This is a pivotal and exciting opportunity to join one of the largest local authorities in North West England at a time of significant change and opportunity.
Cheshire East Council is committed to becoming a high-performing, customer-focused organisation underpinned by strong governance, excellent public services and sound decision‑making. Legal Services has a critical role to play in that journey. The legal function sits at the heart of the Council, supporting delivery across all services, enabling transformation and providing assurance that decisions are lawful, transparent and effective.
The Council is ambitious about the future of Legal Services and is committed to building a modern legal practice that combines exceptional technical expertise with outstanding client care, commercial awareness and a relentless focus on service quality. The service is being redesigned to ensure it is aligned to organisational priorities, responsive to client needs and equipped to meet the challenges of an increasingly complex local government environment.
The Council is investing in digitalisation, innovation and new ways of working. It is committed to strengthening performance management, service standards and customer experience, creating a genuinely modern legal service that is recognised internally and externally as a trusted strategic partner.
An important element of this ambition is achieving and maintaining Lexcel accreditation
, the recognised benchmark of excellence in legal practice management, client care, governance and continuous improvement.
This role offers a rare opportunity to help shape that future.
Cheshire East Council is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking legal leader who can combine strong professional judgement with strategic vision and operational delivery. The successful candidate will be comfortable working at the most senior levels of the organisation, providing trusted advice on complex issues whilst leading a large multidisciplinary legal team through a period of change and improvement.
For those motivated by the opportunity to build, lead and transform a modern public sector legal service, this is an exceptional opportunity to make a lasting impact and help deliver the Council's ambitions for the future.
THE MODELThe future Legal Services model will be built around five core principles.
- Customer Focus - Legal Services must be easy to access, responsive and focused on meeting customer needs. We want our clients to view Legal Services as trusted advisers who add value and help deliver outcomes.
- Quality and Professional Excellence - The service will operate to clear professional standards supported by robust quality assurance, knowledge management and performance frameworks. Lexcel accreditation will provide an important benchmark for continuous improvement.
- Digitalisation and Innovation - Technology, automation and digital working practices will be embedded across the service. We will maximise opportunities to improve efficiency, knowledge sharing and customer experience through the intelligent use of technology.
- Strategic Partnership - Legal Services will operate as a strategic corporate partner, providing practical solutions and supporting delivery of organisational priorities.
- Continuous Improvement - We expect every part of the service to challenge existing approaches, seek efficiencies and contribute to better outcomes for residents and service users.
The successful candidate will lead delivery of a programme of improvement focused on:
- Establishing a modern, customer-focused legal service.
- Improving service standards, client feedback and responsiveness.
- Delivering a revised Legal Services operating model aligned to Council priorities.
- Embedding a…
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