Legal Director - Head of Residential Conveyancing

Job title

Legal Director
- Head of Residential Conveyancing

Department

Our Purpose

To forge long-term relationships that have a positive impact on our people, our clients, our business partners, and our communities.

Our Commitment to Our People

We do not think there is a magic formula to the Higgs culture. The key is to listen to and respect our people. If we take care of our people and our people take care of our clients, then everything we want as a firm will take care of itself. We are friendly and open to new ideas.

Our Core Values

Higgs core values are “CLEAR” – Care, Legacy, Excellence, Authenticity, Relationships

Role Purpose

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Residential Conveyancing specialist to play a key role in shaping and heading up our conveyancing team. This position offers the opportunity to drive excellence in client service, compliance, and operational efficiency. It’s an exciting chance for someone with strong technical expertise and leadership skills to make a significant impact on the team.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage and supervise other members of the residential conveyancing team, ensuring high standards of service delivery.
• Oversee a varied caseload of residential property transactions including freehold, leasehold, new builds, and shared ownership.
• Provide technical guidance and support to team members on complex matters.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies.
• Monitor performance, set objectives, and support professional development within the team.
• Build and maintain strong relationships with clients, agents, and other stakeholders.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes and enhance client experience.
• Support the Head of Department in delivering excellent financial performance and diligence, both personally and across the team.

Person Specification

The criteria below will be assessed via application (A), interview (I), Test (T), or multiple (A/I/T).

• Significant senior-level experience within a legal or professional services environment, managing complex, high-value and strategically important matters. (A/I)
• Recognised specialist expertise with the credibility to influence best practice, contribute strategically across the business and support the development of others. (A/I)
• Commercially astute, with experience strengthening key client relationships, involvement in business development activity and identifying growth opportunities, contributing to the firm’s wider success and reputation. (A/I)
• Operates with a high level of professional integrity, accountability and regulatory awareness, consistently upholding professional and ethical standards. (A/I)
• Builds trusted relationships with clients, colleagues and senior stakeholders and acts as a credible ambassador for the firm, its values and reputation. (A/I)
• Leads and influences others effectively, fostering an inclusive and psychologically safe environment which supports engagement, collaboration and high performance. (A/I)
• Comfortable making complex and commercially sensitive decisions, balancing client, people, operational and risk considerations appropriately. (A/I)
• Experience contributing to financial performance, resource planning and operational management, with accountability for achieving wider team and business objectives. (A/I)
• Communicates with clarity and influence across all levels of the business, supporting collaboration and delivery of wider strategic priorities. (A/I)
• Experience leading strategic change, service improvement or wider business initiatives. (A/I)
• Experience supporting, coaching or developing others to build capability and support progression. (A/I)

Technical Know How

• Advanced knowledge of legal, business and operational systems relevant to the role, using these effectively to support high-quality service delivery and operational efficiency. (Essential) (A/I)
• Comprehensive knowledge of regulatory obligations, professional conduct requirements, confidentiality and risk management principles. (Essential) (A/I)
• Maintains current knowledge of legal, sector and market developments relevant to their specialism and applies this to…