Legal Support Officer

Overview

Join our Legal Support Team as a Legal Support Officer and play a key role in delivering an efficient, confidential, and knowledgeable legal support service. You will be responsible for the day-to-day administrative functions of Legal Services, working closely with the Legal Practice Management Team.

As a member of the Legal Support Team, you will have the opportunity to support our legal professionals and undertake a variety of admin support work across multiple legal areas. 

This is a secondment/fixed contract opportunity for 12 months to cover maternity leave.

About us

Legal Services is at the heart of the organisation and provides a fast-paced and rewarding career in a supportive environment.

By working with us, you are part of something bigger. From supporting residents who are at the heart of what we do, to shaping our county for now and future generations – as a Buckinghamshire Council employee, you contribute to the local community, whatever your role. As one of the biggest local authorities in the UK, we are part of a network of partners spanning both public and private sectors.

Our services are wide-ranging, the opportunities to grow and progress are endless. Our commitment to work-life balance and adapting ways of working is shaping our working lives for the better. So from the moment you join us, we’ll support you to be the best you every step of the way. 

About the role

As a Legal Support Officer, you will assist the service by delivering day to day administrative support.  The key accountabilities are:

• To provide a high level of customer service to Legal Services staff, clients and visitors.
• To undertake legal and general administrative support duties.
• To prepare court bundles and paperwork.
• To act as the first point of contact for enquiries to Legal Services including answering telephone calls, emails, written enquiries and greeting visitors.
• To develop key contacts within the client departments and external organisations with whom we work with.

Ideally, the successful candidate will have previous experience of working in an administration role.

As an ‘any-desk’ worker, you’ll need to be connected to our network to access digital folders and resources, but this can either be from home or an office location when required. You will be required to work from the office a couple of times a week, depending on your role and team requirements.

About you

We are looking for someone who is positive, with a flexible, ‘can-do’ attitude and the ability to work, at times, under pressure. The applicant should:

• Be a team player.
• Have excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Be able to manage and prioritise own workload.
• Have good attention to detail.
• Be ICT literate including the use of Microsoft applications and specialist systems.

Other information

The team is currently working hybrid with three days a week working at home and 2 days a week working in the Walton Street Aylesbury offices.  The team has a collaboration day once a month where all team members attend the office and the monthly team meeting is held on this day, in person.

The role is a predominantly office-based role within our Walton Street office however the successful candidate must be willing to travel to the Wycombe office, if required.

Please see the attached job summary for further information on this role and person specification.

Interview date: 23^rd April 2025

If you would like to have an informal conversation with the recruiting manager regarding this role, please contact Kavita Lathia, Assistant Practice Manager on 01296 382681 or email at  [email protected]. 

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and therefore applicants are required to declare:

• All unspent convictions and conditional cautions
• All spent convictions and adult cautions that are not protected (i.e. that are not filtered out) as defined by the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (as amended in 2020 and 2023).

For further information on filtering please refer to Nacro guidance and the guidance published by the Ministry of Justice (see, in particular, the section titled ‘Exceptions Order’).

We reserve the right to close the vacancy once we have received sufficient applications, so please be advised to submit your application as early as possible.

Our values and culture

We have a set of values, which our employees have chosen, that represent what we are – Proud, Ambitious, Collaborative and Trustworthy.

By joining Buckinghamshire Council, you can expect:

a fair and inclusive culture

• the chance to really make a difference to those around you
• health and well-being initiatives including an Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and mindfulness workshops
• a unified voice through our Employee Representative Group
• ongoing support, and the opportunity to develop and progress in your career with us
• opportunities to take part in fun activities such as fundraising and social events

At Buckinghamshire Council, we know that our biggest strength comes from the people that work for us, and that’s why we’re working hard to ensure we continue to be an accessible and inclusive organisation.

From dedicated staff networks overseen by our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Steering Group, to proudly standing as a Disability Confident employer, it’s important to us that all our colleagues feel engaged, listened to, and valued. Our offer of flexible working empowers a productive and happy workforce and allows employees to combine work with other responsibilities and commitments.

We believe our workforce should reflect the diverse communities we service in Buckinghamshire, and are looking for like-minded individuals to join us in promoting equality, fairness, and inclusion for everyone.

 

About the Business Unit

The Deputy Chief Executive directorate is central to Buckinghamshire Council’s journey to establish itself as one of the best councils in the country. With a clear focus on service improvement through transformation and a drive to build better relationships with the local community, the directorate is fast-paced; but extremely rewarding. Our teams are not only proactively delivering on projects and plans but also reacting to developing situations. If you are ambitious, innovative, and would relish the opportunity to influence change - a role within our service area could be your next career move.

The team includes exciting areas of work, including a brand new localities model – delivering 16 community boards across the county to make it easy for our residents to engage with us as we work together to plan for the future. Other teams include our Policy and Communications and Legal and Democratic Services teams – innovating the way we communicate with our colleagues, Members and the local community, and role-modelling best practice through policy, planning and legal services. If you think you can help us achieve our goals, and want to be a part of this exciting journey, we would love to hear from you!

We recognise and reward you

Hard work and success deserves recognition. That’s why we pride ourselves on the benefits we give our people. We actively encourage a good work-life balance and promote flexible and agile working arrangements. We provide discounts on various Cafés, restaurants, shops and auto enrolment onto our generous Pension Scheme. In addition to the opportunity to gain membership to Costco, we have discounted gym memberships, travel discounts with Arriva and much more.

https://jobs.buckinghamshire.gov.uk/working-buckinghamshire-council/