The Guildhall Northampton
Principal Adult Social Care Lawyer
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Principal Adult Social Care Lawyer
Supporting and protecting some of the most vulnerable people in our communities is at the heart of this role. As a Principal Adult Social Care Lawyer, you’ll play a pivotal leadership role within our Law and Governance Service, providing expert legal advice across a wide range of Adult Social Care matters while helping to shape the future direction of the service. Working closely with senior officers, elected members and key stakeholders, you’ll support the Council in delivering legally robust, customer-focused services that make a real difference to people's lives.
This is an exciting opportunity to join one of England’s newest and largest unitary councils at a time of ongoing transformation and service improvement. You'll work within a collaborative and supportive legal team, combining high-level legal expertise with leadership responsibilities and helping to ensure the Council continues to deliver excellent outcomes for residents and communities.
What will you be doing?
- You’ll provide specialist legal advice and representation on complex Adult Social Care matters, supporting senior officers, services and elected members on issues that often involve significant legal, operational and reputational considerations.
- Alongside managing a demanding caseload, you'll support the Head of Legal (People), deputising when required and helping to ensure the effective leadership and management of the Adult Social Care legal team.
- A key aspect of the role will be building strong relationships across the organisation and with external partners, providing clear and practical legal guidance that supports sound decision-making and effective governance.
- You'll contribute to service improvement and transformation initiatives, support the development of policies and procedures, deliver training and share legal developments across the organisation to ensure services remain compliant, informed and responsive to change.
- You'll also play an important role in developing colleagues, fostering a high-performing and supportive team culture, championing innovation and helping to shape a modern legal service that continues to evolve to meet the needs of the Council and its communities.
It’s an exciting time to join our legal team as we continue to develop and strengthen our services. To find out more about working in our Legal teams, please visit: https://www.westnorthants.gov.uk/spotlight-our-key-services-careers-and-our-partners/working-our-legal-teams
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About You
- You’re a qualified Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales with significant post-qualification experience and strong expertise in Adult Social Care law.
- You have excellent technical knowledge, sound judgement and the ability to provide clear, pragmatic legal advice on complex matters within a fast-paced and evolving environment.
- You’re an effective communicator who can build trusted relationships, influence positive outcomes and work confidently with senior leaders, elected members and external partners.
- You bring strong research, analytical and problem-solving skills, together with the ability to balance competing priorities while maintaining high standards of service delivery.
- Experience of supporting or leading colleagues would be advantageous, and you'll have a genuine commitment to developing others, driving continuous improvement and contributing to a culture of excellence.
- Most importantly, you'll share our THRIVE values and our ambition to deliver high-quality legal services that support our residents, services and communities to thrive.
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. Hear from our Chief Executive, Martin Henry, about building a career at WNC.
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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 careers@westnorthants.gov.uk 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.
Salary: £56,853 - £60,823 (plus 20% MFS)
Salary Frequency: Annual
Working Hours: 37
Job Reference: Ref/162341/9452
Contract Type: Full Time
Contract Details: Permanent
Closing Date: 25 October, 2026
Job Category: Legal Solicitor/Legal Executive
Location: Northampton, United Kingdom
Job Posted Date: 7 October, 2026
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