Job Description

If this sounds like you then you could make a real difference to the West Sussex community and it's residents.



West Sussex County Council (WSCC) is a diverse organisation that provides services to more than 850,000 residents every day. We have a new opportunity for a Legal Clerk to join our Child Care Team in Legal Services.



Legal Services aims to give the best possible legal and insurance service to the Council. As an organisation we have a simple goal - to deliver the best possible services to the people of West Sussex. We do this through the people who work for us, so it's paramount to us to ensure that our employees are supported and valued.


The Opportunity

Salary:

26,403 to 26,824 per annum

Working Pattern:

Full time, 37 hours per week

Location:

Your office base will be County Hall, Chichester.

Interview date:

w/c 08 December 2025



As our Child Care Legal Clerk, you will provide a range of legal support duties to the Child Care Team in Legal Services.



Such duties include the organisation of case files, handling and preparing court related documents and court process management, processing of invoices, data entry, compiling reports and diary management. You will also be required to support lawyers in the team as required and directed by your line manager.



The job involves some direct responsibility for handling and processing legal information where concentration, care, accuracy and confidentiality are important. The role requires the successful post holder to prepare complex legal documents for distribution. There is a regular and intrinsic requirement to communicate in English with members of the public.


Experience & Skills

Experience & Skills

Our ideal Child Care Legal Clerk will possess the following:


Experience within an administrative role. Able to work flexibly to meet the demands of this fast-paced team. You will have relevant or organisational knowledge of systems, procedures and policies associated with operating an administrative service Excellent knowledge of IT and related systems / procedures. A strong team player. The ability to organise your own workload, taking initiative and prioritising work as required. Able to respond to unexpected situations, for example, responding to a change of court date at short notice.

In addition you will also be able to demonstrate the following key skills and experience:

Key Skills:

Excellent organisational skills to facilitate meeting set deadlines for preparing court bundles and serving court related papers.

Excellent keyboard skills in order to work with precision to accurately prepare court bundles and type complex letters.

Ability to communicate effectively with witnesses, solicitors, barristers and members of the public as required.

Good written communication skills to manage the preparation of court related papers and open and maintain case files.

Analytical and judgmental skills in order to effectively deal with arranging court cases, meetings and effectively handle case related calls from clients, courts and external parties.

Qualifications and/or experience:

4 GCSEs with A-C passes including Maths and English or equivalent qualification. Knowledge of procedures and practices associated with operating an administrative or legal clerk service. Good working knowledge of IT systems / procedures. Specific demonstrable experience in document drafting and word processing to a good level.

For more information on the Key Skills as well as the Qualifications and/or experience required, please refer to the attached.

Working for us


As well as adding real value to our service users and our communities, as an employer we recognise our employees are central in being able to achieve this. To recognise this we want to help support your development and provide a great place to work ensuring you can fulfil your full potential, have access to a range of benefits including:


an excellent

local government pension scheme

generous holiday entitlement of

25

days + bank holidays (plus opportunity to buy additional leave) a range of flexible working options, depending on your job role maternity, paternity, dependency and adoption leave volunteering opportunities training and development opportunities, including coaching and mentoring a range of discounts giving our staff access to hundreds of offers; groceries, travel, cinema tickets, days out, leisure activities, high street retailers and the opportunity to save over 1,000 a year through our West Sussex Choices benefits platform (see our

Staff discounts page

if you are a business looking to offer a discount) health and wellbeing benefits including access to our Employee Assistance Programme, Mental Health First Aiders and Voluntary Health Cash Plans




For a full list this can be found at our

Rewards and Benefits page.

Further information


The reference number for this role is

CRS00992

.



For an informal conversation or for further information regarding the role, please contact Ashley Hughes (Senior Solicitor), at

ashley.hughes@westsussex.gov.uk

. For issues or queries regarding your application please contact

hrrecruitment@westsussex.gov.uk

.

To apply, please follow the links below to upload your CV and Cover Letter. In your cover letter please outline your motivations for applying and explaining the skills and experience you can bring to the role (please refer to the key skills) ensuring that any gaps in employment are covered in your CV. Please ensure you have saved the job description attached to the main advert on our website as, once the job has closed, you may not have the opportunity to download again.

We are committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults. This post is subject to 3 years referencing and a health check.

Equity, inclusion and accessibility is very important to West Sussex County Council. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, as this helps us build a diverse and talented workforce, that reflects the communities we serve. We ensure our approach to recruitment is flexible and supportive to enable all applicants to be at their best and to ensure they have the best possible chance of success.



We operate a guaranteed interview scheme for applicants that have a disability, are a veteran or are a care leaver. More information can be found on our

application help

page.





CC



LOCATION

Chichester area

CONTRACT TYPE

Permanent

JOB TYPE

Legal and Democratic Services

CLOSING DATE

23 November 2025