Senior Solicitor (Child Care) WCC622349

Overview

Senior Solicitor (Child Care) WCC622349Salary range:

£56,436 - £62,742 per annum. Salary negotiable depending upon experienceWork location:

Westminster City Hall, 64 Victoria Street, Westminster, SW1E 6QPHours per week:

36Contract type:

PermanentClosing date : 19 October 2025Interview date:

Week commencing 27 October 2025The Role

As a Senior Solicitor in our Social Care and Education Team, you can make your own powerful contribution to children and families across Westminster. Specialising in Child Care, you’ll work across the entire Council ecosystem to provide expert professional, procedural and technical guidance on all matters relating to child protection.Your day-to-day will include both complex and routine legal cases — covering everything from care proceedings to PLO cases, age assessments to DoLs. You may be required to work on high profile, politically sensitive or financially weighted cases.Acting as an advocate as appropriate, you’ll conduct proceedings, public enquiries, appeals and judicial reviews in the Courts and before Tribunals. Responsible for drafting, preparing and collating legal documents, advising on law and evidence, and interviewing witnesses, you’ll ensure that all procedural and standing order requirements are complied with.Acting as a source of expertise and guidance to your team and senior colleagues, you’ll work to foster a culture of accountability, knowledge sharing and continuous improvement within the Council and beyond.Please refer to the

Job Description

for more information.Qualifications

A qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of CILEX (or equivalent), you’ll have demonstrable experience of dealing with, and advising on, local authority’s duties and powers in relation to children and young adults. Bringing solid knowledge of childcare, Local Government and adult social care law, you’ll be confident advising on complaints and judicial review matters.On a personal level, you’ll be a true team player with excellent negotiating and influencing skills. A strong public speaker, you’ll be capable of effectively communicating standard and complex legal issues to non-specialist colleagues. Your approach to work will be diplomatic, enterprising, and detail focused, and you’ll be passionate about improving outcomes for children, young people and their families.This is a fantastic opportunity to join a supportive team of specialists putting people across Westminster first, and to supercharge your career in the process.Westminster City Council is committed to supporting Care Leavers into the workplace. Care Leavers seeking their first job and who wish to be considered under our scheme, will automatically be invited to interview should they meet the essential criteria for the role.The Council is committed to achieving diverse shortlists to support our desire to increase the number of staff from underrepresented groups in our workforce. We especially encourage applications from a Global Majority (GM), people who are Black, Asian, Brown, dual-heritage, indigenous to the global south, and or have been racialised as ''ethnic minorities'' (formally known as B.A.M.E , Black, Asian and multiple ethnic) background and, while the role is open to all applicants, we will utilise the positive action provisions of the Equality Act 2010 to appoint a candidate from a global majority background where there is a choice between two candidates of equal merit. If you are from a Global Majority background you can self-declare this to the hiring manager as part of our positive action commitments.What We Offer

Westminster is an amazing place. We are home to more than 200,000 residents from all backgrounds, over 50,000 vibrant and vital businesses and three-quarters-of-a-million people work in Westminster. Westminster City Council’s strategy is to work towards a Fairer Westminster. A Fairer Westminster is one in which our communities are at the heart of our decision-making and help to determine the city’s future. By working directly with our communities and other partners, we can build a more inclusive city that celebrates our diverse communities, and where residents, workers and visitors from all backgrounds will feel welcome and safe.At Westminster City Council, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive workplace and employer of choice. We encourage and welcome applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that, at all levels, represents the communities we serve. We champion equality, diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging and is empowered to be their best, that is the Westminster Way. To find out more about how we do this visit

https://www.westminster.gov.uk/health-and-social-care/public-health-strategy-policies-and-reports/equality-dutiesAs a forward thinking Council we appreciate that people work in different ways, therefore our staff benefit from working a range of flexible working patterns as well as Agile working.The Council is a Disability Confident Employer. If you have declared a disability in your application, we guarantee an interview if you meet the essential criteria of the job. If you are invited for interview, you will be asked if you need any reasonable adjustments in order to attend, and we will make these wherever ..... full job details .....