Salary: £50,269 - £53,460
Location: The Council House/Hybrid Working
Hours: 22.2 a week (3 Days)
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: 21 June 2026
We are a dynamic legal child care team, based in the City Centre. We are looking for a highly motivated and suitably qualified lawyer for this important post but we would consider applications from people who are approaching qualification if they were the right person for the role. As a member of our busy legal team, your main area of work will be advising and representing the People's (Children's) Services Department in all aspects of child care law including care and adoption proceedings. Be assured – the work will be stimulating, plentiful and varied. You will be expected to undertake or be prepared to work towards undertaking your own advocacy in the local courts and demonstrate a strong technical knowledge when handling public law cases. You may also advise on judicial review applications that relate to the provision of children’s services. You will work closely with other experienced lawyers and legal colleagues and you will be supported by legal officers (paralegals) and senior managers.
Who We Are
Here at Derby City Council, we’re dedicated to delivering nearly 250 first-class services to citizens and businesses in the heart of the Midlands. In July 2025, our Children's Services' department was rated as Outstanding by OFSTED. People are at the centre of all that we do, and we have an outstanding track record of recruiting and developing talented individuals by providing them with varied and fulfilling career opportunities. Find out more about what it’s like to work for us.
What We Offer
You too could be part of something brilliant by becoming a colleague at Derby City Council; in addition to making a difference to the lives of people across the city, you’ll also receive:
- Flexible work/life balance scheme
- Modern office environment
- Continued professional development opportunities & career conversations
- 27 days annual leave (rising to 32 days after 5 years' service), plus bank holidays
- Local Government Pension Scheme (depending on contract)
- Team Derby Rewards – retail and leisure discounts
- Tusker Car Benefit Scheme
- Cycle2Work Scheme & free cycle training
- Employee Assistance Programme, Wellbeing Calendar and Support
- Access to our Equality Employee Networks – LGBTQ+, Disabled Employee Network & Carers and our Black, Asian & Minority Ethnic Employee Support Network and Neurodiversity Network
- Support for colleagues who are carers
About You
To be successful in this role, you’ll:
- be a Solicitor, Barrister or Legal Executive with rights of audience but we may consider someone approaching qualification if they are the right person;
- have good, recent advocacy, drafting and negotiation experience;
- be a good communicator giving clear, practical advice;
- be able to work on your own initiative and as part of a team;
- have extensive, recent experience of care and adoption law;
- be able to provide evidence of managing your own caseload and meeting deadlines.
Next Steps
For an informal chat please call Anna Pollard on 01332 643601 or Susan Cooper on 01332 643602.
The closing date for this vacancy is at midnight on 21st June 2026. Any applications received after the closing date will not be accepted.
Interviews will be in person and will be held at The Council House, Corporation Street, Derby within two weeks of the closing date.
If you would prefer to apply for this job using your CV, then please download the attached Declaration Form and send it with your CV to
[email protected]. We also encourage you to download the Equalities Form and return this to
[email protected], however this is optional and will not affect your application.
Important Information
Links to the full Job Description and Person Specification are below.
As part of our safer recruitment checks the successful candidate will be subject to a standard DBS check.
All employees will normally be appointed to the minimum of the grade for the job.
Before you complete your application, please read our guidance on filling in your application form.
Remember to align your personal statement to the essential criteria in the Person Specification.
Please be aware that where there are colleagues within the organisation who are 'at risk' of redundancy, requirements to redeploy to another suitable role will apply and take priority.
Equality, Diversity & Inclusion
We are a fair and inclusive employer and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds. We recruit for diversity and value difference. As many of our roles can now be home-based, we are able to offer more opportunities for people who need this facility.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. If you are a disabled person, you have the choice to apply under our Guaranteed Interview Scheme so long as you demonstrate that you meet the essential requirements for the job.
We feel it is essential that we recruit a talented workforce that is as diverse as the community we work for.
Please let us know of any individual requirements or reasonable adjustments you may have during the application, interview, or onboarding process and we’ll do all we can to help. We strongly believe in social understanding of disability and for us it’s all about removing barriers to equality.
If you have any questions regarding this vacancy or are having difficulty applying, please contact our Recruitment Team on 01332 640844 (Relay UK - 18001 01332 640 844) or at
[email protected]https://www.derby.gov.uk/signing-service/
