London Borough of Waltham Forest - Lawyer - Family Child Care

Salary Scale: PO3- PO4/5: £45,750 - £55,323

Plus a Golden Hello Payment - £3,000

Full of energy and culture, Waltham Forest is a progressive and innovative borough with a Legal Service to match. We provide our diverse client departments with the best possible service through our highly skilled professionals. As a Lawyer in the Child Care sub team, you’ll bring your expertise to our Families Team. If you’re looking for an exciting new role in a fantastic corner of London, this could be your ideal opportunity. 

Join us, and you will be initiating and conducting care proceedings under the Children’s Act 1989. You’ll have a varied and challenging caseload, including all aspects of care and adoption proceedings and advice work, as well as matters in pre-proceedings. 

We’ll be expecting you to give timely and accurate legal advice, deal with a complex caseload and stay up to date with relevant legislation. You must therefore be a qualified solicitor or barrister or Chartered Legal Executive with considerable experience and PQE. 

With experience in another local authority or large organisation, you’ll have accurate knowledge of practice and procedure in relation to child care law including, care and adoption proceedings, and private law proceedings. Advocacy experience in a wide variety of care proceedings in the Family Courtis also desirable or at least a willingness to develop this skill.. 

We are looking for professionals with excellent communication skills, both orally and in writing, and dedication to the job. You will work within a friendly, welcoming and supportive team where your professional development will be nurtured and appreciated day to day.

With the determination to meet deadlines, you’ll work flexibly, including outside normal office hours if necessary. And, with your commitment

Please note that this role is subject to a Basic Disclosure Application to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Equal Opportunities

Waltham Forest is a diverse borough where diversity is valued and is integral to both, service delivery and employment of its staff. The Council is proud of its rich mix of communities and as the largest employer in the area, it works hard to respond to the changing needs of its population. We use our statutory duties on race, gender and disability equality and best practice in respect of age, faith and sexual orientation to ensure equality of opportunity in the workplace. The Council is committed to meeting its 4 equality objectives: - Promoting equality of opportunity - Opposing all forms of discrimination, intolerance and disadvantage - Ensuring our workforce reflects the diverse communities of Waltham Forest at all levels. - Providing fair, appropriate, accessible and excellent Services to all. Respecting Diversity is a core Council value. To support the above and reduce the risk of bias in its recruitment activities, the council is operating an anonymous shortlisting process, which hides personal information that can identify individuals until their application has been considered for shortlisting. The council also operates a scheme whereby, for jobs graded up to and including scale SO2, internal candidates are considered first. This includes those candidates who self-identify as having a disability for the purposes of the Disability Confident scheme. For more information, please refer to our recruitment and selection policy

For a confidential conversation about this role, please contact Brian Gallagher via brian.gallagher@penna.com or call 07716 098175

Closing Date: 19th September

Interview Dates : 30th September, 1st, 2nd & 3rd October 2025

How to Apply

1. Upload your CV under “Please select one of the options below.”
2. Complete the short mandatory fields on the next page.
3. Use ‘Add Attachments’ to upload your Supporting Statement and any other documents.
4. Ensure both CV and Supporting Statement are uploaded before submitting your application.

You can download the role profile here: Job Description

Please note: should we find a suitable candidate, this role may close earlier than advertised