36504 - Flood & Planning Senior Managing Lawyer - Birmingham

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We are looking for an outstanding lawyer and leader to become our Flood & Planning Senior Managing Lawyer. You will lead the Environment Agency’s Flood & Planning legal team, delivering high-quality, highly efficient legal services that support the EA Corporate Strategy, EA Business Plan and Legal Strategy. You will provide timely, pragmatic and risk-based legal support on flood and coastal erosion risk management, planning and related public law matters. The team’s work includes legal advice on statutory powers and duties, policy and legislation, projects and operational delivery, regulation, enforcement, appeals, litigation and flood incidents.

You will set the team’s strategic direction, plan and prioritise its work, and manage people and financial resources to meet time, cost and quality targets. Working largely autonomously, you will lead on the most complex, sensitive and high-profile legal matters, drawing on your specialist expertise and that of the wider team. You will advise and influence senior clients, including Executive Managers and the Executive Directors Team, supporting sound, lawful and risk-based decision-making. You will lead client care as a trusted partner, build clients’ legal capability and maintain effective relationships with government lawyers, partner organisations, counsel and other external providers.

As a senior leader in Legal and Audit Services, you will role model EA guiding principles and leadership behaviours, recruit, develop and motivate colleagues, promote wellbeing and inclusion, and lead performance management and organisational change. You will lead agreed cross-cutting portfolios that contribute to the Legal Strategy and improve services across Legal Services, adapting the team’s work and supporting collaboration across teams as organisational needs change.

We are fully committed to having an inclusive workforce that reflects the communities we serve. We welcome flexible working patterns for all our vacancies, including job share, so please clearly state any preferences regarding your working arrangements in your application.

The team

The Flood & Planning team sits within Flood and Corporate Legal Services and supports the Environment Agency’s flood and coastal erosion risk management and planning functions. It is a nationally dispersed team delivering strategic and operational advice, including support for flood incidents. We value inclusive leadership, professional excellence, collaboration and practical, solution-focused advice.