Governance Lawyer

Team: Monitoring Team, Legal

Job Family: Enabling - CBG13 

Salary: £51,471 to £55,585 per annum

Hours: 37 hours per week

Location: You will be expected to attend a CBC office location as often as needed to carry out your role, which will be no less than once per month.

Contract Type: Hybrid - Permanent

Closing Date: 3rd May 2026

Interview Date: 21st May 2026

About the role

We are looking for experienced, talented and personable individual to join our team.  You will be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or equivalent with a current practising certificate.

You will work closely with the Monitoring Officer and Deputy Monitoring Officer to ensure that Central Bedfordshire Council is able to fulfil its statutory, legal and constitutional obligations under the relevant local government legislation. This includes:

• Support and provide advice on governance matters and ethical governance, such as the Council’s Constitution and Officer Schemes of Delegations
• Support and provide advice in relation to adherence to legal and constitutional implications of decision-making including sign off and advice in relation to all decision making reports and Delegated Decision Notices
• Advise on the Council’s compliance with Equalities duties in all areas of decision‑making, ensuring that Executive, committees, and senior officers fulfil the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) when taking decisions including advice on the adequacy and use of Equality Impact Assessments.
• Manage a varied caseload including governance, regulatory and equalities related matters.
• Oversight of Legal Services Contract & commissioning of external legal advice and Counsel opinion acting as a conduit between client and Legal Services in more complex and/or high-risk matters 

In order to be considered for this role, you must:

• Be a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales or a member of the bar who has completed pupillage/qualified or Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives or Chartered Legal Executive with current practising certificate.
• Be experienced in providing legal advice in a local authority setting or a similar complex, political environment.
• Have knowledge of relevant regulations/legislation and best practice in local government law and governance.
• Have strong political acumen, and the ability to work with elected members and interest groups.
• Possess the ability to work across council departments and external organisations in order to collaborate with key stakeholders.

Your remit is varied, so it’s important that you’re adaptable and highly organised. Strong verbal and written communication skills are essential as you’ll be communicating at all levels, often explaining complex information both in meetings and in written reports. 

Because of the variety of work and opportunity to be at the forefront of new initiatives, this role should provide an excellent opportunity to expand your knowledge and experience. 

Join us, and take advantage of a generous rewards package, flexible working and the chance to learn and progress.

Our Offer 

We have a number of rewards and benefits available to our staff, to view these please visit our Rewards and Benefits page  

Our aspiration is to be a truly flexible employer.  We welcome discussion on location, hours and working pattern as part of the application process. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

You will be expected to demonstrate how you meet the key accountabilities and competencies in this Recruitment Pack. 

Our Competency Framework and Qualification Guidance are to be read in conjunction with our Recruitment Pack. 

For an informal discussion about this position, please contact: Natasha Taylor at natasha.taylor@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk or call 0300 300 6867.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------