Chattertons Solicitors

A respected law firm in the UK is seeking a Head of Department for its Family law team. The role involves managing a busy caseload, training staff, and ensuring compliance while driving the team's growth. Ideal candidates are qualified solicitors or legal executives with strong interpersonal and management skills. The firm offers a range of benefits, promotes equality, and is committed to community engagement. A flexible working location is provided across its eight offices.

Operations Director - Stamford, Lincolnshire, UK We have an exciting opportunity for a dynamic individual to join our Senior Management Team as Operations Director. The successful candidate will be responsible for driving operational excellence across the firm and will develop and implement the firm's operational strategy to support sustainable growth, regulatory compliance, service quality, and financial performance. This role ensures that the firm's infrastructure, systems, processes, and people capabilities are aligned to deliver exceptional client service and support all our colleagues effectively. The successful candidate will work alongside and report directly to our CEO. We are looking for someone who is proactive, gets things done and is results driven. A key part of the role is performance management. Location: Stamford (with flexibility to be based at any of our offices) although the role will involve regular travel to all of our offices Reporting to: CEO (based in Stamford) Hours: 9am - 5.15pm Monday to Friday Salary: Dependent on experience Key Responsibilities Strategic Leadership Develop and deliver the firm's operational strategy in alignment with the overall business plan. Advise the CEO and Board on operational risk, capacity planning, and infrastructure investment. Lead firm-wide transformation initiatives including digitalisation, process improvement and systems implementation. Contribute to strategic planning, budgeting and performance management. Operational Management Oversee all non-legal operational functions including ICT, HR, Risk & Compliance, Marketing, Facilities, Front-of-House, Procurement and Administrative Support. Ensure operational processes are efficient, scalable and support profitable growth. Drive continuous improvement initiatives using data, KPIs and best practice benchmarks. Manage supplier relationships and negotiate key contracts to deliver value for money. Attend Departmental/Office Meetings as necessary. Take a lead role in ensuring the smooth integration of Mergers and Acquisitions. Financial & Performance Oversight Work closely with the Finance Manager to manage operational budgets and control costs. Establish measurable KPIs and service standards across business support functions. Improve utilisation of resources and operational leverage across the business. Build and maintain relationships with colleagues to ensure a high level of staff engagement and performance. Evaluate employee productivity and performance and recommend strategies for improvement. In particular, improve Fee Earner utilisation rates. Conduct quarterly Fee Earner Reviews and ensure that support reviews take place. Take the lead on ensuring we are best placed to improve our Legal 500 rankings each year and maintain our excellent client review ratings. Risk, Compliance & Governance and Health & Safety Ensure operational compliance with SRA and FCA regulations, LawNet/Lexcel/ISO standards and other relevant regulatory frameworks. Oversee business continuity planning, disaster recovery and crisis management protocols. Collaborate with our Risk & Compliance team to embed robust operational controls. Implement and maintain a calendar of key operational dates. Take on the role of Health & Safety Responsible Person. Technology & Innovation Lead the firm's technology roadmap in partnership with the ICT Manager. Champion legal tech adoption, automation and AI-enabled efficiencies. Play a key role in conjunction with our ICT Manager to implement and drive change in the use of AI within the business. Ensure data governance, cybersecurity resilience and information security standards are maintained. Foster a high-performance, service-oriented culture across the firm whilst ensuring our colleagues feel supported and that their wellbeing is a top priority. Drive change management initiatives and promote departmental collaboration. Support the recruitment of new colleagues as necessary. Deal with any staff issues and disciplinary matters. Deal with any team restructure requirements. Promote and represent the firm at external events. Client Experience Improve client onboarding processes and service consistency. Support pricing, matter management and workflow optimisation initiatives. Candidate Profile Senior operational leadership experience within a mid-to-large professional services firm (legal sector strongly preferred). Experience operating at senior or firmwide level. Demonstrable success delivering operational or digital transformation programmes. Strong financial and commercial acumen. A Mental Health First Aider (holding a Mental Health First Aider Certificate or be willing to undertake such training). Strong understanding of law firm economics, regulatory environment and law firm structures. Strategic thinker with hands on delivery capability. Ability to influence colleagues and speak with authority. Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to quickly establish and maintain good working relationships at all levels. Excellent communication skills both written and verbal. Strong analytical and data driven decision making capability. Outstanding leadership and communication skills. Able to work with diplomacy and assertiveness. High degree of competency in using Microsoft packages, Word, PowerPoint & Excel Discrete with the ability to maintain high levels of confidentiality. Flexible and must be willing / able to travel to all of our offices. Proactive and positive attitude. Reacts well under pressure and able to work to deadlines. High level of integrity and empathy. Team player. Sense of humour. Present a credible and business like approach. Thrives in a fast paced environment and enjoys implementing change. Gets things done and is results driven. Why work at Chattertons Founded in 1856, Chattertons is one of the UK's oldest and most respected law firms, proudly serving communities across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. As a Top 200 law firm, we offer a comprehensive range of legal and financial services to individuals and businesses, with particular expertise in commercial property, corporate law, dispute resolution, and agriculture. Our commitment to excellence is matched by our dedication to local engagement-many of our team members actively contribute to the community as trustees, governors, and business advocates. Benefits: Some of the great benefits that we offer include: Chattertons recognises that it is essential to provide equal opportunities to all persons without discrimination. The firm has an Equality and Diversity Policy and this sets out the firm's position on equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. This is available upon request. Please refer to ourprivacy policy for information regarding how your personal data is processed.

Head of Department - Family - Lincolnshire / Nottinghamshire, UK We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced Family lawyer to take a lead role and be Head of our Family law team. The candidate will be a qualified Solicitor or Chartered Legal Executive (with appropriate Practitioner Rights) who is interested in helping to shape the future direction of the team with a focus on growth and enhancing the firms reputation in this area. The successful candidate will be a confident, proactive and organised individual with experience across a broad range of Family matters. In addition to managing their own caseload, they will manage the Family Department across all offices. The department currently has 7 Fee Earners across our 8 offices. Location: Flexible across our 8 offices Salary: Dependent on Experience Key Responsibilities Management: Recruitment/interviewing. Ensuring all precedents are compliant and up to date. Review, implement and streamline processes and policies where necessary. Liaising with our HR Manager regarding any employee issues in the department. Facilitate the training of fee earners and where necessary work alongside the HR department to arrange external training, webinars etc. Manage the distribution of work for starters and leavers. Providing email and telephone support to fee earners at other offices. Ensuring all clients receive the best possible service and that members of the department provide correct and appropriate advice. Promote an inclusive culture within the Department. Compliance: Quarterly departmental meetings - with set agenda. Supervision of up to 3 individuals - reviews for new starters and technical reviews. Review all of the Family Teams supervision reviews. Attend 6 monthly Head of Department meetings. Review any high risk matters. Client Work: To generate new work and provide an ongoing service to existing clients; Develop and enhance the Family Department, maximising cross referrals across all offices and areas of the business; To produce fee income in line with targets and agreed objectives; To keep informed of all changes in the Law and Practice in own area of work Role Profile and Person Specification Maintain and enhance up to date legal skills. Financial control with particular regard to cash flow control through collection of monies on account and billing procedures. Maintaining accurate daily records of time spent on client and internal work. Perform fee earning work accurately, reliably and in accordance with the firms' quality and risk procedures. Marketing: Attending marketing events and encouraging marketing activities across the department. Liaising with Marketing Department re promotion and marketing of the department. Liaising with heads of other departments re cross referrals. Taking a lead role in compiling the Family Team Legal 500 submission each year. Person Specification: Qualifications Solicitor or Legal Executive (with appropriate Practitioner Rights). Previous experience of SOS Connect or a case management system. Knowledge Previous experience of managing a busy caseload. Commercial mind-set. Previous experience of managing a team. Skills Excellent interpersonal skills with ability to quickly establish and maintain good working relationships at all levels. Excellent communication skills both verbally and in writing. Able to work under pressure to tight deadlines. Attributes Professional. Positive and flexible approach. Team player. Sense of humour. Present a credible and business like approach. Why work at Chattertons Founded in 1856, Chattertons is one of the UK's oldest and most respected law firms, proudly serving communities across Lincolnshire and the East Midlands. As a Top 200 law firm, we offer a comprehensive range of legal and financial services to individuals and businesses, with particular expertise in commercial property, corporate law, dispute resolution, and agriculture. Our commitment to excellence is matched by our dedication to local engagement-many of our team members actively contribute to the community as trustees, governors, and business advocates. Benefits: Some of the great benefits that we offer include: Chattertons recognises that it is essential to provide equal opportunities to all persons without discrimination. The firm has an Equality and Diversity Policy and this sets out the firm's position on equal opportunity in all aspects of employment. This is available upon request. Please refer to our privacy policy for information regarding how your personal data is processed.