Assistant Director - Law and Governance (INTERNAL APPLICANTS ONLY) at ESPO

, England, United Kingdom -

Full Time

Start Date

Immediate

Expiry Date

21 Jun, 26

Salary

138090.0

Posted On

23 Mar, 26

Experience

10 year(s) or above

Remote Job

Yes

Telecommute

Yes

Sponsor Visa

Skills

Legal Professional, Political Awareness, Organisational Awareness, Inclusive Leadership, Chief Legal Adviser, Statutory Monitoring Officer, Legal Compliance, Ethical Conduct, Sound Governance, Council Constitution, Decision-Making Processes, Service Delivery Management, Budget Management, Strategic Planning, Policy Development, Stakeholder Engagement

Industry

Retail Office Equipment

Description

PLEASE NOTE THIS POST IS ONLY OPEN TO INTERNAL APPLICANTS Organisation: Leicestershire County Council Work Location: County Hall, Glenfield, Leicester, LE3 8RA Salary: £122,883 - £138,090 per annum Working Hours: 37 hours per week Contract Type: Permanent Closing Date: Sunday 29th March 2026 Interview Date(s): To be confirmed Are you an experienced legal professional with strong political and organisational awareness who has an inclusive leadership style that reflects the Council’s values? If you’re already part of the organisation, understand the landscape we operate in and are ready to help shape the governance of the Council, we’d love to hear from you. About the Role As the Assistant Director (Law and Governance), you will be a member of the Corporate Management Team, playing a pivotal role in supporting the organisation’s strategic ambitions. You will act as the Council’s Chief Legal Adviser, providing authoritative guidance to senior officers, Cabinet, Scrutiny Committee and Members. Your expertise will help shape major decisions, safeguard the organisation’s legal standing, and support effective policy and service development. Acting as the statutory Monitoring Officer for both the Council and the Fire Authority, you will be responsible for ensuring legal compliance, ethical conduct, and sound governance within both organisations. You will play a leading role in ensuring the Council’s Constitution operates effectively and remains up‑to‑date and aligned with best practice, and that the Council’s decision‑making and governance processes are modern, efficient and transparent. In this senior leadership role, you will oversee the Legal Services, Democratic and Member Services, and Regulatory Services teams, setting clear priorities, inspiring high performance, and ensuring services deliver value for money whilst meeting statutory requirements and customer needs. You will represent the Council on key regional and national forums, helping to shape collaborative initiatives and strengthen external partnerships. This post is politically restricted therefore the postholder is disqualified from undertaking certain political activities under the Local Government Officers (Political Restrictions) Regulations 1990. You may be required to undertake work outside of normal working hours. About You To apply for this post, you must be able to evidence in your application how you meet the following criteria: * A professional qualification as a Barrister/Solicitor plus evidence of on-going continuous professional development. * Substantial senior legal leadership experience within a comparable organisation including having acted as a Local Authority Monitoring Officer or Deputy Monitoring Officer in a comparable public organisation as well as significant experience of working in a politically sensitive environment. * Substantial strategic experience working in local government where the level of post has required working with democratic processes, providing clear and timely advice to senior colleagues or elected members. * Technical competence in all relevant areas of law, governance, and the local government democratic process to be able to provide clear professional advice to political leaders and senior colleagues including the ability to challenge where legal and professional standards are not being upheld. * Evidence of managing service delivery within a complex public sector organisation, including working with public and private sector partners and addressing customer needs and expectations, managing budgets, and identifying and realising opportunities for efficiency and change. * Strong awareness of current local government challenges, external influencing factors, and relevant legislation, best practice and government initiatives. * A demonstrable track record of devising and implementing strategic and policy objectives in a complex environment with positive outcomes. In addition, we also expect you to share our commitment to our values [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1004] and to delivering accessible and inclusive services which meet the needs of all of our residents. You will be asked to demonstrate your understanding of these commitments as part of the selection process. Reasonable adjustments will be considered for applicants with a disability. We are a Disability Confident Employer [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/disability-confident-campaign]. Interested in Flexible Working? We are open to discussions about flexible working, which may include part time working, job sharing, term-time working, flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working, depending on the requirements of the role and the service. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below. For more information or an informal discussion, please contact: Mike Sandys, Director - Public Health, Law and Governance Telephone: 0116 3054239 Email: Mike.Sandys@leics.gov.uk [Mike.Sandys@leics.gov.uk] How to Apply At Leicestershire County Council we’re looking for top talent from all walks of life. Whoever you are, wherever you’re from, and whatever your background - we care about what you bring to our organisation, not just what’s on your CV. That’s why we’ve designed a recruitment process that’s fair, accessible, and focused on potential. And with benefits that support people at every age and stage of life, we make sure you can thrive - both personally and professionally. If you share our passion to make a difference for the people of Leicestershire, we’d love to hear from you. Click the apply button to submit your application, ensuring that you upload a supporting statement that explains how you meet the criteria listed in the ‘About You’ section above. Without this information, we won’t be able to assess your suitability for the role, and your application will be rejected. For tips on how to write your statement, see the How to Apply [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1001] section on our career site. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. If you have any technical issues when trying to apply for this post or you want to request an application pack in an alternative format, please contact our Employee Service Centre by telephoning 0300 3030222 (select option 2) or raising a ticket via our online portal: https://emss.org.uk/support [https://emss.org.uk/support]. By applying for this post, you agree to our Terms and Conditions [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/lcc/pages/1006]. About Leicestershire County Council At Leicestershire County Council, we're committed to making a real difference in people's lives. Our aim is to work with communities and partners to deliver public services that make Leicestershire the best possible place to live and work for everyone. Our employees play a key role in supporting this goal and helping us deliver the vital services we provide to the people of Leicestershire. Whether you're starting your career or looking for your next challenge, you'll find a place with us where your ideas are valued, and your work has purpose. For further information on what it’s like to work for us and the benefits we offer, please refer to the following: Our Recruitment Process [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/the-application-process] Our Organisational Values [https://eism.fa.em2.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/CandidateExperience/en/sites/CX/pages/1004] Our Employee Benefits [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/employee-benefits] Working for Us [https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/jobs-and-volunteering/working-for-the-council/an-inclusive-workplace]

Responsibilities

The Assistant Director will serve as the Council’s Chief Legal Adviser, providing authoritative guidance to senior officers and political bodies while acting as the statutory Monitoring Officer for both the Council and the Fire Authority to ensure compliance and governance. This senior leader will oversee Legal Services, Democratic and Member Services, and Regulatory Services teams, setting priorities and ensuring service delivery meets statutory requirements.