Joining #TeamNELFT means you’ll become part of a welcoming and supportive working environment. We’re CQC rated Good, and we want you to join us on the journey towards an Outstanding rating. NELFT has sites across North East London, and Essex. We provide community and mental healthcare services to adults and children within these areas.
The Trust has award winning equality and diversity initiatives and staff health and wellbeing activities. We invest heavily in your development, because when you are valued and supported, we provide the best care to our patients. We are a Level 3 Disability Confident Leader, have been featured in the Working Families Top 10 Employers benchmark for five consecutive years, and we have achieved a Carers UK Level 1 Accreditation. Along with our staff networks and training opportunities, we work hard to embed a just and compassionate culture here at NELFT.
Find out more about NELFT careers and what makes our Trust a great place to work, in this video
Job overview
The Trust's legal services department is a fast paced, busy working environment, dealing with claims, inquest hearings, family court hearings and regulatory enquiries associated with all aspects of clinical and corporate services.
This role will provide the successful applicant the opportunity to apply their legal knowledge and experience within a diverse healthcare provider whose footprint covers Essex and North East London.
The purpose of the role is to assist in handling Inquests, claims and requests for general legal advice and support. The post holder will also be providing administrative support to the in-house Lawyers.
The successful candidate will have experience of managing their own work load independently.
Main duties of the job
The main duties of the role of a Senior Paralegal are set out within the job description attached to this advertisement.
Working for our organisation
Our Values 2025 - 2030
Working with our colleagues, patients and carers we have coproduced three new values that we aim to embed within our culture here at NELFT.
They are:
We are kind.
We are respectful.
We work together with our communities.
These three values help us to strive to provide the best care by the best people.
Probationary Period
This post will be subject to a probationary period. Internal applicants are exempt from the probationary period (unless you are an internal applicant currently part way through a probationary period or currently a bank member of staff).
High Cost Area Supplement – Fringe
This post also attracts payment for High Cost Area Supplement of 5% of the basic salary (with a minimum of £1,303 to a maximum of £2,198 per annum (pro rata for part time).
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the attached job description and person specification for more information about this role and working at North East London NHS Foundation Trust. We encourage you to refer to this when completing your application.
We welcome your application even if you do not meet all the criteria listed in the person specification. Please apply as soon as possible as some posts close early to limit the number of applications.
Certificates of Sponsorship
Although we are a registered sponsor organisation, we are unable to offer sponsorship for all job roles. Please check your eligibility under the UKVI points-based system. When calculating the basic salary for sponsorship, HCAS (High-Cost Area Supplement) is not included to ensure fairness and consistency within our Trust.
Use of AI
Please see attached document regarding acceptable use of AI during the recruitment process.
Person specification
Skills
Essential criteria
1. Effectively manage own workload
Qualifications
Essential criteria
2. Educated to Degree level or equivalent / equivalent experience
Experience
Essential criteria
3. Significant administrative experience in managing own workload and supporting others
4. Experience of writing formal correspondence
Desirable criteria
5. Administrative experience in legal and/or insurance claims, investigations, evidence gathering and court preparation work
Knowledge
Essential criteria
6. Knowledge in using Microsoft Office applications (Word, Outlook)
Desirable criteria
7. Understanding of Court Processes
Skills
Essential criteria
8. Ability to work to tight deadlines and effectively manage own workload
Benefits
We believe in bringing your authentic and best self to work, in order to deliver the best care to our patients. We are committed to supporting our employees holistically. Here is a snapshot of what is on offer at NELFT:
9. A long-standing and award-winning approach to equality and diversity with supportive networks for ethnic minority staff, staff with disabilities or long term/chronic conditions and LGBT staff.
10. A commitment to supporting colleagues to achieve a work life balance, through flexible working opportunities and our effortsto support our working parents and carers. This has resulted in us being recognised as a ‘Top 10 Family Friendly Employer’ from the Working Families Charity.
11. Proactive health and wellbeing support, including access to our employee assistance programme, staff psychological support, individual wellbeing conversations and a network of health and wellbeing ambassadors.
12. Detailed information about our wellbeing and benefits offer can be found in this link.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement whether that’s a job share, part time hours or another flexible pattern.