Legal Assistant (Contracts / Governance)

Following the creation of West Northants Council in 2021, the Council is redefining how it delivers legal services. We have created a legal team split into three themes:

Place - encompassing Property, Planning, Highways and Regeneration.

Corporate - encompassing Litigation, Contracts, Governance, Housing and Employment.

People - encompassing Adults, Education, Mental Health and Public Health.

The Corporate area are seeking a new Legal Assistant to provide support and assistance on a wide variety of legal cases, mainly concerning contracts and governance work. Whether you have legal experience or are just starting your career, we can offer you the opportunity to develop your skills and legal experience. We deliver legal services across a broad range of council services giving you exposure to a wide variety of legal work.

View our colleagues, Waleed and Philippa talk about their experience working with our team.

Our benefitsWe offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, these include:

Generous annual leave entitlement starting at 28 days annual leave per year, 29 days for senior managers (pro rata, depending on how many hours per week you work), plus bank holidays. An additional 5 days, linked to continuous service, and ability to purchase up to 6 weeks additional leave per year.
Cycle to Work scheme.
Local Government Pension Scheme plus immediate life cover (3 times your annual salary from day one) and ill-health protection.
Employee discounts with local and national retailers, days out, finance, health and beauty, travel and eating out plus lots more.
Car Lease scheme via Tusker.
Payment of professional subscription / membership - If your job description requires that you are registered with or are a member of a professional body, WNC will pay for your professional subscription or membership fees.
Employee Assistance Programme - We have an employee support programme run by Health Assured, an independent, external organisation. Health Assured is available for you and your immediate family members, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year and includes telephone counselling, legal advice, bereavement support and medical information.
Commsave- Free membership to Commsave Credit Union who provide a variety of savings accounts, loans, a monthly lottery draw and more!
Ongoing training and development opportunities.
A variety of flexible working options to support your work/life balance, including full or part time, term time, 9-day fortnight, etc. (subject to business needs).
Our West Ways of Working - We want our workforce to thrive, and we equip our employees with the right technology to support hybrid and collaborative working, on or off site, depending on the role.
Making a difference - If you want to use your skills and experience with an organisation that are genuinely invested in making a difference, are committed to improving people's lives, and whose success has a direct impact on the wellbeing of your family, friends and people in your local area, then West Northamptonshire Council is the place for you.

What will you be doing?Your duties will include:

Supporting the senior lawyers in the team with contracts and procurement related matters
Undertaking legal research
Preparing client advice under supervision
Assisting with representing the legal team at internal and external events
Administrative tasks, including preparing contracts for sealing, scanning, photocopying, meeting administration, room booking, notetaking/minute production
Preparing briefs to counsel or other external legal providers as may be required

Join us at our Eventbrite events to hear from guest speakers, including team members who have progressed through internal promotions and mentoring partnerships, as well as some of our dedicated mentoring partners.

Lunchtime event. Wed, 20 Nov 2024 12:30 - 13:15 GMT

Would you like to join a local authority to start your legal career? A place where you can progress and be supported in helping your career flourish? If so, join the Legal Team at West Northants Council, one of the newest and the fourth biggest Unitary Councils in England., About usAt 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 more from our Chief Executive, Anna Earnshaw, about what it's like to work at West Northants Council https://youtu.be/lV0EfeUF4aU

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.