Principal Lawyer Planning, Highways and Property

Job Title:Principal Lawyer - Planning Highways and Property
Salary:per annum
Grade:H
Contract Type:Permanent
Working Hours:37 hours per week

About the role:

This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced and ambitious Lawyer to take a senior leadership role within Thurrock Councils Legal Services Team.

• To lead the provision of high-quality pragmatic and solution focused legal advice in relation to planning highways and property matters.

• To act as a senior legal adviser and representative for the Council on complex high profile sensitive and strategically important matters.

• To manage supervise and develop lawyers legal officers trainee solicitors apprentices and other fee earners within the team

• To support the Head of Legal Services in the effective management performance development and improvement of the Legal Services function.

• To ensure that the Council receives timely robust and commercially aware legal advice which supports lawful decision-making good governance value for money and delivery of corporate priorities.

About you:

You are an experiencedqualified Solicitor Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive authorised to practise in England and Wales. You are a motivated Lawyer looking for a role where you can combine high-quality legal work with leadership and real public impact. You have strong experience in planning highways or property law and are confident providing practical risk-based advice on complex issues.

You enjoy working closely with senior stakeholders explaining legal issues in a clear and accessible way and helping shape effective and lawful decisions. You are comfortable working in a fast-paced politically sensitive environment and can manage competing priorities with confidence.

You are also someone who values people. Whether you have managed a team before or are ready to step into a larger leadership role you are committed to developing others supporting colleagues and creating a positive inclusive team culture. This role is a leadership role and it is expected that at least half of your work will be supporting managing and developing the team.

You will be comfortable advising senior officers and Members working under pressure managing competing deadlines and handling politically sensitive matters. You will also be committed to leading people well improving service delivery and building constructive relationships with client departments.

You do not need to have full experience. What matters is strong legal judgement credibility resilience curiosity a commitment to public service and the ability to lead a team with confidence clarity and fairness.

What we are looking for:

Legal Advice and Casework

The postholder will lead and provide specialist legal advice across planning highways and property matters including but not limited to:

• town and country planning law;

• planning obligations including section 106 agreements;

• planning enforcement appeals public inquiries and judicial review risk;

• planning committee advice and member-level decision-making;

• highways agreements including section 38 and section 278 agreements;

• section 50 licences stopping up orders diversions traffic regulation orders and related highways matters;

• property acquisitions disposals leases licences easements covenants title issues and landlord and tenant matters;

• development regeneration infrastructure and strategic project work;

• local government governance decision-making vires delegations and public law risk.

The postholder will be expected to manage a complex caseload personally while also supervising and allocating work across the team.

Strategic Advice and Client Support

The postholder will:

• provide clear practical and risk-based legal advice to senior officers service areas project boards and elected Members;

• advise Cabinet Council committees sub-committees panels and other formal decision-making bodies where required;

• support robust and defensible decision-making in a politically sensitive environment;

• work collaboratively with client departments to identify legal issues early and resolve matters proactively;

• provide legal input into major projects regeneration schemes infrastructure proposals and service transformation activity;

• support the delivery of the Councils corporate priorities through high-quality enabling legal advice;

• help client departments understand legal risk governance requirements and appropriate decision-making routes.

Leadership and Management

The postholder will have direct line management responsibility for lawyers legal officers trainee solicitors apprentices and/or other team members within the planning highways and property legal team.

The postholder will be expected to:

• lead motivate and develop a high-performing legal team;

• allocate work effectively balancing complexity capacity risk and development needs;

• provide regular supervision feedback coaching and technical support ensuring meaningful one-to-one conversations quality annual appraisals and regular development discussions take place;

• manage performance conduct attendance and behavioural issues appropriately and in line with Council policies;

• support succession planning resilience and professional development within the team;

• create a positive inclusive and collaborative team culture;

• ensure team members understand priorities standards expectations and deadlines;

• promote accountability professional judgement and continuous improvement.

Quality Performance and Service Improvement

The postholder will:

• maintain high professional standards across the teams legal work;

• ensure advice is accurate timely proportionate clearly recorded and aligned with the Councils governance requirements;

• support the development and improvement of legal procedures templates guidance precedents and working practices;

• contribute to improvements in case management reporting file management and legal service processes;

• monitor workloads performance risk client demand and service pressures within the team;

• support the Legal Services management team in developing a modern efficient and responsive in-house legal service;

• identify opportunities to bring appropriate work in-house and reduce unnecessary external legal spend;

• provide training guidance and knowledge-sharing to client departments and colleagues where appropriate;

• horizon scan legal and regulatory developments affecting planning highways property and local government practice.

Governance Risk and External Spend

The postholder will:

• support the Councils Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer in promoting good governance lawful decision-making and ethical standards;

• promote compliance with the Nolan Principles the Councils Constitution financial regulations procurement rules and statutory duties;

• identify and escalate significant legal financial reputational or governance risks;

• commission external legal advice where required ensuring instructions are clear proportionate and properly managed;

• manage relationships with external legal providers to ensure quality timeliness and value for money;

• challenge external spend where appropriate and ensure that legal work is retained in-house wherever this is efficient and appropriate;

• support budget monitoring value for money cost control and service efficiency within the team.

Deputising and Wider Corporate Contribution

The postholder will:

• support the Head of Legal Services in the management and development of Legal Services;

• deputise for the Head of Legal Services where required;

• participate in Legal Services management activity service planning and transformation work;

• contribute to corporate projects programmes and improvement activity;

• work flexibly across Legal Services where required including providing advice on wider local government law and governance matters appropriate to the grade and nature of the role.

Essential qualifications:Qualified Solicitor Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive authorised to practise in England and Wales
DBS Check:Standard level is required for this post

Benefits of Working with Us

At Thurrock Council we value our employees and offer a comprehensive benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Local Government Pension Scheme
• Flexible and hybrid working opportunities (where applicable)
• Ongoing training and professional development
• Employeeassistanceprogramme and wellbeing support
• Staff discounts and local offers
• A supportive and inclusive working environment

Important Dates

Closing Date (Redeployment Only):3rd August 2026

Closing Date (Internal & External): 23rd August 2026

Interview Date: To Be Confirmed

Additional Information

If you have any questions about the role or interview process please contact:

Lyra-Mai Mayari - Head of Legal Services

To view the Job Profile and Person Specification please follow the link below:

Download Job Profile (PDF Document)

If the Job Profile and Person Specification list any qualifications as essential please also upload copies of those relevant qualifications.