Lawyer – Housing Disrepair

Ipswich Borough Council sits within the historic market and waterfront town of Ipswich in Suffolk, East Anglia. The Council and its employees are proud of Ipswich and has an ambitious strategy to champion the community and revitalize the town. The Council’s priorities are:
A thriving town centre
Meeting the housing needs of our community
A carbon neutral council
Promoting community well-being and fairness in Ipswich
A financially sustainable council providing good quality services
We are seeking a suitably qualified lawyer to join our in-house legal team to help deliver projects and fulfil the Council’s priorities and ambitions to make the town and its residents thrive. This is a newly created post in the field of Housing Disrepair matters. The Council offers hybrid working, with a requirement of at least one day per week in the office.
Day to day
You will be involved in all aspects of litigation work required for defending Housing Disrepair claims including drafting documents, negotiating, advising clients and may include court attendance. You will also have the opportunity to be involved in other litigation work and other areas of law such as licensing. You will be supported by your team members and senior management in your role and as part of your continuous professional development.
About you
You will be a qualified solicitor/barrister/Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with proven experience of working in litigation, and preferably with experience of Housing Disrepair matters or the ability to learn and develop your litigation skills in this area. It is desirable, but not essential, that you have local government experience, however a willingness to learn and develop in these areas is beneficial. Training and support would be offered as part of your continuous professional development. You should be able to work on your own caseload with minimal supervision, work under pressure and meet competing priorities and deadlines. You should be able to develop and maintain effective working relationships and have a ‘can do’ approach.
We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and would love to hear from you if this sounds like the right opportunity for you.
Hours of work are 37 per week, Monday to Friday and there may be times when you are required to attend evening meetings and work outside of normal working hours.
DBS clearance is required for this role.
As well as a competitive salary, we offer a career average pension scheme, generous holiday and sick pay entitlements, subsidised parking for work and leisure, public transport discounts, free gym and swimming membership, cycle purchase scheme, plenty of personal and professional development opportunities, flexible working, hybrid working opportunities, Employee Assistance Programme and the opportunity to work with great colleagues.
For more information about this role please contact Jonathan Reed on 01473 432000 or via email Jonathan.Reed@ipswich.gov.uk
Please download the Job Description and Person Specification to find out more about this role: Job Description and Person Specification
The selection process will be an interview. Interviews will be held in the week commencing 25th March 2024.
The interview process will be carried out in person at the Council Offices located at Grafton House, 15-17 Russell Road, Ipswich, IP1 2DE.
Early applications are encouraged as we reserve the right to interview candidates who meet the essential criteria prior to the closing date and / or to close the opportunity to applicants once we receive sufficient applications.
Please note CVs are not accepted.

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