Lawyer Planning and Highways in North East

The Planning & Highways Team handles a wide range of matters, including all aspects of Planning and Highways Law, Public Rights of Way and Common Land issues. These new roles will complement the existing team, increasing its capacity to play a vital role in a number of projects over the coming years including the refresh of the County Durham Plan and supporting a number of regeneration projects involving potential CPOs. Its work is a key component in delivering the Council’s strategic vision and priorities.

You will work closely with Councillors and with officers across the whole range of the Council’s activities, providing legal advice, assistance and advocacy. You will be responsible for the negotiation and drafting of various agreements as well as wider policy and strategy. You will advise Council committees and may be required to conduct matters in the civil and criminal courts such as enforcement and appeals, as well as involvement with public inquiries.

You should be a Qualified Solicitor, Barrister or CLIEx Litigator and Chartered Legal Executive Advocate (Civil) with current practising certificate, or be about to qualify having completed all academic stages. Please refer to the attached Person Specification for the full criteria.

Interviews will be held during the week of 12th January 2026. We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that can show they meet all the essential criteria and have indicated they have a disability, are a looked after young person, care leaver or a veteran.

We offer a competitive rewards package that includes attractive salaries, generous annual leave entitlement of 27 days (rising to 32 after five years’ continuous local government service), membership of the excellent contributory career average Local Government Pension Scheme, and a range of flexible working arrangements including hybrid working (home and office) where applicable. Rewards and benefits are subject to individual terms and conditions.

We are a proud equal opportunities employer and believe a diverse workforce brings fresh ideas and drives service improvement. We welcome applications from everyone and make employment decisions based on skills and ability. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people and offer support throughout the recruitment process.

Please note, we do not accept CVs. All applications must be submitted online via the Northeast Jobs portal. Use the ‘Person Specification’ section of the form to clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential (and where possible, desirable) criteria. Applications that do not evidence the essential requirements will not be shortlisted. For guidance on completing your application, visit our website. If you require assistance when applying for this role, please contact our Recruitment Helpdesk on 03000 26 27 27, Option 6 or via email RecruitmentCES@durham.gov.uk. All correspondence relating to your application will be sent from donotreply@northeastjobs.org.uk. Kindly check your spam/junk folder regularly to ensure you don’t miss any updates.