Lawyer (Contracts)

Organisation: London Borough of Waltham Forest

Retention Bonus/ Market Supplement: A ‘Golden Hello’ payment of up to £3,000 is available to the right successful candidate at the Council's discretion.

Contract Type: Permanent

Working hours per week: 36

Application Deadline: 31/05/2026

Proposed Interview Date(s): week commencing 08/06/2026

Reference: 2104

About Us: Bursting with culture, energy, and opportunity, the London Borough of Waltham Forest is a fantastic and exciting place to work. We are a highly ambitious borough. Driven by culture and the innate creativity of our residents, we have developed new and innovative ways to build our communities. Our Council is relentlessly resident-focused, insight-led, digitally driven and commercially minded; a Council focused on meeting the needs of our existing and future residents. London Borough of Waltham Forest is one of the Mayor of London’s Good Work Standard employers. This accreditation is proof of our commitment to creating a healthy, fair and inclusive workplace. This includes fair pay and conditions, workplace well-being, skills and progression and diversity and recruitment.

About the role: We are looking to recruit two experienced Contracts Lawyers to join the Commercial Law Team at Waltham Forest Legal Services. You will be a UK qualified solicitor with at least 3 years Post Qualification Experience in contracts and commercial law. You will be part of a small team of Contracts lawyers advising on contract and procurement law across the full range of local authority services including construction, social care, ICT, professional and other services and across all types of contractual arrangements. Therefore, you will hold a varied and interesting caseload that will enable you to make full use of your experience while providing an exciting opportunity to develop further your skills and expertise. The chance to undertake some casework in other areas of the Commercial Law Team is also possible.

You will have experience of contract and procurement law especially advising in relation to the Procurement Act 2023, and all contractual matters. You will have strong experience in drafting, reviewing and negotiating various goods and services contracts, framework agreements, call-off contracts, advising on data sharing and data protection matters relevant to contracts, and be comfortable and assured in dealing with related issues including, amongst others, TUPE, intellectual property and the subsidy regime. You will be confident in drafting bespoke contractual provisions and demonstrate both a ‘can-do’ and a commercial attitude for the benefit of the Council as your client.

The salary we can offer will be commensurate with your experience and we are looking to appoint at the upper end of the available salary range. In addition to the salary we have the discretion to offer up to £3,000 as a ‘Golden Hello’ payment to the right successful candidate(s). We offer hybrid working with the standard approach being one day per week in the office and the remainder working from home. However, as noted below as a Council we are willing to consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council.

Responsibilities:

• Giving timely and accurate legal advice, undertaking advocacy (where required in the role) and providing guidance and support to clients.
• Dealing with complex casework and arranging representation in courts, tribunals or inquiries in order to ensure the Council’s position is represented in the most cost effective and efficient manner.
• Advising and undertaking work in all aspects of the responsibilities of the role.
• Keeping up to date with all legislation, case law and best practice to assure the quality of legal advice and support to clients.
• Ensuring compliance with all relevant professional standards including the Solicitors Code of Conduct.
• Undertaking original drafting of complex legal documentation for the areas of responsibility in the role.
• Ensuring that risk and conflict of interest is constantly monitored in respect of all casework undertaken.

Qualifications and Requirements:

• Practising Solicitor or Barrister or FILEX.
• Relevant post qualification experience in the legal profession.
• Ability to handle complex legal matters within area of responsibility.
• Excellent communication skills both orally and in writing.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines whilst handling a diverse workload.

Terms and conditions: Satisfactory employment references and CIFAS identity checks; Satisfactory declaration of interest.

How to Apply: Interested candidates are invited to submit their applications online by pressing the ‘Apply’ button below. This includes a supporting statement that outlines to us how your skills and experience make you a good candidate for this vacancy. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

Equal Opportunity Employer: 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.

We are keen to support employees to balance their working life with other commitments. Therefore, wherever possible, we will consider working arrangements that suit an individual's personal circumstances whilst still meeting the needs of the Council. If you would like to discuss the possible flexible working options that might be applicable to this role, please contact the person named below or feel free to discuss this during your interview.

If you have any questions about this vacancy or the application process, please contact Jeremy Walling, Assistant Director Commercial Law at jeremy.walling@walthamforest.gov.uk or 07817387023. The Council’s preference is for online application. However, if you have a disability and are unable to complete an online application, please email recruitment@walthamforest.gov.uk so we can arrange an alternative application method.

Locations: Walthamstow, Greater London, United Kingdom