In-House Advocate (Children’s Team)

Job Title – In-House Advocate (Children’s Team)

Team – Legal Services

Hours – 37 per week

Grade M, scp47 £55,780 to scp50 £59,031 per annum

Contract – Permanent

The Role

We are looking for an In-House Advocate to join us to provide high quality advocacy, advice and representation to the Council, Officers, and Elected Members.

Working as part of a team you will provide quality legal representation and advocacy services within all courts, dependant on rights of audience. This representation will be on cases against counsel and on cases which the local authority would otherwise need to procure external support to cover.

We are a close-knit team providing high quality advice working collaboratively with colleagues across services to promote best practice and outcomes. The In-House Advocate role is supported by a strong team of lawyers and support staff.  Personal development is promoted with opportunities and support to increase knowledge and experience.

Ask us about flexible working options  #HappytoTalkFlexible

Job Description

About You

The ideal candidate will have demonstrable knowledge and experience in advising and conducting proceedings relating to children. You will be a skilled advocate with rights of audience and experience of undertaking cases before magistrates and circuit judges. You will possess knowledge of local government law with a particular emphasis on law’s relating to the safeguarding and protection of children.

Key skills include excellent communication skills, the ability to persuade and gain the respect of other legal professionals and experts as well as the ability to think on your feet and answer complex questions on points of law when in court.

Whilst previous local authority experience would be an advantage, we encourage applications from candidates who have private practice experience, are counsel who have completed their pupillage, or who have experience in other in-house roles where you possess the desired transferrable skills.

About Us

This is your opportunity to join us at an exciting time as we have strong ambitions for the borough. 

Bolton is a great place to work. We are a welcoming organisation that wants to contribute to a place where people feel active, connected and prosperous. We are passionate about improving the outcomes and experience of Bolton people. We want Bolton to be a vibrant place built on strong cohesive communities, successful businesses and healthy, engaged residents.

As an employer we want to thank our employees for their hard work and commitment, by giving them the opportunity to access a range of exclusive rewards and benefits, including discounts and exclusive gym membership prices and salary sacrifice schemes. In addition, we offer a generous annual leave allowance, flexible work opportunities, access to a Pension Scheme, as well as a range of employee wellbeing and support services.  

For more information about working for Bolton Council, please see the Work with Us page on greater.jobs; for advice and support with your application, contact recruitment@bolton.gov.uk

Staff Benefits at Bolton Council

Our Values are really important to us, read all about them here:

Values Framework

For further details of the role and how we use your data, please see:

Privacy Notice

Documents for Right to Work

Ready to apply? Then please click Apply and upload your anonymised CV and covering letter discussing your relevant skills and experience and explain how you believe they make you a strong fit for this role.

For help with your application, check out our Top Tips  Help with job applications | greater jobs

Within Greater Manchester, local authorities have made a commitment to improve the employment opportunities for people with disabilities, care leavers, carers, and ex-military personnel.  Please see here for further information before you apply.

Greater Manchester Guaranteed Assessment Scheme | greater jobs

This post is a designated customer facing role under the fluency duty and requires a specified level of spoken English as per the person specification.

This organisation has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. That means we will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester local authority or NHS organisation, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority, giving you access to our service-related benefits.