London Borough of Brent
Senior Lawyer (In-House Advocate – Child Care)
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This Job posting is open to Internal and External Applicants
Salary range: (PO6/PO7) £58,461 - £61,653 p.a. inc. London weighting (plus fantastic benefits!)
Contract: Permanent
Hours of work: 36 hours per week
Location: Civic Centre and other locations from time to time
This post requires court attendance. Our local court is the West London Family Court.
Brent is a tremendously vibrant London Borough where the iconic arch of Wembley Stadium dominates the skyline. Spanning both inner and outer London, it is a borough of huge contrasts in terms of its economic, environmental, ethnic and social make up. Brent’s diversity is evident to all who visit our borough and our long history of ethnic and cultural diversity has created a place that is truly unique and valued by those who live and work here.
The council is pursuing a far-reaching transformation agenda that better meets the needs of our community, so it is an exciting time to join us.
The Post
We are looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Senior Lawyer (in House advocate - Children) to join us in Brent’s impressive Civic Centre, located right next to Wembley stadium and approximately 12-minute train ride from Baker Street and Kings Cross.
The successful candidate will:
- Actively support the management of the department.
- Provide high level and proactive expert legal advice on children’s social services law to the Council, its members and officers and to be a point of contact for members and senior officers on legal matters pertaining to Children public law.
- Attend court or tribunals or public inquiries as a Senior Advocate and in particular, conduct high quality advocacy in the High Court, Family Court, Coroners Court, including all hearings up to contested /complex hearings.
- Monitoring the quality of work undertaken by the team
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We offer good flexible working arrangements with high quality arrangements for remote access. So, if you are a skilled and passionate lawyer looking for challenging and rewarding career in a demanding but supportive environment - this is the opportunity you have been waiting for.
The Person
We are looking for a flexible individual with good knowledge and experience of advocacy in Children Public Law.
Experience of conducting Children public law hearing from urgent/first appointments to contested final hearings.
Qualifications
- Admitted Solicitor
- Qualified Barrister
- Chartered CILEX with litigation rights
Why join us?
We know people achieve their best when they feel valued. At Brent, you will benefit from:
- Up to 33 days annual leave (depending on length of service) plus bank holidays
- Excellent pension with generous employer contributions (LGPS)
- Hybrid and flexible working options available for most roles
- Supportive family-friendly policies for parent, guardians, and carers
- Health and wellbeing support, including access to eye test support and a 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme
- Financial support such as education sessions, childcare deposit loans, and season ticket loans
- Travel perks including affordable parking nearby, a Cycle to Work scheme, and great onsite facilities
- Learning and development opportunities to help you grow your career
- Access to My Brent Rewards with exclusive discounts on shopping, travel, leisure, and entertainment
To learn more about our benefits, visit Our offer to you.
Closing Date: 20/08/2026 (23:59)
We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested in this role, we advise that you apply as soon as possible.
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If you are interested in applying for this job, please start by clicking the "Apply Now" button below. You must provide a supporting statement as part of your application that clearly shows how you meet the essential requirements on the Job description. We will accept a CV in support of your application, however, you should still provide a supporting statement.
Brent Council values the diversity of its community and aims to have a workforce that reflects this and therefore encourage applications from all sections of the community. We positively encourage all applicants to self-identify their characteristics in the diversity survey section in the application.
We are committed to safer recruitment and safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants should be aware that posts working with children, young people and vulnerable adults are subject to an Enhanced DBS check as well as other employment clearances.
The information we collect from you will be shared with Cifas who will use it to prevent fraud, other unlawful or dishonest conduct, malpractice, and other seriously improper conduct. Further details of how your information will be used by us and Cifas and your data protection rights, can be found here.
Brent has a positive approach to flexible working.
As a disability confident employer Brent welcomes applications from people with all disabilities, including hidden disabilities and mental health conditions. We will interview any disabled applicant who meets the essential criteria. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made to any part of the recruitment process due to your disability, please contact us on recruitment@brent.gov.uk
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