Senior Litigation Lawyer (Criminal)

West Northamptonshire Council; Northampton; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

West Northants Council is seeking a Senior Litigation Lawyer (Criminal) to provide expert legal advice and representation across criminal and regulatory matters.

You will operate at a senior level within our Law and Governance team, handling complex litigation, advocacy work, and advising Members and services across the organisation.

Qualifications

• Qualified Solicitor or Barrister with strong litigation experience and proven advocacy skills.
• Experience in criminal, regulatory or local authority litigation would be valuable.
• Excellent communicator able to build relationships and explain complex issues clearly.

Responsibilities

• Provide pragmatic legal advice in a fast-paced, politically sensitive environment.
• Represent clients in court and manage complex cases.
• Support regulatory enforcement and advisory across the organisation.

Skills

Litigation experience

Advocacy skills

Communication skills

Education

Qualified Solicitor or Barrister

Job description

Job introduction

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 the role

At West Northants Council, we are committed to protecting our communities and supporting fair, effective regulatory enforcement. As a Senior Litigation Lawyer (Criminal), you'll play a key role in helping the Council uphold legal standards and fulfil its statutory responsibilities, providing expert legal advice and representation across a varied and interesting range of criminal and regulatory matters.

This is an exciting opportunity to join one of England’s newest and largest unitary councils and become a trusted legal adviser to Members, officers and services across the organisation. Working within our Law and Governance team, you'll operate at a senior level, handling complex litigation matters while contributing to the continued development of a modern, ambitious and customer-focused legal service.

Whether you're currently working in local government, a regulatory environment or private practice, this role offers the opportunity to undertake meaningful advocacy work, influence decision‑making and make a tangible difference to the communities we serve.

Additional information

You’re a qualified Solicitor or Barrister with strong litigation experience and proven advocacy skills. You’re confident managing complex cases, representing clients in court and providing pragmatic legal advice in a fast‑paced and politically sensitive environment. Experience in criminal, regulatory or local authority litigation would be particularly valuable.

You’re an excellent communicator who can build strong relationships, influence stakeholders and explain complex legal issues in a clear and accessible way. You combine sound legal judgement with a practical approach to problem‑solving and are comfortable balancing competing priorities while maintaining high standards of service delivery.

West Northants is a great place to build your legal career. With a strong focus on wellbeing, flexibility, mentoring, coaching and professional development, we are committed to helping our people thrive. Above all, you'll share our THRIVE values and our ambition to deliver outstanding legal services that support the Council, its services and the communities we serve.

Company information

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 notewe 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.