Are you organised, motivated and able to work well as part of a busy legal team? Do you have strong administrative, case management and communication skills, and an interest in supporting the effective delivery of legal services? If so, we have an excellent opportunity for two full-time permanent Grade 4 Assistant Professional Officers to join our Civil Litigation Team.
In return, we can offer a range of benefits, including:
- Salary in accordance with Grade 4 terms and conditions
- 37 hours per week
- Hybrid and flexible working arrangements, with some office attendance as required
- Pension scheme, including employer contributions and death in service cover
- Annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays, with additional leave after 5 years’ service
- Employee Assistance Programme, store discounts, flexi-time scheme, cycle to work scheme and much more
Our Civil Litigation Team is part of a busy Legal Services department supporting a range of council services, including Housing. The team deals with a varied caseload, including disrepair claims, debt recovery, general commercial matters and other civil litigation work. The team provides an important service to client departments by helping to ensure that matters are managed efficiently, fairly and in accordance with legal and procedural requirements.
We are looking to recruit Assistant Professional Officers who are enthusiastic, reliable and able to work under pressure to meet deadlines. The successful candidates will provide practical, administrative and casework support to Lawyers and Professional Officers within the team. This will include helping to progress casework under supervision, maintaining accurate records, preparing documents, monitoring deadlines and liaising with internal and external contacts.
This is a good opportunity for someone who enjoys working in a supportive team environment, has strong organisational skills and is keen to contribute to the effective delivery of legal services.
The successful candidates will
- Support Lawyers and Professional Officers with the management and progression of civil litigation casework under supervision.
- Assist with preparing, organising and maintaining case files and legal documents.
- Use legal case management systems to record information accurately and keep matters up to date.
- Help monitor deadlines, hearings, correspondence and key actions.
- Provide administrative and procedural support to ensure the smooth running of the team.
- Work flexibly as part of a busy team and contribute to the delivery of an efficient legal service.
For the role, you would need to have
- Good administrative, organisational and communication skills.
- Experience of working in a legal, administrative, local government or customer-focused environment.
- The ability to manage competing priorities and work to deadlines.
- Good attention to detail and the ability to maintain accurate records.
- Confidence using IT systems, including case management systems or similar databases.
- A flexible, proactive and team-focused approach.
Experience of civil litigation, housing disrepair, debt recovery or local authority legal work would be helpful but is not essential as support and guidance will be provided.
For informal enquiries, please contact Senior Lawyers Maria Mullen and Ruth Chisholm on 0114 2736780.
We are investing in our workforce and are promoting opportunities to our under-represented groups. We value equality, diversity and inclusion and are focused on increasing the diversity of our workforce, particularly the number of Black, Asian, Minority Ethnic, Disabled and LGBTQ+ people, so that our teams reflect the communities in the city we serve. We are also supporting staff with unpaid caring responsibilities to work flexibly.
It is a great time to join us and we welcome your application.
Under the Guaranteed Interview scheme, applicants who are disabled, care leavers, or armed forces veterans will be guaranteed an interview if they meet the essential criteria and indicate their eligibility on the application form. Sometimes, if lots of people apply, we might not be able to interview everyone who qualifies for the Guarantee. In these cases, we’ll interview the candidates who best meet the essential criteria for the job.
Full-time employees work 37 hours for 52 weeks of the year and we offer a generous holiday entitlement. We are open to discussions about a wide range of flexible working opportunities which benefit you and the Council, including reduced hour contracts, working part time or as a job share.
If you are appointed to this role, your starting salary will be at the bottom of the grade. If you provide payslip evidence that your basic pay is greater than the bottom of the grade, we will consider starting you at the point of minimum advantage within the grade.
Equality of pay is extremely important to us. All roles at Sheffield City Council are going through an evaluation process which may result in changes to some pay arrangements from 2026. Find out more on our Sheff news page.
We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all individuals, ensuring a safe and supportive environment for everyone and where appropriate to the role the successful applicant will be required to undertake relevant safeguarding checks.
