Our Values

It’s great to know that you are interested in working with us at Coventry City Council. As a prospective employee, it is important that everyone who works for us is committed to our One Coventry values and shares our commitment to becoming a more diverse and inclusive organisation. 

Our Values are:

About the team we are recruiting to

As part of the Coventry City Council's in-house Legal Services department, the Case Management Team represents the Children's Services in proceedings related to Child Care and Adoption. We work on some of the most sensitive cases, as well as the most rewarding ones, supporting Coventry Children’s Services to achieve the best outcomes for children in our city.

What is the job role?

We are seeking a qualified lawyer to join the Case Management legal team as soon as possible.

We would welcome applications from those even with limited experience as a development opportunity/career change.

This position involves handling a wide variety of child protection and safeguarding matters, such as care proceedings, discharge proceedings, deprivations of liberty, and general advice. You will manage a caseload of childcare cases and advise on all aspects of Child Protection and Safeguarding law. You will be provided with legal officer support and supervision, and support in this role. 

We are seeking applications from Solicitors, Barristers and Legal Executives preferably with experience advising on children's safeguarding matters or with an interest in doing so as a development opportunity. Your experience, whether it be in the public sector or the private sector, we are interested in hearing from you. We recognise transferable skills and assist Lawyers in further developing their skills in this rewarding field.

Who are we looking for?

You must have the ability to deal with a demanding caseload, with excellent client care skills, and an eagerness to provide a high-quality service to our clients and local community.  You will be self – motivated and organised with a track record of meeting strict deadlines and timescales.

You will have strong drafting skills and be able to give sound, pragmatic legal advice on complex matters to Officers and Members within the Council.  You should have some advocacy experience and be willing to cover hearings.

You must be able to work effectively as part of a team and establish good relations with our Members, client departments, outside agencies, and partners.  Always customer focussed, you will understand the nature of local government in-house legal services and demonstrate a willingness to contribute positively to service development and continuous improvement.

For full details please see the Job Description and Person Specification. 

Please contact the Case Management Team Leader Nancy Perkins on 024 7697 7255 or Deputy Team Leader Emma Whitehurst on 02476 97 7104 if you wish to have an informal discussion about the role.

When applying for this role you will be asked to write a personal statement, when writing your personal statement please include/ demonstrate the following:

• An experienced Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive (Fellow)
• A level of understanding of the law relating to Children and experience in successfully managing a busy caseload or demonstrating transferable skills as a development opportunity.

If you have just become a Solicitor, Chartered Legal Executive or Actuary,  his post is exempted under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and as such appointment to this post will be conditional upon the receipt of a satisfactory response to a check of police records via Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Standard DBS check.

For full details on the application process please read the attached document on our jobs page labelled 'Coventry City Council Application Process'

Interview date(s): Thursday 6th April 2023 (we may be able to accommodate alternative dates on request).

About Coventry

Coventry has a proud, innovative and creative spirit that throughout its history has seen communities come together to tackle problems and bring about real social change.

We are cutting-edge, challenging, youthful, vibrant and diverse.

At Coventry we are committed to excellence in everything we do. With around 4800 staff from a range of different backgrounds, our aim is to recruit and develop talented people who will focus on our customers, take responsibility, work together and find better ways of doing things.

To deliver the best services to our residents, we need the best people working for us to make a difference to our communities.

If you join us, we will provide a fantastic rewards and benefits package - to find out more please visit https://www.coventry.gov.uk/council-vacancies

Coventry City Council