At a time when the housing emergency continues to deepen, your experience could help transform lives and challenge the systems that perpetuate injustice. Come and play a central role in our mission as Legal Manager to lead a team to defend the right to a safe and secure home.
Working with Shelter means being part of a passionate team that believes a safe home is a fundamental right. Here, your legal and leadership skills don't just change lives – they shape a fairer housing system.
About the role
You will ensure your team delivers high quality legal services. You will manage and supervise the legal teams advocating for clients with housing issues, using evidence from frontline casework to bring about systemic change through collaboration with colleagues in Policy and Campaigns, national policy influence, and strategic litigation. You will provide professional support to the team through supervision, mentoring, and ensuring they stay up to date with developments in housing, welfare and public law.
Shaping local plans and priorities to align with Shelter's wider strategy, overseeing financial and contract performance, best practice, audits and quality reviews will also be crucial aspects of the role, along with developing talent and succession planning across our national legal team.
You will lead by example and model Shelter's values throughout your work – inclusive, anti‑racist, collaborative and brave – and will work across the organisation to embed legal insight into our wider work.
Responsibilities
* Deliver high quality legal services and manage the legal team
* Advocate for clients with housing issues and use evidence for systemic change
* Supervise, mentor and keep the team updated on housing, welfare and public law
* Shape local plans and priorities aligned with Shelter’s strategy
* Oversee financial and contract performance, best practice, audits and quality reviews
* Develop talent and succession planning across the national legal team
* Model Shelter’s inclusive, anti‑racist, collaborative and brave values across the organisation
Qualifications
* Experienced solicitor in housing or public law, or equivalent expertise
* Strong leadership ability or potential, with knowledge of what makes a good legal service
* Ability to supervise or support colleagues, confident and equitable decision making
* Capacity to turn insight into action, spot trends, use evidence for change, and adapt appropriately
* Integrity, curiosity, and ability to keep others motivated through changes and challenges
Benefits
* 30 days of annual leave
* Enhanced family‑friendly policies
* Potential for flexible working
* Pension
* Interest‑free travel loans
* Tenancy deposit loan
* Payroll giving
* Cycle to work scheme
* Employee assistance programme
About the team
Our legal teams – Managing Solicitors, Solicitors, Legal Advisors and Trainees – are based throughout England hubs, currently in London, Plymouth, Dorset, Bristol, Norwich, Birmingham, Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire, Sheffield and Newcastle.
Our teams are enthusiastic, driven and champions for fighting housing injustice. They also generate an income while addressing the housing crisis.
About Shelter
Home is a human right. It's our foundation and where we thrive. Yet everyday millions of people are being devastated by the housing emergency.
We exist to defend the right to a safe home. Because home is everything.
We need ambitious, passionate people to join us. This is your chance to play a part in the fundamental change we are striving to achieve.
Our enemy is the social injustice at the core of the escalating housing emergency. To win this fight, we must be representative of the people we are here to help and those who support our movement. In all our people decisions, we take pride in being inclusive, equitable and transparent. We are committed to combating racism both within and outside Shelter. We welcome you on our journey to becoming truly anti‑racist.
Application
Shelter does not accept unsolicited CVs from external recruitment agencies nor accept the fees associated with them.
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