Principal Lawyer (Children and Families Disclosure Team) in Manchester

Working hours: 35 hours per week

Contract type: Temporary for 12 months

Working style: Hybrid - Employees split their time between working remotely (e.g., from home) and working on-site (e.g., in an office).

Closing date: 11.59pm, 11 October 2026

Interview method: in person

Applicants must have existing right to work in the UK, as visa sponsorship is not available for this position.

This role is subject to:

• Legal right to Work: In accordance with Home Office guidance, successful candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK before commencement of employment.
• 2 References - where possible we require 3 years' history.
• Qualification - Solicitor, Barrister (with authorisation to conduct litigation) or CILEX (with practising rights)
• DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) clearance - this post is covered by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (amended in 2013). Appointable candidates will be required to apply for a Standard Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Manchester City Council has grown its team of effective lawyers, legal officers and business support team who produce outstanding results with an enhanced vision for the future. Aligning ourselves with Children’s Services to deliver safe, efficient, and effective services to families, the enhanced vision is supported by new team structures, an enriched training, mentoring and coaching tool and a new Case Management System.

We are looking for a dynamic qualified solicitor, barrister or Chartered Lawyer or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives to join our Children and Families Legal Team. This role presents an exciting opportunity to lead one of our legal disclosure teams and manage a small team of lawyers and legal officers with business support.

At the heart of everything we do is:

• the safety and needs of children and vulnerable adults
• high-quality representation of Children’s Services.

The legal disclosure team plays an integral part in supporting Manchester Children’s Services. You will manage a small team of lawyers, provide complex legal advice to children's services, with a strong understanding of supporting them in all aspects of their statutory functions, but with a key specialist focus on third-party disclosure of social care records to support criminal investigations and the prosecution of serious offences against children.

How do we do this emotionally demanding work? It’s through teamwork – working together, trusting each other, combining our experience, and sharing our knowledge and expertise to get the right result. We support each other, laugh, interact, problem-solve and have difficult conversations. This promotes deep learning and a strong sense of belonging and common purpose, creating effective mutual relationships that achieve our team’s goals.

Why work with us?

• We offer our lawyers flexible start and finish times with an effective hybrid working-practice model.
• There’s opportunity for development and variety thanks to the way our teams practise in our Lexcel-accredited and supported legal service.
• Legal work for public services in Manchester and Salford Councils and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority puts you among the few practitioners in England’s first, and biggest, devolved region, where major decisions are now taken in-house rather than in Whitehall and by NHS administrations.

About the Candidate

You will be able to demonstrate that you have acquired the following skills with examples from your career so far:

• Communication Skills
• Analytical Skills
• Planning and Organising
• Problem Solving and Decision Making
• Strategic Thinking
• Creative skills
• Policy Skills
• People Management
• Relevant experience and expertise of dealing with a broad range of complex, highly valued and sensitive cases relating to children and family law
• Managerial experience via direct management of people or project delivery related management is desirable

If practising in a supportive public service legal team is the right cultural fit for you, please get in touch for an informal discussion.

Benefits we offer:

• Up to 26 days’ annual leave, rising to 31 days after five years’ service
• Buy up to two extra weeks’ leave
• Up to 3 days’ volunteering leave
• A 35-hour work week for full-time roles
• We review pay each year and recognise three trade unions
• The UK’s largest local government pension scheme
• Enhanced parental and carers leave
• Employee discounts and perks

Creating an Inclusive Team at Manchester City Council

Manchester City Council values equality and works to provide a fair and inclusive environment for a workforce that is as diverse as the communities it serves. We want to further increase the diversity of our workforce, in particular the number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic staff and disabled staff at all levels of the Council. This advert is open to all applicants, and we would particularly welcome applications from candidates identifying with one or both of those characteristics.

Guaranteed Assessment Scheme

We guarantee assessments for applicants who meet the recruiting panel's minimum shortlisting requirements for the role and identify with at least one of the criteria below:

• Members of the Armed Forces and veterans
• Are currently in care, or have previously been in care.
• If you consider yourself to be disabled or if you have a long-term condition
• Have you completed the GM Elevate (Leadership Development) Programme or any MCC positive action programmes?

When You Join Us

We’re a Disability Confident Employer, offering:

• A workplace adjustment hub which provides specialist support, advice and guidance to ensure you have the adjustments needed to thrive at work.
• Disabled Staff Network, Neurodiversity Staff Network and Mental Health Staff Network that provides a safe inclusive space to share experiences and opportunities to influence council practice.
• A strong commitment to ensuring all information adheres to accessibility standards and that our workplaces are accessible and disability-friendly.

What we will need from you if you're successful:

In accordance with Home Office guidance, successful candidates must evidence their right to work in the UK before commencement of employment. This is not a role we consider to be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route based on Manchester City Council policy. Candidates are therefore encouraged to consider their own right to work options without the requirement for Manchester City Council sponsorship.

Other relevant information:

We want everyone to be able to be themselves at work and give their best. If you need additional support to undertake the duties of the role, we’ll make every effort to source any necessary aids, adaptations or equipment. If, however, any task proves to be unachievable, we will look at redesigning parts of the role.