Governance Lawyer - Braintree District Council

We have an exciting opportunity for a Governance Lawyer to join our team for fixed term 12 month contract. The main purpose of your role will be to support the Monitoring Officer and wider team in maintaining good governance to ensure the Council's responsibilities are effectively managed and decisions are made in a lawful, clear and transparent manner. You will provide expert and legal advice to Members and Officers at all levels, leading on the preparation of decision reports to Cabinet/Council and key committees. You will support the development of governance processes and training to support the Council in compliance with legal practice and the Councils Constitution.,

• To support the Monitoring Officer in managing and maintaining systems of good governance which ensure that the Council's responsibilities and decision-making processes are effectively managed and decisions are made in a lawful, clear and transparent manner, in accordance with the Council's constitution.
• Provide expert advice on behalf of the Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer, to Members and Officers in relation to the discharge of their statutory functions.
• Provide legal advice in response to queries raised by officers or councillors, and in particular legal governance advice, and to write and provide legal comments on reports to Cabinet, Cabinet Members, Council Committees and Chief Officers.
• Develop training and processes to support the organisation in compliance and governance through an approach that is both supportive and proactive.
• Devising and implementing new or updated methods, forms and processes as required by new legislation or guidance, revised council policy or as a result of other changes occurring.
• To take a leadership role in overseeing the production of reporting packs for key meetings including Full Council and Cabinet, ensuring quality of output and engagement by key report authors through the process.
• Provide support to the Monitoring Officer in the undertaking of Code of Conduct complaint investigations.
• Provide support and guidance to team members to manage the scrutiny process.
• To manage and maintain a decision and actions log arising from Council and Cabinet meetings, and ensure that all actions are assigned and competed in a timely manner.
• To attend meetings of the Council as required to provide legal and governance advice.
• To participate in the strategic management of the Governance and Legal department.
  
  To be successful in this role, you will be a qualified Solicitor/Barrister or CILEX.
You will have significant experience of advising Members and Officers on good governance arrangements, with a detailed, comprehensive and practical understanding of public law principles, local government law, governance and constitutional issues. You will also have excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to analyse complex information and present advice, reports and accounts clearly and credibly to a variety of audiences. With proven success in building and sustaining effective relationships, you will be resilient, tenacious and have the ability to think strategically and proactively, reassess tasks and devise solutions to meet changing priorities and tight deadlines.

Braintree District Council is an ambitious and forward-thinking authority with a vision of creating a great place for our residents and businesses. As a Council our role is as a guardian of the place and its people; where residents live well in healthy and resilient communities; a well-connected district with high-quality homes delivered with the infrastructure and a place which attracts and provides good employment opportunities. We are becoming one of the fastest growing Districts in the East of England with three growing towns, London just 45 minutes away and the district located directly between the international transport centres of Stansted Airport and Harwich and Felixstowe International Ports. We have a deserved track record for delivering and a strong reputation within the business community and are committed Braintree District Council is a great place to work. We pride ourselves on our creative and innovative approach which is led by our staff. We are committed to having an engaged workforce who understand our strategy and how they can help deliver it. Some of the benefits of working for Braintree District Council are


• Free parking
• Local government pension scheme
• Learning and development for all staff
• Staff recognition schemes
• Extensive health and wellbeing programme including discounted gym membership.
This is a varied and interesting role and a great opportunity to be part of a dynamic and innovative local authority, and we would love to hear from you.