Crawley Borough Council jobs

This is an exciting opportunity to join our Legal team and to make a real difference to the town, residents and local businesses. Crawley is a regional powerhouse with more than 114,000 residents, a £6 billion economy and Gatwick Airport, the world’s busiest single runway airport.

We have a good track record of providing high-quality legal advice and litigation services within the council. We maintain positive and collaborative relations with councillors, internal clients and other stakeholders. To build on that, we are always looking at how we can deliver our service more efficiently and sharpen our outcomes-based focus. With an embedded case management system in place and fully electronic legal research tools and electronic sealing and signing we are mostly paperless.

We are looking for someone to join our legal team to deal with disrepair claims and work with other departments in responding to such claims. You will be organised, able to process and collate documents required in order to respond to the disclosure requirements of the Pre-Action protocol and be able to keep accurate records of the disclosure process and cases generally.

You will also be able to work on a number of cases and meet the deadlines to comply with the Pre-Action Protocol for Housing Conditions Claims and the time limits required by the Civil Procedure Rules.

The role will include:

• obtaining documents and information from various departments
• producing drafts of correspondence
• instructing expert surveyors including co-ordinating with the client department
• producing bundles of documents for disclosure
• keeping up to date records of steps taken and recording in the case management system
• taking instructions in relation to correspondence received and experts’ reports
• attending meetings
• undertaking legal research
• organising and maintaining case management files

This role may offer opportunities for growth and professional development from becoming involved in disrepair cases and the litigation that arises but also from working across a range of continuous improvement, legal technology and governance projects.

The Legal team fosters a friendly, collegiate and supportive physical and remote working environment. With a mix of homeworking and office-based working, we offer flexibility to the team including to our new recruits. Our team’s physical presence sits within our modern Town Hall that we moved into in 2023.

We aim to support those with family commitments or caring responsibilities. We also welcome candidates from public or private sector legal backgrounds.

This role is a fixed term contract until 31 March 2027.

This is a part time role working 29.6 hours across 4 days or 5 days a week with a requirement to be in the office a minimum of 1 day per week.

This role is occasionally required to work outside of normal working hours and to attend evening meetings.

We offer a generous employee benefits package, with a range of discounts, benefits and wellbeing incentives to suit everyone.

At Crawley Borough Council, you will have access to a structured programme of learning from day one, designed to help you succeed in your role and grow your career.

Our shared values and behaviours reflect the special nature of our council. We encourage all colleagues to put them into practice, whatever job they do. Take a look to see if we are the perfect match.

Crawley Borough Council is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. We want to be an inclusive and diverse employer of first choice reflecting the community we serve and particularly welcome applications from all under represented groups.

Click the Apply button to complete your application online. Please ensure that the reference details you supply are for your current or most recent employer and that any gaps in employment are covered on your application form. Please note that CVs will not be accepted without a fully completed application form.

For an informal conversation or further information regarding the role, please email Simon Bagg, Legal Services Manager on simon.bagg@crawley.gov.uk or call on phone number 01293 438105.

We recommend that you submit your application as soon as possible, as we may close this advert before the stated closing date if enough applications are received.