Legal jobs

Purpose of the Role:

The Senior Research, Policy and Influencing Manager will play a pivotal role in driving Cerebra’s mission to influence national and local policy and practice. You will lead on the translation of research into actionable policy recommendations, develop strategic partnerships, advocate for systemic change and influence, persuade and engage with policy makers to improve outcomes for children with neurological conditions and their families. Alongside this you will work with the Research and Information team on Cerebra’s research contracts and the development and dissemination of information.

This is a senior role requiring strategic vision, strong analytical and communication skills, and an ability to build influence across government, academia, and the third sector.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

1. Policy and Influencing  

• Identify opportunities to influence national and local policy agendas, including legislation, guidance, and funding priorities related to childhood disability and neurological conditions.
• Develop accessible and compelling policy briefings, consultation responses, reports, speeches, and presentations for a range of stakeholders, including MPs, government officials, sector partners and the public.
• Monitor policy developments across the neuro-diverse landscape and lead on timely, evidence-led responses.
• Analyse data, trends and policy developments to produce insights and recommendations.
• Translate complex ideas into clear, persuasive communications that support positive change.
• Ensure our policy positions reflect the real experiences and insights of the neuro-diverse children and families we support.
• Develop and deliver Cerebra’s policy and influencing strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and research priorities.
• Develop and deliver influencing campaigns in partnership with Communications team.
• Work closely with the Communications Team by contributing to the drafting of responses to media enquiries on our policy and influencing work and act as the media contact if required.
• Liaise with the Legal Rights Team to assess the impact of current or proposed policies in terms of their actual or potential effects on children with neurological conditions at both national and local levels, and for their input into consultation responses.

2. Engagement and Relationship Building

• Build and maintain strong strategic relationships with decision-makers across government departments, policymakers, NHS bodies, local authorities, professional associations, and sector partners.
• Represent Cerebra at meetings and events, including engaging with MPs, civil servants, policy forums, advisory groups, and cross-sector coalitions and other key influencers, or brief the CEO or Directors if attending.
• Work closely with internal teams to ensure our policy and influencing work is grounded in practice and informed by those delivering services.
• Work closely with the Communications Team to ensure consistent, impactful messaging.

3. Research and Information

• With one of our Lead Research Officers leading, you will oversee the tendering process and delivery of our research contracts.
• Working with our Information Development Officer to ensure that we maintain our PIF Tick accreditation for our information resources.
• Carry out high-quality research and analysis.
• Use findings from Cerebra-funded and external research to produce policy briefs, consultation responses, and evidence-based recommendations.
• Alongside our Lead Research Officers carry out horizon scanning to identify emerging trends, challenges, and opportunities in child health, neurodiversity, and public service delivery.

4. Budgeting, monitoring and forecasting

• Working with the team and Director to set income and expenditure budgets for Corporate, Philanthropy, Legacy and Trust & Foundations to assist with any funding applications.
• Monitoring and reporting on income and expenditure and KPIs throughout the year.
• Providing quarterly income and expenditure re-forecasts.
• Ensuring all relevant information is recorded in line with charity, fundraising and data legislation and best practice.

5. Line Management

• Line management responsibilities for a small team, currently comprising of 3 staff.
• Be responsible for the day-to-day management of the team.
• Complete regular supervision and team meetings.
• Provide effective performance management to the team.
• Promote a positive and inclusive team culture aligned with Cerebra’s values.

6. General

• Monitor and evaluate the impact the areas of work that leading on.
• Support collaboration across the different Cerebra teams.
• Experience using Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems or similar digital tools for recording and tracking work.
• Uphold Cerebra’s Data Protection Policy and all relevant confidentiality and safeguarding policies.
• Carry out any other reasonable duties in line with the needs of the team and organisation.

Please see attached job description for person specification.

Job Title:

Senior Legal Rights Team Manager

Department/Responsibility for:

Legal Rights Team

Line management of 3 employees

Reports To:

Director of Research and Support Services

Purpose of the Role:

Due to an ambitious strategy to increase our reach and revenue by 2027, and increasing demand for our legal services, we are ready to welcome an experienced Senior Legal Rights Team Manager to our Legal Rights Team.

We are looking for an experienced and organised individual to lead the delivery of our high-quality legal rights service, managing a team to ensure our services and support comply with regulatory obligations and remain up to date with the latest legal updates. This includes casework supervision within the team as well as managing your own caseload. The legal focus of the team’s work is within the health and social care field.

In addition, you will need to support the Director of Research and Support Services in managing our external relationships, evaluating and monitoring our service, devising and delivering training and supporting research and marketing activity. Additionally, you will use casework evidence to inform the Charity’s wider policy and advocacy strategies to achieve systematic change.

To be a success in this role, you should be an excellent communicator, proactive, flexible, highly organised and able to meet deadlines. This is a challenging but well-supported role, where you can make a large, career-defining impact for Cerebra and the children and families that we serve.

Key Areas of Responsibility:

1. Team Management and Supervision

• Provide effective, remote line management, support and performance management to direct reports to help them maximise their potential and effectiveness.
• Ensuring that knowledge, training and skills are maintained within the team, with a particular focus on legal knowledge and expertise.
• Conducting inductions, performance management and ensuring casework supervision.
• Provide practical and person-focused coaching support to the Legal Rights Team.
• Ensure there is a continual culture and focus on learning and development and wellbeing.

2. Culture & leadership

• Work to continue the development of a strong, person-centred, empathetic, supportive and inclusive culture at Cerebra.
• Build on excellent relationships between different teams and directorates for each other’s and Cerebra’s overall strategic goals and objectives
• Collaborate across departments to align partner activity with service delivery and communications.
• Contribute to strategic, organisational and cultural development.
• Champion innovation, growth mindset and learning from failure.

3. Legal Casework

• Oversee and supervise casework around health and social care legal entitlements.
• Manage referrals to the Legal Rights Service and triage new cases.
• Ensure that casework is managed in a timely, appropriate and compliant manner.
• Undertaking a personal caseload, including complex cases.
• Ensure all cases are handled in a timely manner - compliantly, effectively and ensuring quality standards are adhered to.
• Develop and maintain legal information products.
• Providing reports to the Director Group and Trustees where required on service performance, legal trends and key performance indicators.
• Use any common occurring problems that arise from the casework to feed into developing further research work into the area of health and social care.

4. Policy and Advocacy

• Utilise insights and data gathered from casework to identify systematic issues/updates and contribute to Cerebra’s policy and advocacy strategies.
• Collaboration and supporting the Senior Research, Policy and Influencing Manager to ensure insights and data trends identified from casework are appropriately actioned and communicated.
• Use knowledge, experience and legislative updates to influence wider policy changes.

5. General

• Monitor and evaluate the impact of the Legal Rights Team.
• Build and develop relationships with similar charities/organisations.
• Analyse trends in the area of health and social care law that can feed into future research projects.
• Develop and deliver Cerebra’s legal rights strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational goals and research priorities.
• Support collaboration across the different Cerebra teams.
• Experience using Client Relationship Management (CRM) systems or similar digital tools for recording and tracking work.
• Uphold Cerebra’s Data Protection Policy and all relevant confidentiality and safeguarding policies.
• Carry out any other reasonable duties in line with the needs of the team and organisation.

Please see attached job description for person specification.

Job Title - Head of Legal Aid and Billing

Contract - Permanent

Hours - Part Time, 28 hours per week (0.8 FTE) with some flexibility around working hours

Salary Range - £38,400 to £46,400 per annum (£48,000 to £58,000 FTE)

Location - London office - Coram Campus, 41 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ

About Coram

Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.

One of the twelve members of the Coram group, Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) is the UK’s specialist centre for children’s rights in education, immigration, community care and family law, and provides significant international legal systems consultancy. The centre is located on the Coram Campus in central London with a base in Colchester. We champion access to justice through information and advice, legal practice and representation, policy and strategic litigation. Our Legal Practice Unit provides advice and representation primarily under legal aid contract. Our Policy and Practice Change team promotes practice change through training and capacity building to professionals and secures systems change through research, policy and advocacy.

About the role

This role will provide leadership and management for CCLC particularly focused on the Legal Practice Unit’s legal aid billing operations. Through systematic and efficient management, the post-holder will play a pivotal role in CCLC’s financial and operational sustainability. The role will be accountable for maximising the unit’s legal aid billing in controlled work, certificated work and inter partes costs and will hold responsibility for the unit’s billing systems. It will also be responsible for private fees billing. The post-holder will oversee the smooth running of legal aid billing including through line management of the billing team. The post-holder will work very closely with legal, operations and administrative staff. The role will act as a key point of contact for a range of internal and external stakeholders including Coram’s central finance team who will support the role with grant fund management and overall accounting functions for CCLC. The post-holder will support the Managing Director of Legal Practice and Children’s Rights and department heads in the successful maintenance of our relationship with the Legal Aid Agency. Where appropriate they will be deputising for the Managing Director on legal aid and financial matters.

The role would suit a highly organised and efficient legal, or a finance or billing professional with solid experience of legal practice and a deep understanding of the challenges of legal aid. Whilst candidates with direct experience of legal billing (and more specifically civil legal aid billing) are welcomed, we recognise that this is a highly specialised and niche field. As such, this role could suit a highly experienced solicitor who appreciates the important role developing sustainable businesses plays in ensuring access to justice and who therefore wishes to move into practice and financial management. They will need an aptitude for processing large amounts of data, developing and managing spreadsheets and improving organisational systems. However, they will be well supported through training, an enthusiastic and competent junior billing team, the central finance team and an outsourced legal cashiering company, as well as a friendly and collaborative management team including the Managing Director and the Heads of Education Law, Community Care Law and Immigration and Asylum Law.

This is a largely office-based role in order to fully provide support to the billing team. However, some remote / hybrid working may be possible depending the experience of the candidate after the initial settling in period and there will be flexibility over how the four days will be spread across the week (within working hours). The team are mostly based in the London office and with one billing team member in Colchester so the post holder may require some occasional travel.   

To apply for this role, please click on the 'apply now' button below to complete the application.

Closing date: Wednesday 29th April 2026 at 23.59pm

Test and Interview date: W/C Tuesday 5th May 2026

Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we believe a diverse workforce enables us to improve the services to the children and families we help. We are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from all sections of the community we seek to support. This includes those from global majority ethnic backgrounds, those that identify as LGBQT+, those with disabilities, those with lived experience of care, those with neuro-diversity, and those from other groups who are underrepresented at Coram.

If applicants feel comfortable, we would encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Registered Charity No. 312278.

Job Title: Legal Project Officer

Organisation: Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA)

Duration: Four years 

Location: Hybrid / London (our anchor day is in London on a Tuesday, and there are often evening meetings in London, with occasional other travel within the UK) 

Reports to: Legal Officer and Director of Strategic Litigation and Advice

Annual leave: 25 days per annum, plus bank holidays and the week between Christmas and New Year off. 

Salary: £31,000 to £33,000 per annum starting salary, depending on skills and experience, NB. pension is 5% of salary

Working Hours: 35 hours per week, plus 1 hour lunch break (NB. evening working is required to attend any scheduled evening meetings, which ordinarily finish no later than 7pm). 

Application deadline: 11:30pm on Saturday 25 April 2026

Interviews are anticipated to be held on 14 and 15 May 2026. Shortlisted candidates will be notified by Friday, 1 May 2026..

Applications from individuals only – no agencies. Please do not use artificial intelligence in completing your application form.

Please submit a completed ILPA application form and equalities monitoring form as a Word document or in another editable format. If an application is not submitted in this format, it will not be considered. 

About the Role

The Legal Project Officer coordinates two projects which sit at the heart of ILPA’s legal policy and strategic legal coordination work.

The Legal Project Officer will work closely with the Legal Team (Legal Director and Legal Officer) to run ILPA’s Working Groups and with the Director of Strategic Litigation and Advice in a key role to coordinate strategic legal advice and litigation. The Legal Project Officer also works closely with the rest of the ILPA Secretariat, including the Chief Executive, Content and Digital Channels Manager, Training Manager, and with Trustees, ILPA and SLAC members, the SLAC Steering Committee and convenors of ILPA’s Working Groups.

You will support the organisation and running of ILPA’s thematic Working Groups, which provide a valuable forum for ILPA members to share best practice and discuss issues of current importance, assisting with agenda-setting, presenting updates, following-up on action points, answering queries, and preparing meeting summaries. The overall aim of these activities is to improve immigration, asylum and nationality law, policy and practice. 

You will work with the Director of Strategic Litigation and Advice to develop partnerships with NGOs and legal professionals around the UK and to coordinate all Strategic Legal Advice Committee (SLAC) meetings. These meetings will be held online, across the UK. Each SLAC group will hold four meetings per year as well as emergency meetings where necessary. You will be responsible for the minute taking of all SLAC meetings. You will work with the Director of Strategic Litigation and Advice to set member-led meeting agendas, identify member training needs, facilitate training, update the SLAC website, and feed in to monitoring and evaluation of the project. You will be responsible for coordinating SLAC Steering Committee meetings.

About you

The position would suit a self-motivated individual who is passionate about the sector and is looking to further their career in the immigration world, through coordinating and organising these two projects at ILPA.

You may be keen to be working at the heart of the systemic changes following Brexit, recent significant legislation, including the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, Illegal Migration Act 2023, Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act 2024, Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025, and government initiatives to “reduce net migration” such as the increased Minimum Income Requirement for family visas, the suspension of the refugee family reunion route, and earned settlement and family returns proposals. 

You will have an interest in strategic litigation and how it can be used to protect and promote the rights of those discriminated against on the basis of their migration status. You will be passionate about being involved in the coordination of a unique and exciting project that brings the third and legal sectors together in developing strategic litigation. 

Given the complexity of immigration, asylum and nationality law, we do not expect applicants to have expertise in every area, but an understanding of the law and excellent critical analysis skills are key. Any successful applicant will be able to attend ILPA training to further their knowledge.

Main responsibilities

1. To liaise, work with, and gather evidence from ILPA and SLAC members to support advocacy and knowledge-sharing in the sector;

2. To coordinate and contribute to internal and external meetings;

3. To coordinate ILPA’s thematic working groups and SLAC meetings, including by attending evening meetings, agenda-setting, participating, drafting minutes/meeting summaries, and working with the Secretariat, ILPA’s thematic Working Group co-convenors, and SLAC’s Steering Committees to take forward agreed actions;

4. To handle queries relevant to ILPA’s thematic Working Groups and SLAC sent by members and others where appropriate, such as by forwarding these on to relevant individuals and drafting responses;

5. To manage SLAC’s Steering Committees;

6. To monitor, organise, and disseminate information, communications, and updates, which will often relate to law, policy, and litigation relevant to SLAC and ILPA’s thematic Working Groups

7. To assist with facilitating SLAC training events, and feed into the monitoring and evaluation.

Person Specification

Essential knowledge, experience, skills, and qualities:

1. A law degree, postgraduate qualification in law, or other relevant qualification in law; 

2. Experience of working in or with immigration, asylum and nationality law in the UK, such as in a caseworker or paralegal role;

3. Experience of building and managing effective professional relationships with a range of people, with demonstrable ability to communicate effectively in challenging situations;

4. Relevant legal knowledge, skills and judgment, including:

   1. an ability to navigate and understand the Immigration Rules and Government guidance,

   2. a general understanding of UKVI processes, and

   3. an ability to clearly communicate legal and technical information orally and in writing;

5. Excellent attention to detail;

6. Excellent planning, coordination, organisational, time management, strategic problem-solving and independent working skills, including:

   1. an ability to take a proactive approach to independent working, 

   2. managing workstreams effectively, 

   3. confidently taking responsibility for tasks and decisions, 

   4. meeting tight deadlines, and 

   5. taking a calm and diligent approach to problem solving;

7. Commitment to the principles of a non-racist, non-sexist, just, and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law; 

8. Commitment to the principles of equality, diversity, and inclusion, and taking a proactive approach to espousing these principles; and

9. Commitment to be a champion of ILPA by positively encouraging your team, identifying and encouraging opportunities for growth, and celebrating success.

About the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association

The Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association (ILPA) is a charity and a professional association the majority of whose members are barristers, solicitors, advocates and IAA (previously OISC) regulated advisers practising in all aspects of immigration, asylum and nationality law. Academics, non-governmental organisations and individuals with a substantial interest in the law are also members.

Founded in 1984 by leading practitioners in the field, ILPA exists to promote and improve advice and representation in immigration, asylum and nationality law, through an extensive programme of training and disseminating information and by providing research and opinion that draw on the experiences of members. ILPA is represented on numerous government, official and non-governmental advisory groups and regularly provides evidence to parliamentary and official inquiries.

The Secretariat does not give advice to members of the public on individual cases but works closely with members to ensure that they are enabled to do their best for their clients. It runs ILPA’s busy training programme and produces a wide range of information for members and non-members.

The objectives of ILPA are:

• To promote the advising and representation of immigrants;

• To provide information to members and others on domestic and European immigration, asylum and nationality law; and

• To secure a non-racist, non-sexist, just and equitable system of immigration, asylum and nationality law practice.

ILPA is an equal opportunities employer. We acknowledge that the legal and charitable sector can be less accessible to people from minoritised or racialised communities and people from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds. We are committed to unsettling the status quo. In this role you will wear many hats and we recognise that the successful candidate may not have all the skills and experience listed in the personal specification. We welcome an application from you if you can see yourself in this role and have an appetite to gain new skills, knowledge, and experience. We encourage applications from individuals who have lived experience of the UK immigration or asylum system or of the hostile environment.

We also encourage applications from people who have previously unsuccessfully applied for roles at ILPA. We will consider each application afresh. We appreciate that individuals are always learning, growing, and adding to their knowledge and experience.

About the ILPA Team 

You would be joining a small team, of around 10 team members. Under our current hybrid work policy, we have one anchor day (currently a Tuesday), in which you will be expected to work from an office setting in London, together with team members living in England and Scotland. On average, once a month, there will be a Working Group meeting in the evening that you will need to run in London. The rest of the time you will ordinarily work remotely or wherever conferences, training events, or meetings might take place. 

Job Title - Senior Billing Officer and Coordinator

Contract - Permanent

Hours - Part time 0.6 FTE (21 hours per week) or 0.8 FTE (28 hours per week) with some flexibility around working hours

Salary Range - £30,000 to 40,000 FTE pro rata (£18,800 to £24,000 for 0.6FTE and £24,000 to £32,000 for 0.8FTE)

Location - London office - Coram Campus, 41 Brunswick Square, London WC1N 1AZ

About Coram

Coram is the UK’s oldest children’s charity founded by Thomas Coram in London helping vulnerable children and young people since 1739. Today, the Coram group helps more than one million children, young people, families and professionals every year by providing access to the skills and opportunities they need to thrive.

One of the nine members of the Coram group, Coram Children’s Legal Centre (CCLC) is the UK’s specialist centre for children’s rights in education, immigration, community care and family law, and provides significant international legal systems consultancy. The centre is located on the Coram Campus in central London with a base in Colchester. We champion access to justice through information and advice, legal practice and representation, policy and strategic litigation. Our Legal Practice Unit provides advice and representation primarily under legal aid contract. Our Policy and Practice Change team promotes practice change through training and capacity building to professionals and secures systems change through research, policy and advocacy.

About the role

This role will coordinate, oversee and supervise the Legal Practice Unit’s legal aid billing operations. Through systematic and efficient management, the post-holder will play an important role in CCLC’s financial and operational sustainability. Working with the Managing Director of Legal Practice, the Heads of Department and Coram’s central finance team, the key objective of the role is to help maximise the unit’s legal aid billing in controlled work, certificated work and inter partes costs. It will also oversee private fees billing. The post-holder will oversee the smooth running of legal aid billing. In this role, the post-holder will work very closely with legal, operations and administrative staff. The role will act as a key point of contact for a range of internal and external stakeholders including Coram’s central finance team who will support the role with grant fund management and overall accounting functions for CCLC. The post-holder will support the Managing Director of Legal Practice and Children’s Rights and department heads in the successful maintenance of our relationship with the Legal Aid Agency.

The role would suit a legal aid billing professional with significant direct hands on experience of a range of types of civil legal aid billing (including controlled and certificated work) and an understanding of the challenges of legal aid. The ideal candidate will have experience of supervising the work of others but support and training will be provided. We are looking for someone who is interested in developing into management, is a proactive problem solver, is highly organised and able to maintain oversight over different workstreams ensuring progress. In addition to legal aid experience, they will need an aptitude for processing large amounts of data, developing and managing spreadsheets and improving organisational systems. They will be well supported through training, an enthusiastic and competent junior billing team, the central finance team and an outsourced legal cashiering company, as well as a friendly and collaborative management team including the Managing Director and the Heads of practice areas.

This is a largely office-based role in order to fully provide support to the billing team. However, some remote / hybrid working may be possible depending the experience of the candidate after the initial settling in period and there will be flexibility over how the working hours days will be spread across the week (within working hours). The team are mostly based in the London office and with one billing team member in Colchester so the postholder may require some occasional travel.

For further information on CCLC please visit our website.

To apply for this role, please click on the 'apply now' button below to complete the application.

Closing date: Monday 4th May 2026 at 5pm

Test and Interview date: Week commencing Monday 11th May 2026

Coram is an equal opportunities employer and we believe a diverse workforce enables us to improve the services to the children and families we help. We are genuinely committed to encouraging candidates from all sections of the community we seek to support. This includes those from global majority ethnic backgrounds, those that identify as LGBQT+, those with disabilities, those with lived experience of care, those with neuro-diversity, and those from other groups who are underrepresented at Coram.

If applicants feel comfortable, we would encourage them to draw on lived experience as well as professional experience in their personal statement as part of their application.

We are committed to the safeguarding of children and where appropriate will require the successful applicant to undertake a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Registered Charity No. 312278.

The Role

What we're looking for

Essential criteria:

• Excellent project management, communication, presentation skills, report writing and drafting skills
• High level of initiative, problem solving and decision-making skills
• Excellent organisation skills and attention to detail
• Excellent ability to build, develop and maintain working relationships with other team members and with senior internal and external stakeholders
• Excellent analytical, computer and database skills

Please see the job description for more details.

What's in it for you

We are looking for a training and conference lead who will design and implement our training and
conference programmes. You will work with community organisations to understand their legal
needs and tailor the training to give advisers the tools they need to help their communities. You will
work with lawyers and legal advisers to develop resources and training that are practical, holistic and
comprehensive and delivered through a range of online and in person methods.
You will be passionate and enthusiastic about access to justice with a training and development
background. You will lead on the development of a new range of resources for the wider access to
justice community with a focus on housing issues. You will also work closely with other staff to reimagine
and represent existing content in new ways. As LAG is at the heart of the social justice
lawyering community, the successful candidate will work closely with our partner organisations

The Work Rights Centre is looking for a motivated solicitor or barrister to contribute to our growing employment rights programme by providing expert legal advice and casework, and supporting the wider development of the charity and our strategic goals.

This is an ideal opportunity for a candidate with a strong sense of justice, who values impact, teamwork, and the autonomy of working in a diverse and agile team. We can accommodate part-time, flexible and remote work, and offer 28 days of annual leave in addition to a winter holiday break.

The role

You’ll provide excellent employment legal advice, and support the Head of Employment in supervising our two senior legal advisers. You’ll also use your expertise to create accessible public-facing legal information, deliver impactful training to both advisers and employers, and collaborate with colleagues in the policy team. This is a real opportunity to support vulnerable workers' claims, while contributing to systemic change.

About you

We seek a qualified solicitor or barrister who shares our commitment to employment justice, and who has:

● Two years+ of experience practising employment law in the UK;

● Excellent analytical skills with ability to conduct legal research

● Excellent case management skills

● Excellent client management skills, including courtesy, professionalism, an ability to set realistic expectations and keep the client informed of case progress;

● Experience in developing and delivering training or professional development materials - desirable

● Knowledge of, and empathy with, the backgrounds and experiences of migrants and other vulnerable workers.

To apply pease download the job description for full responsibilities and complete person specifications. Please send your CV and Cover Letter by Sunday, 19th April 2026and don’t hesitate to reach out with any queries about this opportunity.

This is an exciting opportunity to lead CPAG’s strategic legal work at an important time in the organisation’s fight to end child poverty. As Head of Strategic Litigation, you will oversee and carry out CPAG’s work using legal cases for positive impact, to benefit families and children in poverty. You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction of CPAG’s legal work, in addition to managing CPAG’s legal practice and playing an active role in conducting high-profile litigation on a day-to-day basis.

We are looking for someone who is strategically minded and passionate about using the law to advocate for the rights of, and directly improve the lives of, families in poverty. The ideal candidate will be a solicitor (E&W qualified) with substantial post-qualification experience. You will have experience of conducting public law litigation and legal aid (publicly funded) work. You will be able to supervise the casework of colleagues, such as CPAG’s junior or trainee solicitor(s) and welfare benefit advisers, and support the professional development and wellbeing of your team. You may have experience of working with clients in vulnerable situations or with additional needs, for example, survivors of domestic abuse, refugees, disabled people or children and young people.

We welcome applications from individuals with the skills and experience outlined and we can be flexible about working arrangements. We operate a hybrid working system and would be happy to discuss any flexibilities required. CPAG is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion which you can read more about in the job pack. 

For more information about this post and to apply download the Head of Strategic Litigation job pack and application form. 

If you have questions or need specific arrangements or reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process please contact us.

To apply, please return to us the application form, taking particular care to provide full details of how you meet the person specification. 

Closing date for applications: 11.59pm, Wednesday, 15 April 2026

Interviews will be held at our London office: w/c 27 April 2026

We are a national charity that matches people who need free legal help with barristers who are willing to donate their time and expertise for those who cannot obtain legal aid and cannot afford to pay. We believe that fair and equal access to justice is the foundation of our society, and the quality of your legal representation shouldn’t depend on the depth of your pockets, but the merits of your case.

We are the only pro bono charity to provide access to legal assistance in all areas of law, in all courts and tribunals across England and Wales. We exist because committed barristers care about access to justice for everyone. We have been facilitating free legal help since 1996 and have grown into a thriving organisation, working with almost 4,500 volunteer barristers. Our staff team comprises 23 staff and we have 13 trustees on our Board, which is chaired by Sharif Shivji KC.

Qualifications

Experience of Court processes or a law qualification.

Job description

Management of Casework Function

· Manage the day-to-day delivery of the casework service, ensuring cases are progressed efficiently and to a high standard.

· Directly line-manage the casework team, providing supervision, guidance, and support.

· Lead on induction, training, and ongoing development of caseworkers with the support of the Head of Operations.

· Oversee case allocation and workload management to ensure fair distribution and timely progression of cases.

· Provide advice and support on complex or sensitive cases and assist the team in resolving challenging situations.

Performance and Quality Management

· Oversee the production of casework statistics and reporting.

· Together with the Director of Casework, track and analyse casework metrics to assess performance against agreed casework KPIs to identify areas for improvement.

· Monitor the quality and consistency of casework decisions and outputs.

· Support the Director of Casework in responding to and resolving complaints.

Service Development

· Monitor workflow and identify opportunities to improve systems, processes, and service delivery.

· Support the implementation of new processes, systems, and digital tools as relevant to the Casework function introduced by the Organisation.

· Contribute to the development of best practice and consistent standards across the casework team.

Stakeholder Engagement

· Reporting to the Director of Casework, and working in collaboration with the Engagement Manager, grow Advocate’s  reach through regional expansion strategies

· Support the Casework team to develop and embed streamlined referral pathways with frontline legal advice agencies

· Support the delivery of external stakeholder engagement strategies led by the Director of Casework.

· Maintain relationships with the Bar through casework and relevant events

General

· Undertake any other duties as reasonably requested by the Director of Casework or CEO.

​

Purpose

Our Immigration Team works closely with Birmingham City University (BCU) to run the Immigration Law Student Clinic, a key source of free accredited immigration advice for people in Birmingham who cannot afford legal support.

The role involves supervising students as they research and prepare legal advice, coordinating day‑to‑day clinic activity, and supporting casework within CELC’s immigration team. You will recruit, train, and mentor students, ensuring they have an excellent student experience and helping them develop practical legal skills while ensuring clients receive an excellent service.

Responsibilities

Working closely with Birmingham City University the Law Clinic Supervisor will:

• Recruit and select students for involvement in the clinic
• Undertaking inductions with new students, in line with the Law Centre's Clinic practices ,including training on CELC systems and processes
• Develop and maintain student training manuals, policies, template letters, referral forms etc.
• Assess client cases prior to allocation to students
• Manage overall clinic calendar, allocating client cases to students
• Supervise all elements of student work, providing guidance to ensure accuracy and quality of research undertaken and advice provided
• Maintain accurate records of student inductions and supervisions
• Sign-off and submittance of applications
• Advise students to access other CELC teams for legal guidance where necessary e.g. family law, employment, housing etc.
• Create a positive and nurturing environment for students to learn practical casework skills  
• Monitor and report performance of the clinic to CELC and Birmingham City University
• Work positively with the Law Centre’s Clinic Lead and the other clinic leads in delivering the overall partnership and wider clinical legal education

· Ensure that the Clinic is run in line with the Team’s priorities and the strategy and priorities of the Law Centre

• Undertake professional development to ensure legal expertise is current and up to date

The Law Clinic Supervisor will also:

• Demonstrate their commitment to the aims and principles of CELC
• Abide by policies and procedures as set out in the Office Manual and Staff Handbook
• Attend Immigration and all CELC team meetings and away days
• Contribute towards the effective daily running of CELC
• Undertake any other task reasonably required within the context of the post

Person Specification

Essential

• A non-judgmental attitude and commitment to social justice and the aims of CELC

• One or more of the following professional qualifications: IAA registration at L2 or above, qualified solicitor, qualified barrister, Senior caseworker accreditation with the Law Society Immigration and Asylum Accreditation Scheme.

• Experience in the delivery of legal support to clients
• Experience in supervising and developing others
• Excellent organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple tasks and

provide realistic timescales for completion

• Ability to work sympathetically and effectively with a wide variety of individuals i.e. clients, students, and stakeholders
• Ability to work well with others, be polite under pressure and to work as part of a team
• Self-motivated - able to work independently and on own initiative
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• An understanding of the importance of confidentiality
• Experience of using IT systems including Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook

Desirable

• Experience of designing delivery of training to individuals and groups
• Experience of working with students
• Experience of working with the public and in a busy and demanding environment
• Experience of using a case management system
• Experience of using Microsoft Teams and SharePoint  

Location: Blackburn, covering our Lancashire service – This can be a hybrid role based on service demands

Salary: Grade 5 - £37,739 or Grade 6 - £43,338 per annum depending on experience

Hours: Full time - 35 per week

Contract: Permanent 

Closing date: Wednesday 15th April 2026 at 11.30 pm

Join Shelter as a Housing Solicitor, in our mission to drive systemic change and fight for Justice.

If you are a dedicated Solicitor with a strong commitment to addressing the housing crisis we welcome you to apply for this role.

At a time when the housing emergency continues to deepen, your experience could help transform lives and challenge the systems that perpetuate injustice. Come and play a central role in our mission as a Solicitor to defend the right to a safe, and secure home.

Working with Shelter means being part of a passionate team that believes a safe home is a fundamental right. Here, your legal skills don’t just change lives—they shape a fairer housing system.

About the role

You will ensure you deliver high quality legal services through casework and ensuring Legal aid contract requirements and performance targets are met.

You will be able to identify test case opportunities to address systemic bad practice and so achieve change for a greater number of people and will work closely with the Managing Solicitor and the Hub.

About You

In this role, you will:

• Be a qualified Solicitor - we are open to newly qualified candidates with a demonstrable interest in social justice, as well as those who have 3+ years PQE and a strong track record in housing law and Legal Aid work
• Deliver high-quality legal advice and representation under our work as part of the Housing Loss Prevention Service, which provides free legal advice and court representation to anyone at risk of losing their home.
• Challenge unfair housing practices and systemic causes of homelessness through strategic casework and litigation
• Work closely with our London team to strengthen housing rights awareness across London
• Support Trainee Solicitors and Legal Advisers, ensuring high professional standards and compliance.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

 About The Team

Our legal Teams (Managing Solicitors, Solicitors, Legal Advisors and Trainees) are based throughout the England hubs, we are currently based in London, Plymouth, Bristol, Norwich, Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Sheffield and Newcastle.

Our teams are enthusiastic, driven and champions for fighting the housing injustice.  Our teams whilst generating an income also address the housing crisis.

The Lancashire Hub has 25 staff and you will be a key member of the team defending the right to a safe home. Each of Shelter’s hubs has its own local priorities based on the issues our clients have. For Lancashire these are Homelessness and temporary accommodation, the private rented sector and social housing and people living in poverty.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

How to Apply

Please submit your CV with a supporting statement with responses to the 'About You' points 1-7 outlined in the job description of no more than 1000 words. Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate how you address the behaviour below throughout your responses:

• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive and open mindset

Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Recruitment Agencies

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Paralegal

Salary: Grade 2 - £28,639 per annum 

Location: Birmingham 

Contract: Permanent

Full time – 35 hours per week

Closing date:  Tuesday 14th April 2026 at 11.30 pm

Please note this role is being advertised as a Paralegal but on appointment the job title will be Legal Adviser.

We are looking for an enthusiastic individual with legal experience to join Shelter as a Paralegal/ Legal Adviser and help us deliver an effective service for people experiencing housing issues in Birmingham. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key part in standing up to the housing emergency.

About the Role

You will support our solicitors to maintain an active caseload, enabling our clients to enforce their housing rights while ensuring a high standard of client care. Your role will be varied and will include taking instructions and witness statements, drafting letters, making applications, providing court representation and making sure time recording income targets and professional and quality standards are met. You will work closely with the team in Birmingham Hub to continuously improve and integrate our services.

About you

You will need a good understanding of Civil Procedure Rules, be able to write reports and meet financial targets, as well as being able to provide a good standard of professional service and client care. You will have excellent communication skills, both in writing/drafting and face-to-face along with proficiency using case management systems and time recording. If you have housing law experience and Legal Aid/ CCMS this would be an advantage but is not essential. You enjoy collaborating as part of a team and are able to encourage and support colleagues to meet Shelter’s strategy.

Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 30 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

About the Team

Our Legal team is based around England and is made up of over 100 people, delivering housing advice and litigation services for our clients. Working closely with other teams in Shelter Services, we take referrals from them including certified litigation work, controlled work and Housing Possession Court Duty Schemes.

In Birmingham Hub we specialise in providing housing advice and homelessness work, with a particular focus on families and people experiencing multiple disadvantage. We work in partnership with a range of organisations to improve the underlying systems that prevent people from living securely in suitable, safe, affordable accommodation.

About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet every day millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

How to apply

Please click ‘Apply for Job’ below. You are required to submit a CV and a supporting statement. Your supporting statement should include responses to the 'About You' points outlined in the Job Description of no more than 350 words each. Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate how you address the behaviour below throughout your responses:

• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive and open mindset

Any applications submitted without a supporting statement will not be considered. 

Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.

Location: covering Birmingham and Bristol Hubs, can be based in either 

Salary: Grade 7 - £49,488 per annum

Closing date: Monday 20th April 2026 at 11.30 pm

Full time - 35 hours per week  

Join Shelter as a Managing Housing Solicitor, in our mission to drive systemic change and fight for justice. 

If you are a dedicated Solicitor with specialist knowledge in housing and homelessness law, and a strong commitment to addressing the housing crisis we welcome you to apply for this role. 

At a time when the housing emergency continues to deepen, your experience could help transform lives and challenge the systems that perpetuate injustice. Come and play a central role in our mission as a Managing Solicitor to lead a team to defend the right to a safe and secure home. 

Working with Shelter means being part of a passionate team that believes a safe home is a fundamental right. Here, your legal skills don’t just change lives—they shape a fairer housing system.

About the role  

You will ensure you and your team will deliver high quality legal services and manage our Legal Aid Contract, with your main focus being on your own caseload and to manage and supervise the legal teams who are advocating for clients with housing issues, as well as bringing about systemic change. You will be dealing with personnel issues, providing professional support and supervision to your team, including but not limited to, independent file reviews (IFRs), time recording and good case management, as well as carrying your own caseload of housing litigation. 

Contributing to the strategic direction of Shelter legal services nationally will be an important aspect of the role too, as will taking the lead on delivering strategic change aligned to Shelter’s strategy and ensuring Legal aid contract requirements and performance targets are met. 

You will be able to identify test case opportunities to address systemic bad practice and so achieve change for a greater number of people and will work closely with the Head of Legal Services, the Hub Management Team and teams within Communications, Policy and Campaigns and Business Development. As a key member of the management team, you will also get to play your part in the management of our offices, including attending management team meetings and collaborating with other teams.

About you

1.        You will be an experienced housing solicitor, court advocate, carrying your own caseload as well as managing and supervising others.

2.       You will have a minimum of 4 years post qualification legal practice experience

3.       You will have supervisor status and have substantial knowledge of housing and homelessness law.

4.      You are able to carry out research and policy analysis in the areas of housing, homeless and welfare law, produce reports and presentations.

 Benefits

We offer a wide range of benefits, including 32 days of annual leave, enhanced family friendly policies, pension and interest free travel loans. Our employees also have access to a tenancy deposit loan, payroll giving, cycle to work scheme and an employee assistance programme.

 About the team

Our Legal Teams - Managing Solicitors, Solicitors, Legal Advisors and Trainees are based throughout the England hubs, we are currently based in London, Plymouth, Dorset, Bristol, Norwich, Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Sheffield and Newcastle.

Our teams are enthusiastic, driven and champions for fighting the housing injustice.  Our teams whilst generating an income also address the housing crisis.

 About Shelter

Home is a human right. It’s our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.

 We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.

 We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.

Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti-racist.

How to Apply
 
 Please click ‘Apply for Job’ below. You are required to submit your work history and a supporting statement. The supporting statement should include your responses to the points in the ‘About You’ section of the job description of no more than 1500 words in total. 

Please provide specific examples following the STAR format and ensure you demonstrate how you address the behaviours below in your responses:

• We prioritise diversity and have an inclusive and open mindset

Any applications submitted without a supporting statement will not be considered.

Safeguarding Statement

Safeguarding is everyone's business. Shelter is committed to protecting the health, wellbeing and human rights of those we support, and enabling them to live free from harm, abuse and neglect. All our staff will be expected to observe professional standards of behaviour and conduct their work in line with our Safeguarding Policies.

Recruitment Agencies

Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.