Head of Legal Services

A fantastic opportunity to join Incommunities as our new Head of Legal Services We are seeking an experienced Head of Legal Services to lead our in-house legal function. As a key member of our leadership team, you will be responsible for overseeing all legal operations, ensuring compliance, aswell as providing legal counsel to Incommunities particularly on contract law. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly skilled professional with a proven track record that can drive excellence and innovation within a fast-paced and evolving environment.

**About us**

We are a social housing landlord and one of the largest housing providers in the region with over 22,000 social and affordable homes, mainly in the Bradford district. We employ a talented workforce of nearly 1,000 people.

This year we’ve launched our five-year Corporate Strategy, which runs to 2029. Our purpose is to provide high quality homes, services, and support to our customers, so we’ve worked with colleagues and customers to find out what’s important to them. Our customers sit at the heart of what we do, and our colleagues are the people who’ll help us achieve our vision, which is to create the best customer experience to improve everyday lives.

**Duties include**:

- Acting as the senior legal counsel in the organisation with a specialism in contract law, you will support and advise the organisation on relevant legal matters and in particular, complex contractual matters and negotiations.
- The Head of Legal Services will be the central control for all legal activity and spend in the organisation, monitoring activity and ensuring compliance with our legal framework and procurement regulations in the commissioning of external legal advice, ensuring value for money is achieved as a result.
- Line management for the Litigation Manager and Conveyancing Manager, ensuring these teams deliver and efficient and effective service that is high performing and operates within budget.
- Senior level reporting to the Directors and Executive Management Team (EMT) on key legal matters and legislation as well as appropriate escalation when required; exercising sound judgement in doing so and an ability to explain complex legal matters in a concise way tailored to the audience.
- Point of contact for our partner law firms - holding quarterly review meetings to ensure high quality of service is provided within their terms of engagement as well as optimising their added value services.
- Senior contracts legal expertise required to support our legal needs in the drafting, negotiating and vetting relevant contracts as well as providing support and training to internal teams as required for low level contracts.
- Establish and deliver a robust and effective legal framework which aims to deliver a bespoke legal training programme and helps mitigate our key risks.
- Effectively manage both strategic and operational legal risks within the established risk tolerance.

**About you**
- Enjoy working in a fast-paced environment and are solutions focussed with a can-do attitude.
- Are an effective leader that engages and supports their team, building trust and confidence along the way as well as have some fun
- Effectively motivate others to achieve service objectives and demonstrate the ability to collaborate successfully with other senior leaders and Directors.
- Have exceptional writing and communication skills, with the ability to deliver succinct presentations to senior leaders and wider organisation.
- Can display exceptional attention to detail.

**Requirements**:

- Solicitor, barrister or equivalent qualified lawyer with substantial post-qualification experience.
- Senior level, extensive experience in Contract law with the right to practice law in this jurisdiction.
- In-depth legal expertise with knowledge of legal principles and practices.
- A strategic mindset with experience in business planning, performance management and value.
- Proven analytical and problem-solving skills, demonstrating your ability to assess and understand complex legal issues, and provide strategic advice.
- Natural leadership and management skills and the ability to assess and understand complex legal issues.
- Experience in litigation / property law is desirable.
- Experience within the housing sector is desirable

**Benefits**
- Salary of £68,403 per year
- West Yorkshire Pension Fund membership - Current employer contribution is 15.5%
- 28 days annual leave which increases with service plus bank holidays
- Training, development, and qualification opportunities
- Corporate health scheme membership
- Access to an Employee Assistance Programme
- Agile and hybrid working - 2 days per week in the office (BD17 7BN)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Local gym membership discounts.
- A team of trained Mental Health First Aiders who are available for colleagues to contact for support

**Join Our Team**

We’re looking for great people to join us At **Incommunities**, we’re committed to creating