Senior Legal Officer

Senior Legal Officer | 11424 | Permanent Contract | 37 hours per week | £38,510 to £40,444 per annum (Scale I) | County Hall

We are looking for an experienced Senior Legal Officer in Education/ Special Educational Needs and Disability Team of nplaw.

nplaw is a public sector shared legal service with a wealth of experience gained through many years of advising our clients in local government, the public sector, charities and schools. We provide a wide range of legal services, delivered by specialist lawyers who understand the local government context. Working for the benefit of the public is at the heart of our culture, and we’re looking for two senior legal officers to help us deliver our broad portfolio of services.

As a Senior Legal Officer at nplaw, you’ll be responsible for assisting with the provision of legal services to clients. This will mean undertaking straightforward transactions and casework, attending meetings, and drafting documentation. You’ll be supervised by Solicitors on cases, and with the possibility of enabling you to qualify as a solicitor if this is something you aspire to.

As a Senior Legal Officer, you will be holding your own Tribunal cases that require a good understanding of law and related procedures, and you’ll be expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy. You will need to do undertake lower level advocacy such as case management hearings. In this role, you will also be involved in training and providing guidance for Legal Officers who assist you and will be able to contribute ideas that will help improve the nplaw offering as a whole. You will also deal directly with clients, ensuring a high degree of customer service at all times. You’ll have a brilliant opportunity to learn and develop your skills and experience, with the support of a talented team around you, and a structured approach to long term career development

To be considered for the Senior Legal Officer, role you’ll need to have a legal qualification or significant demonstrable experience working in a legal environment. You will need a good knowledge of the law relating to Special Educational Needs, first class communication and organisational skills, and a desire to learn and progress your career.

We know we’re asking for a lot, but in return we think we have a lot to offer. This role offers variety in what you do, challenging and high-impact cases to work on, and the opportunity to work for the benefit of the wider public along with the opportunity to progress your career within an award winning legal service, where you will learn from some talented and experienced professionals. Then there’s the working environment at nplaw, where we put work life balance at the forefront and offer flexible, smarter working arrangements, all underpinned by leading edge technology. Our employees’ well-being is a really high priority for us and we have trained mental health first aiders and an employee helpline and counselling service to support our staff.

To arrange an informal discussion or for further details on the role, please contact Naomi Rankin at naomi.rankin@norfolk.gov.uk or Sophie Mitchell at sophie.mitchell@norfolk.gov.uk

These are some benefits you can enjoy by working for Norfolk County Council:

• Competitive salary

• Generous holiday entitlement

• Health and Wellbeing services including fast-track physiotherapy and a free counselling service

• Flexible working opportunities including flexi-time, part time, remote and hybrid working – dependent on your job role and business need.

• Financial benefits such as:

  • ‘Norfolk Rewards’ our employee discounts programme which helps you save money on almost anything, from everyday groceries and clothes, to holidays, new technology, gym membership, trips to the cinema and days out.

  • A Blue Light card for Fire Service and Social Care Workers

  • Relocation expenses (where applicable)

  • An advance of your expenses if you travel for work

  • Local Government Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution, life assurance, death in service payments and dependants’ pensions

  • Tax efficient ways of getting extra pension and new bikes

  • Access to our tax efficient car lease scheme for greener travel enabling you to lease a brand new, ultra-low emission vehicle (subject to eligibility)

  • A payment if you refer someone you know to a hard to fill job

We want our people to be inspired and motivated to work well together, make the most of our workspaces, enjoy a healthy work-life balance, and deliver excellent services to Norfolk and its people. Flexibility is built into the way we work, with hybrid working a key feature for many roles. Our technology platform and equipment are first class, enabling you to connect and collaborate remotely. We ask that you have in place good Broadband connectivity.

Before you apply, we recommend reading the full Job description and person specification to help you demonstrate how you meet the criteria. You can also find information on our Terms and Conditions here.

Already a Norfolk County Council employee? See and apply for all internal and external vacancies via myOracle using your @norfolk.gov.uk or @nccal.ac.uk email.

We would like to make you aware that priority consideration for this post may be given to current employees who are at risk due to restructure within the organisation or are in a redeployment position.

Redeployment closing date: 13 October 2026 23:59

All other applicants closing date: 20 October 2026 23:59