Senior legal advisor jobs in Bristol

Join Our Team: Principal Property Litigation Lawyer

We’re excited to welcome a new Principal Property Litigation Lawyer to join our Legal team.

Navigate your future and lock in your career as we keep our canals open and alive.

Working Hours & Location

This role follows 37 hours, Monday to Friday working pattern. The vacancy will be offered on a remote working basis, with a requirement to attend our main hub spaces as and when required. 

Role Overview

The Principal Property Litigation Lawyer leads the provision of legal advice and management of property-related disputes arising from the Trust’s operational and investment property portfolio.

Key Accountabilities:

• Main conduct of property law disputes across the Trust’s operational estate (e.g. title, trespass, boundary disputes, rights and easements, restrictive covenants, rights of support and claims for nuisance) with adjoining landowners, tenants and other stakeholders.
• Contributing to the management of legal risk on property law disputes arising in the context of the Trust’s engineering, estates, utilities and business boating activity.
• Assisting Senior Lawyers in providing strategic advice to Senior Managers and the Executive regarding litigation risk to the Trust’s  estate and assets in the context of the wider estate and asset management strategy and programme.
• Taking forward high value disputes (both as claimant and defendant) in relation to Trust asset and infrastructure responsibility, with other public and third sector infrastructure owners, in the context of retaining wall and embankments, bridges, harbour, flood defence, water resources, highways and reservoir responsibility.
• Supervision of Property Litigation Lawyer and Paralegal, close working with Trust Claims Manager and coordination of external legal support, including Counsel.
• Working with the Senior Litigation Lawyer on property litigation matters involving boating and mooring disputes.

About you

You are a qualified solicitor (or equivalent) with property litigation experience, able to lead complex, high-value disputes independently. Strong track record in managing legal risk, advising senior stakeholders, and collaborating with internal teams and external advisers, with a pragmatic approach and commitment to health and safety.

Skills & Qualifications

• Qualified solicitor (or equivalent) with a minimum of 10 years‘ property litigation law experience gained in private practice or in-house.
• Proven ability to take a lead on conducting a heavy caseload of major property litigation with minimal oversight.
• Experience of leading strategic discussions on legal risk at a senior level.
• Experience of supervision and coordination of legal and expert teams, including Counsel.
• Ability to build collaborative relationships across all levels and disciplines within the Trust and with external legal advisers and to participate effectively in meetings.
• Comply with Canal & River Trust Health & Safety policy and defined standards, report incidents, accidents and near misses. Assess the risks and make adjustments to work methods where appropriate. Ensure all equipment (PPE, plant, materials etc.) is appropriate for the task. 

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient suitable applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible. 

What We Offer

We offer an annual salary of £55,000. 

About the Giving Directorate and Net Zero Carbon Programme
The Church of England ministers to every community in England, and our mission and ministry is sustained and expanded through a culture of generous giving.

The Giving Directorate plays a vital role in equipping dioceses, parishes, and clergy with the tools and confidence to encourage generosity. Through strategic leadership, innovative resources, and collaborative partnerships, we aim to inspire giving that enables the Church to flourish in every community. We lead major funded projects that strengthen giving across the Church, ensuring that generosity is central to mission and ministry.

The Giving Directorate has four teams: Innovation & Insight (leading on innovations, the parish share project, data analysis and marketing); Parish Giving Scheme (giving mechanisms and technology); NZC Fundraising (including policy, philanthropy and gifts in wills) and Learning & Development (delivering training, mentoring, and equipping clergy and diocesan giving advisors, national and regional conferences, and developing online learning resources for parishes).
You will sit within the Net Zero Carbon Fundraising team which leads the strategy to coordinate and support the plans being developed by our dioceses, churches, cathedrals, schools, and departments to secure the significant additional funding needed to decarbonise the Church of England.

What you'll be doing
Legacies have historically played a transformative role for the Church of England - sustaining parish ministry, helping deliver the 30,000+ community projects run by parishes every year, conserving historic buildings and enabling important work for the future, including Net Zero Carbon projects. There is significant untapped potential for legacy giving to make an even bigger difference to our work, but awareness is uneven, and local church leaders often lack the training and resources to talk confidently about gifts in wills.

As the Gifts in Wills Manager, you will lead an ambitious new legacy programme to significantly expand the support and resources available for all parts of the Church of England to effectively encourage legacy giving. This will include creating new legacy giving resources that can be used by parishes, cathedrals and Dioceses as well as new training for local parish volunteers, clergy and senior leaders.

Gifts in wills have the potential for significantly enhancing the work of the church in caring for God's creation, being the culmination of a person's lifetime of commitment and care for the church and God's creation. The role will include specifically looking to develop NZC cases for support as a way to encourage gifts in wills, through linking the ongoing and perpetual care of God's creation with the long term impact of gifts in wills.
Through your work you will create a culture shift where legacy giving is demystified to become a natural part of Christian discipleship. The increased number and generosity of legacy gifts pledged and received will make a long-lasting impact on the financial ability of parishes, cathedrals, and dioceses to fund their ministry and social impact in the communities they serve.

Key Relationships: Head of Net Zero Carbon Fundraising, Deputy Director (Learning and Development), Regional Giving Advisors, Head of Resources & Insights, Diocesan Giving Advisors, NCIs Legal Team, Farewill, Christian Aid.

This is a fixed-term contract role for three years, and interviews will take place on 08 June 2026.

Community Fundraising Assistant - North 

Are you ready to take on a new challenge with a leading charity making a real difference in brain tumour research?

Brain Tumour Research is an exciting, innovative, and ambitious charity. We are passionate about finding a cure for brain tumours through the establishment of dedicated Brain Tumour Research Centres of Excellence around the UK.​

After a successful 2025, we’re building on our momentum and looking ahead with ambition. As our work continues to expand, so does our impact. We are now looking for passionate people to join us on the next stage of our journey!

It is a fantastic time to be joining us and we are keen to share this with likeminded and talented individuals. We currently have an opening for a Community Fundraising Assistant - North, to join our Community and Digital Fundraising team.

• Do you want to make a difference in one of the most innovative and exciting medical research fundraising charities in the UK?
• Are you able to provide friendly and professional support to fundraisers and supporters?   
• Do you have experience in supporting events or community activities?
• Do you live in either Scotland, North East England, North West England or the East Midlands? 

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Have you answered Yes to these questions?

Does this sound like the opportunity to really take the next step in your career?

Excited to learn more about this position? Then please take a read through our recruitment pack which is included within this advert.​​​

If you have the skills and ambition that we are looking for we are excited to receive your application.  We are really looking forward to welcoming a new member to our team!​

We are asking for a CV as the first step but applicants may be asked to provide a targeted covering letter as part of the selection process.  Interviews will be conducted during the application window as appropriate, and will consist of a first interview via MS Teams, progressing, if successful to a face to face second interview, held at our offices in Milton Keynes.

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We reserve the right to close the application window early and advise candidates to apply in good time to avoid disappointment.​

We are looking for people who share our passion for finding a cure for brain tumours and who have the skills and experience to make a difference. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds, cultures, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and ages. We believe that diversity enriches our organisation and helps us achieve our mission. We are committed to providing an inclusive and supportive environment where everyone can be themselves and contribute to our vision.

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