Head of Legal Services

Location: Hatton Garden, London, EC1N 8JS or Nottingham, NG9 1LA with travel to London required

Salary Banding: London £85,294 – £89,783; Nottingham £76,765 – £80,805

Contract: 12‑month fixed term interim role – 37.5 hr week – hybrid based with expectation to be office based 2‑3 days per week

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing is one of the UK’s leading providers of affordable housing and care and support services. We employ over 1900 people to manage and develop our large portfolio of nearly 60,000 homes and work with our customers across London, the East Midlands, and Southern and Eastern England.

We’re seeking an experienced Head of Legal Services to lead our passionate in‑house team, driving excellence in social housing law and contributing to our future approach on key issues and services. You will provide expert advice on complex housing and property matters, with a focus on tenancy and leasehold litigation, and the impact of new legislation in these areas. You’ll lead a team providing a high‑quality service on both routine ‘volume’ matters and more complex cases, ensuring high‑quality client care for your internal customers in our housing and property teams.

Most of the 15‑strong team are based at our offices in Farringdon, London, and regularly work together in person. You can also be based at our office in Beeston, Nottingham, but regular time in London will be needed, especially in the first few months.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high‑performing legal team.
• Provide strategic advice on housing litigation and property law.
• Deliver training and share legal expertise across the organisation.
• Ensure cost‑effective legal services and compliance with regulations.
• Deliver strong value for money across all aspects of legal work in your control and drive continuous improvement.

About You

• Qualified solicitor or barrister with 7+ years PQE.
• Strong experience in housing law, ideally in a housing provider or local government environment.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and drafting skills.
• Ability to manage change and work across a large, complex organisation.

Background Check
To meet our commitment to providing safe, high‑quality service we will complete a basic background check with the Disclosure and Barring Service once an offer of employment is made. As part of MTVH’s onboarding process, the cost will be paid for by the organisation and a new check performed every three years.

Visa Sponsorship
We do not currently offer visa sponsorship.

What’s in it for you?

• 28 days annual leave plus 8 bank holidays (pro rata for part time) per year.
• 2 volunteering days per year for community work.
• One ‘Beliefs day’ per year for an extra day off.
• Supported family‑friendly approach with extended parental leave.
• Enhanced pension with matched contributions of up to 9%.
• Option to buy or sell up to 5 days annual leave per year.
• Life assurance cover 3× salary.
• Cycle2Work scheme.
• Hybrid working, dependent on job role and department.
• Health cash plan scheme for everyday healthcare needs, which can include family members.
• Tenancy deposit – interest‑free loan to help with rental deposits and season ticket loan.
• Access to extensive learning and training opportunities via Wisebox platform.
• Colleague virtual social platform with workplace pages for organisational activity.
• Career progression across the organisation with mentoring/coaching programmes, apprenticeships and career planning support.
• Employee Assistance Programme – we are committed to the wellbeing of our colleagues and support this as an organisation.

About Us

We are committed to developing and implementing sustainability initiatives to reduce environmental impact and promote sustainable practices within MTVH.

We want every employee and every customer to feel comfortable being their true selves and are working tirelessly to create an environment that encourages challenging non‑inclusive behaviours and promotes wellbeing. We provide network groups for employees to share views and recommend improvements: Gender, Ethnicity, LGBTQ+, Disability.

We are a people‑focused business with core values of Dare, Care and Collaborate. We are a disability‑confident employer and are part of the Disability Confident Employer Scheme.

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if a suitable candidate is found, so we encourage you to apply promptly.

Equal Opportunity

Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and inclusion and welcome applications from all backgrounds.