Refugee caseworker jobs in Birmingham

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