from knowing that your work has made a difference to someone else’s life for good, why not come and join our dedicated team? As you would expect, we believe that such dedication deserves an equal commitment from us. Those who join us are rewarded not only with genuine career progression opportunities but also a salary commensurate with knowledge and experience in child protection law and practice.

We work in a business focused agile way, so that we are there when and where our clients need us. We also recognise that we all have career/life goals and run a flexible working scheme, including working from home to ensure you get the work/life balance you deserve.

As a Lawyer you will have experience of child protection. You will work as part of the wider busy team within the children and families legal section but you will be in one of the four pods and have a smaller team of lawyers, paralegals, senior legal assistants and legal assistants to support you.

You will need to have an ability to command the respect, trust and confidence of your clients and senior managers as well as the court.

As a Senior Lawyer, you will manage a complex caseload of public children law matters, including non-accidental injury, chronic neglect and cases with international elements. You will have the skills and interest in conducting your own advocacy.

What We Are Looking For

Lawyer

Qualified solicitor, Barrister or Cilex with a current practising certificate and rights to conduct litigation for England and Wales.

Senior lawyer

Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Cilex with current practising certificate and rights to conduct litigation for England and Wales.

Significant post-qualification experience in children’s law, with a proven track record of handling complex proceedings.

Excellent advocacy skills and the ability to present cases persuasively at all court levels.

A commitment to mentoring and developing others, fostering a culture of learning and best practice.

Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships with colleagues, clients and external partners.

Gloucestershire is a great place to live and work and when you combine it with generous leave and support to meet career aspirations, it becomes more attractive. What’s more, where appropriate, there is a contribution towards relocation and for the longer term there is a pension which provides some great retirement benefits and life insurance.

Gloucestershire County Council is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications from all sections of the community.

About Us

• Flexible and agile working opportunities
• 25.5 days annual leave rising to 30.5 days after 5 years continuous service
• An option to purchase 10 days of additional leave per year (pro rata for part-time staff)
• Family friendly employer offering benefits to help support you and your family
• Career development and qualification opportunities
• Supportive and positive working environment with regular, robust supervision
• Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS)
• Access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) that provides free, confidential, counselling and advice for employees, available 24 hours a day, online and by telephone.
• An in-house Occupational Health service
• Employee discount scheme
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Gloucestershire Salary Sacrifice Green Car Scheme (T&Cs apply)
• Links to employee networks such as Prism (LGBT+) network and the Young Employees Network.

Additional Information

To access the Job Profile for this role, please follow the link below:-

Lawyer Advocate - Job Profile

Senior Lawyer Advocate - Job Profile

Due to the number of applications we received, we are unable to provide feedback at shortlisting stage and reserve the right to close the advert early.

Applications from any Gloucestershire County Council's employees who are currently on the redeployment register or at risk of redundancy will be considered first at shortlisting stage.

The council is not currently able to offer sponsorship in this role. Candidates will need to have a right to work that enables them to commit to at least 6 months' employment. Right to work is not transferable from a sponsored role held with another employer. / The council will consider sponsorship for this role, in line with Home Office regulations and subject to satisfactory pre-employment checks.

Gloucestershire County Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people or vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. This position is subject to a DBS check (delete if not applicable).

It is a legal requirement, under the Immigration Act 2016, that anyone appointed to a ‘customer facing role’ must be able to demonstrate an ability to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in fluent English.

We want to be an employer of choice, attracting and retaining excellent people to work for us, so that we can best serve all of Gloucestershire’s diverse communities. Our promise to you is that we will provide an inclusive and supportive working environment that enables you to bring your whole self to work and realise your full potential.