Head of Casework
Salary £ 49000 - 52000
London N7
Vacancy listed 08/09/2025
Application deadline 25/09/2025
Details
Who we are

The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) is an independent charity established in 1967. For over 57 years, we have promoted our vision of a society in which people can live safely and are treated with equal dignity and respect, regardless of where they are from or how they came to the UK. To achieve this, we provide legal advice, representation and holistic support to migrants experiencing injustice, poverty, and discrimination; we undertake parliamentary advocacy and expert policy analysis; we speak out and challenge damaging and discriminatory media narratives about immigration; we use law as a tool of resistance;  we work in solidarity with migrants and grassroots groups, and we build campaigns that work towards a fairer approach in immigration and asylum law and policy. We root all aspects of our work in humanity, compassion, anti-oppression and anti-racist values, taking an approach that radically challenges the way that things are to build a new and better world for migrants.

JCWI’s Legal Team 

We are a small award-winning team of immigration and asylum lawyers, and a support worker. We seek to use the legal system to push for change while always keeping our clients at the heart of what we do. Our work is trauma informed. We focus on representing the most marginalised refugees and migrants. As well as casework, we provide outreach advice and support worker services. The legal team works closely with JCWI’s advocacy and campaigns teams, providing a unique multidisciplinary team. 

Role Purpose

This is a new role. The Legal Manager will be the second most senior member of the Legal Team, working collaboratively with the Legal Director. They combine high-quality immigration representation with departmental management responsibilities, including supervision of legal staff, safeguarding, compliance, and billing. Under the oversight and direction of the Legal Director, they take responsibility for the day-to-day running of the Legal Team, enabling the Legal Director to focus on strategic leadership.

This role is central to shaping the Legal Team’s approach, supporting professional development, ensuring we remain committed to radical lawyering, and that our work remains in keeping with JCWI values.

We will support a lawyer with the right values and aptitudes with training and support to develop into this more senior role. If you are excited by the role and meet some but not all the specifications, we would still like to hear from you and may be able to adjust the role to suit the right person. 

JCWI has a proud history of staff from racialised people and people with lived experience of the immigration system, and we strongly encourage applications from people with lived experience of the immigration system and are representative of the communities we work with.

Role description 

We are a learning organisation and responsibilities may evolve over time. The post holder will help shape this evolution and will remain flexible, contributing to tasks that increase the impact of our work.

Legal team and casework

  • Provide high-quality immigration legal advice and representation as a senior lawyer

  • Manage and provide supportive supervision of some legal team members and monitor    the quality of representation in accordance with regulatory obligations and JCWI values
  • Support Legal Director to manage recruitment to the legal team as needed

  • Manage day to day service delivery to ensure our helpline, legal advice and representation is always ​given in a spirit of solidarity, is ​ client-focused,  trauma informed and impactful
  • Chair weekly team meetings as required 

 Legal aid and grant income

  • ​​​​Work with billing and finance staff to support accurate and timely submission of legal aid bills maintaining accurate financial records; ensuring compliance with funder requirements

  •  Support the work of the Grants and Monitoring Manager in relevant fundraising applications 

  • Contribute to the wider fundraising of JCWI as needed

 Regulatory requirements​​

  • Support the Legal Director as the Legal Aid Agency’s point of contact, responsible for ensuring compliance with LAA requirements, managing preparation for LAA audits and peer reviews

  • Act as initial point of contact for the SRA, IAA and SQM 

  • Act as the initial handler of complaints received about provision of legal advice by JCWI

 Monitoring and Safeguarding 

  • Safeguarding: Acting as the team deputy safeguarding lead, being the first point of call for safeguarding issues, making a record of safeguarding incidents, preparing reports to the trustee board and promoting a culture of safeguarding across the team.

  • Reporting: With the Legal Director, prepare data and impact reports for the trustee board

External ​relationships ​ 
  • ​​​Contribute to the production and legal content of external publications, training and events​​ 
  • ​​​Represent JCWI in the media and externally, where appropriate
 
Person specification 
 
Essential
Values
  • Ensure JCWI’s work remains situated within a wider movement against racism and oppression, with a track record of standing in opposition to the government, and ready to protect and enhance JCWI’s reputation as an outsider voice
  • Support a culture of legal representation which uses law as a tool of resistance, committed to challenging the unlawful practices of the state at every level 
  • Show a commitment to provision of legal aid to all those in need of representation, proactively finding the merit in the toughest of cases 
 
Legal Expertise
  • Qualified solicitor, barrister, or IAAS Level 2 or 3 caseworker, if not yet accredited as a supervisor then willingness to sit the supervisor exam on 8 December 2025 and accredit within six months of appointment 
  • Strong experience in immigration and asylum, delivering high-quality advice and representation
  • Good understanding of professional and regulatory obligations (e.g. SRA, IAA, LAA)
 
Leadership & Teamwork
  • Experience of supervising colleagues and supporting their professional growth
  • Ability to coordinate team activities and chair meetings with confidence
  • Works well with senior leadership, providing support and helping to deliver strategic priorities
  • Flexible and adaptable when organisational needs change
 
Safeguarding & Compliance
  • Awareness of safeguarding responsibilities and willingness to act as Deputy Safeguarding Lead
  • Experience of ensuring high standards of quality and compliance in legal services
 
Organisation & Planning
  • Able to manage competing priorities and oversee day-to-day operations
 
Communication & Engagement
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills
  • Confident in building positive relationships with clients, colleagues, partners, and regulators
 
 Desirable
 
  • Lived experience of the UK immigration system
  • Holds supervisor accreditation under the IAAS scheme
  • Experience in the voluntary or not-for-profit sector
  • Understanding of grant-funded projects or fundraising processes
  • Familiarity with monitoring and evaluation in a legal or advice setting
  • Media experience or willingness to undertake training
 
The ideal candidate is:

  • Committed to legal aid as fundamental to access to justice
  • Recognises the value of legal representation when used as a tool of resistance
  • Committed to defending and furthering the rights of all people who move, and embodies wider anti-oppressive values and practices, including anti-racism, queer and trans liberation, gender justice, class solidarity, and the importance of an intersectional approach to social justice 
  • Possesses an understanding of the political landscape relating to migrant rights and racial justice 
  • A relationship-builder, able to support their team and the organisation by building and maintaining relationships, seeing value in the diversity of skills
  • Creative and innovative, and eager to encourage and support others’ creativity  
  • An excellent written and verbal communicator
      
     

How to apply
Please submit your CV and a covering letter (no longer than two A4 pages), outlining your suitability for the role as set out in the job description and how you meet the person specification, via our website.
 
Timeframes 

Submission of CV and covering letter| 11.30pm on Thursday 25 September 2025
First round interviews for prospective candidates| Tuesday and Wednesday, 30 September and 1 October 2025. Candidates will be given a task to complete, sent in advance.
There may be a second round of interviews for final candidates, if so this will take place on 6 October 2025
  


Benefits

Ride to work Scheme
50% Gym Group membership

Notes

Permanent: Full / Part Time

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