Principal Solicitor

At Swindon Borough Council, we want our town to be the best it can be. Our ambitious vision is supported by realistic transformation programmes, with the people of Swindon at their heart. Because that’s who we’re doing it for – the communities and businesses that make our town great. As part of the Council, you’ll support a friendly local authority making decisions with real impact. It’s all for better public services. Better processes. And a better quality of life, for everyone. Join us, and Swindon will be better with you.

Your next role

We now have an opportunity for a Principal Solicitor (Contracts and Procurement) to join our Contracts and Procurement Legal team. Utilising skills and experience gained within similar positions, you will carry out day to day management of the Team, and be responsible for your own caseload, covering a wide range of diverse, complex and interesting matters.

The role will involve providing legal advice and support to clients, committees, members and senior officers, as well as supporting and mentoring less experienced colleagues. You will also develop a good working knowledge of the Council’s Constitution, the local government legal framework, and the Council’s own decision making and other governance processes, and how they apply to your specialist area as well as the wider service, so that you can assist the Chief Legal Officer with the provision of advice on any matters of governance as may be required to ensure the Council acts within its powers.

This is a really interesting and diverse role, and you will have the opportunity to lead on a very wide range of matters reflecting the very wide remit of Council functions. You will arrive at solutions through analytical ability and thorough research, and show tenacity and strong interpersonal skills necessary to build effective working relationships and establish credibility with clients and colleagues. You’ll also be capable of working with limited support and supervision.

About you

We are looking for an experienced practitioner who will be the lead advisor on a wide variety of complex work, supporting the Council to deliver some ambitious regeneration and revitalisation projects. You will support the Council in a broad range of contracts and procurement matters including drafting reports, tender documentation, contracts and other commercial documents and advising on commercial law issues and major regeneration projects. Experience from within local government is not essential but will assist.

The legal department are committed to innovation and the progression of the team and each employee. The department is operating a hybrid approach to flexible working, meaning that the majority of the team are working in a hybrid way.

You must be fluent in the English language (as a requirement of Part 7 of the Immigration Act “for the effective performance of a customer-facing role”).

Your next package

Please see our offer for more details.

As an employee, you will receive a diverse and exciting environment in which to work, encouraging creativity and innovation whilst recognising the need to support ongoing personal development and a flexible work life balance.

For Swindon to thrive in the future, we need to lay the foundations now. It’s why our regeneration and transformation programmes are already underway. So, you’ll be joining us at an exciting time on our journey. We’ll look to you to share your knowledge, influence decisions and drive real, positive change.

Please see our page for more details.

Your next steps

As an inclusive employer, we welcome applications from a diverse range of communities, and in particular disabled people and people from ethnic minorities. Read our .

Read the and select the Apply button where you will be redirected to the Swindon Borough Council website to complete our online application process. Clicking the ‘Apply’ button on this job website is not an application, you must register on the Swindon Borough Council website in order to be considered for the role.

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