Senior Lawyer (Property)

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

West Northamptonshire Council is seeking a Senior Property Lawyer to support a growing legal service and manage a diverse commercial property portfolio including acquisitions, disposals, leases and development projects.

You will provide clear, commercially focused advice to Members and council services, mentor colleagues and help drive continuous improvement within the Property Team.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in commercial property law.
• Strong track record of managing complex property matters.
• Experience with acquisitions, disposals, landlord and tenant matters and development projects.
• Experience in local government is welcome but not required.

Responsibilities

• Manage a varied caseload of commercial property matters, advising Members, officers and services across the Council.
• Provide high-quality legal advice on leases, licences, easements and related transactions to protect the Council's property interests.
• Mentor and develop colleagues; contribute to continuous improvement of legal services.

Skills

Commercial property law

Client advisory

Acquisitions & disposals

Landlord & tenant matters

Education

Solicitor qualification (UK)

Job description

About the role

At West Northamptonshire Council, we're investing in the future of our Property Team and are excited to be growing our legal capability with the addition of a Senior Property Lawyer. This is an excellent opportunity to join one of England's newest and largest unitary councils and play a key role in supporting significant property, regeneration and development activity across West Northamptonshire.

Working within the Legal team, you'll provide expert legal advice on a wide range of commercial property matters that help shape the future of our communities. With a substantial and diverse commercial property portfolio, together with the Council's own housing stock, you'll have exposure to varied and interesting work within a modern, ambitious and forward-thinking legal service.

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced property lawyer who is motivated, ambitious and looking to further develop their expertise within a supportive environment that values learning, collaboration and career pro

What will you be doing?

You'll manage a varied caseload of commercial property matters, providing high-quality legal advice and support to Members, officers and services across the Council. Your work will include acquisitions and disposals of freehold and leasehold property, landlord and tenant matters, leases, licences, easements and other property-related transactions, ensuring the Council's property interests are effectively protected and managed.

You'll work closely with colleagues across the organisation, advising on legal issues affecting the Council's extensive commercial property portfolio and housing stock. Providing clear, practical and commercially focused advice, you'll help services navigate complex property matters while ensuring legal compliance and managing risk.

As a senior member of the team, you'll support the development of colleagues through mentoring, training and knowledge sharing, helping to build capability across the Property Team. You'll also contribute to the continuous improvement of legal services, maintain up-to-date knowledge of relevant legislation and best practice, and play an active role in delivering a responsive, customer-focused legal service

About you

You're a qualified legal professional with significant experience in commercial property law and a strong track record of managing complex property matters. You enjoy working on varied and challenging work and are confident providing practical, commercially focused legal advice to a wide range of stakeholders.

You'll have strong technical knowledge, excellent communication skills and the ability to build effective working relationships across services and external partners. Experience of acquisitions, disposals, landlord and tenant matters and development projects is essential, while experience within local government is welcomed but not required.

Most importantly, you'll be proactive, collaborative and committed to continuous learning and development. You'll share our THRIVE values and our ambition to deliver excellent legal services that support growth, investment and positive outcomes for the people and places of West Northamptonshire.

Our benefits

You can also see our full list of employee benefits on our careers site here: Why you should work for us | West Northamptonshire Council.

About us

At West Northants Council, it's about our people. People who thrive with ambition, bubble with new ideas, demand better ways of working, caring about every detail, and who never shy away from a challenge. Our culture is a gateway for new experiences. A place to forge new opportunities. To empower you in your career and unite you with like-minded people.

Our vision is 'to make West Northants a great place to live, work, visit and thrive'. We truly stand by this and work hard every day to make this a reality. Our corporate values, THRIVE, stand for: Trust, High Performance, Respect, Innovate and Empower, they underpin everything we do and how we deliver services.

We are committed to ensuring diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion is woven into the fabric of WNC and everything we do, to enable all colleagues to develop and maximize their full potential. We are a disability confident employer, a member of the Armed Forces Covenant, and a Care Leaver Covenant partner

The following film was created by us to communicate our intentions - watch WNC colleagues explain what DEI means to us.

If you need additional support or reasonable adjustments during the application process, including needing the job description in another format or language, please email [e-mail] for support.

Please note we reserve the right to close the advert early if we receive a high volume of suitable applications, so we recommend applying as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

West Northants Council, where careers thrive.