Cromwood Housing Group is a Registered Provider of Social Housing with offices in London and Manchester. This is an exciting opportunity to join an ambitious, dynamic, and commercially astute organisation committed to expanding the supply of affordable housing.
We are currently recruiting for a proactive and resourceful Legal & Management Assistant to provide administrative and operational support to the Legal and HR Services functions. This is a dual-reporting role, supporting both the HR Manager and the Legal Services Manager (who operates as the organisation’s sole in-house solicitor).
The postholder will play a central role in ensuring the smooth and efficient running of HR processes, legal documentation, compliance activity, and corporate governance administration across the Group. The role demands strong organisational skills, meticulous attention to detail, sound judgement in handling sensitive and confidential information, and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment.
The successful candidate will engage regularly with senior leadership, external stakeholders, tenants, local authorities, and professional advisers. They will be expected to work with a high degree of autonomy, exercise discretion, and contribute meaningfully to the organisation's operational effectiveness. This is an excellent opportunity for a motivated individual seeking professional development within a growing housing group.
Place of work: London, E5 9BQ
Working hours: Monday to Friday, 9.30am - 5.30pm
Contract: Full time, permanent
Salary: £31,500 per annum
Benefits: 30 days paid annual leave excluding bank holidays/Jewish holidays, bonus scheme, health & wellbeing portal, free onsite parking
Duties and responsibilities include:
Legal Support
- Provide day-to-day administrative support to the Legal Services Manager across the full range of legal work undertaken by the organisation, including property, housing, corporate, and compliance matters.
- Assist in reviewing, formatting, and organising documents related to property acquisitions, tenancy agreements, lease negotiations, and commercial contracts.
- Help manage the organisation’s complaints handling process, including logging complaints, tracking deadlines, preparing acknowledgement and outcome correspondence, and maintaining the complaints register.
- Manage and organise legal caseloads and files, maintaining accurate electronic and physical records, tracking key dates and limitation periods, and ensuring efficient workflow and case progression.
- Prepare court bundles, witness statement exhibits, disclosure documents, and other materials required for legal proceedings, including housing disrepair claims and possession proceedings.
- Draft and format routine legal correspondence, notices, and internal memoranda under the supervision of the Legal Services Manager.
- Liaise professionally with tenants, local authority officers, external solicitors, barristers, insurers, and other stakeholders, addressing enquiries and providing updates on matters as directed.
- Assist with company secretarial duties, including preparing board packs, taking and circulating minutes of board and management meetings, maintaining statutory registers, and supporting the filing of returns at Companies House.
- Support the Legal Services Manager in managing data protection compliance, including maintaining records of processing activities, assisting with subject access requests, and supporting data protection impact assessments.
- Support the administration of the organisation’s insurance arrangements, including collating information for policy renewals, maintaining insurance schedules, and liaising with brokers.
- Assist with the filing, archiving, and retrieval of legal documents in accordance with the organisation’s document management and retention policies.
- Stay informed of relevant changes in housing law, employment law, and regulatory requirements, and assist in implementing necessary updates to policies, procedures, and template documentation.
- Collaborate with the Lettings and Tenancy, Rents, Maintenance, and Property Standards teams to provide coordinated administrative support on matters referred to Legal Services, including anti-social behaviour cases, rent arrears recovery, and contractor disputes.
HR Support
- Serve as the first point of contact for HR queries from staff and managers, triaging enquiries and escalating matters to the HR Manager where appropriate.
- Assist the HR Manager with recruitment processes, including drafting job advertisements, scheduling interviews, issuing offer letters and employment contracts, obtaining references, and processing DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks.
- Administer new starter and leaver processes, ensuring all information is entered accurately and promptly into the HRIS database (BrightHR), including personal details, contract terms, and statutory documentation.
- Support the preparation and processing of monthly payroll data, collating timesheets, absence records, and variable pay information in the required format to enable an accurate and timely payroll run.
- Create, maintain, and audit employee personnel files and HR records, ensuring compliance with data protection legislation and internal retention policies.
- Support the coordination and administration of HR-related training programmes, workshops, and staff development initiatives, including the Company Wellbeing Programme.
- Conduct periodic HR audits and prepare reports on key metrics such as absence, turnover, training compliance, and right-to-work documentation.
- Assist with the drafting and updating of HR policies, procedures, and employee communications as directed by the HR Manager.
- Ensure all HR administration is processed accurately, confidentially, and within required timescales.
General
- Provide ad-hoc administrative and operational support to colleagues across the organisation as required.
- Maintain strict confidentiality in relation to all HR, legal, and commercially sensitive information.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of administrative processes, systems, and templates within the HR and Legal Services functions.
- Undertake any other reasonable duties commensurate with the role as may be required from time to time.
Key knowledge, experience and skills required:
Essential:
- Previous experience in a legal support/paralegal role
- Previous administrative/assistant experience in an office environment
- Strong organisational and time management skills
- Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Process-oriented with strategic planning skills
- Ability to balance and prioritise competing demands effectively
- Strong administration skills and proficiency in IT tools (e.g., Microsoft Office)
- Hight attention to detail and able to work effectively in a fast-paced environment
Desirable:
- Experience in HR administration or related support role
- Familiarity with HR best practices and employment laws
- Background in housing or related sectors
If you meet the requirements for the role detailed above, we look forward to receiving your CV and cover letter explaining why you are suitable for this role.
By submitting your CV you are giving your consent for us to use your details to assess your suitability for this vacancy.
If you have not been contacted regarding your application within 14 days, then unfortunately your application has been unsuccessful.
Pay: £31,500.00 per year
Benefits:
- Free parking
- Health & wellbeing programme
- On-site parking
Application question(s):
- Please tell us the first part of your postcode
Work authorisation:
- United Kingdom (required)
Work Location: In person
