Associate - Employment (Education)

Browne Jacobson LLP; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private medical insurance

Pension contributions

Employee assistance programme

Enhanced parental leave

Job summary

Browne Jacobson LLP is looking for an Associate to join our employment education team, providing practical employment advice to the education sector. The role involves a variety of advisory and contentious tasks, including tribunal claims and drafting contracts.

We offer a flexible and hybrid working model along with a comprehensive benefits package, including private medical insurance, pension contributions, and enhanced parental leave.

Qualifications

• Solid grounding in employment law with an interest in the education sector.
• Ability to deliver commercially aware advice.
• Strong relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Advise clients on employment law matters.
• Prepare employment tribunal claims and responses.
• Draft contracts of employment and policies.

Skills

Employment law knowledge

Relationship-building skills

Solution-focused advice

Team-oriented approach

Job description

Join our employment education team consistently ranked Band One in the Legal 500 and Chambers UK to deliver pragmatic, solution-focused employment advice to schools, academies and other education sector clients.

The Role:

We are looking for an associate to join our team, advising education sector clients on the full range of employment law matters, including:

• Advisory work: Day-to-day employment advice covering disciplinary and grievance procedures, redundancy programmes, flexible working, family-friendly rights, holiday pay, and contractual queries.
• Contentious work: Preparing employment tribunal claims and responses, witness statements, skeleton arguments, and conducting advocacy at hearings.
• Drafting: Contracts of employment, policies, and procedures tailored to the education sector.
• TUPE: Advising on academy transfers, projects, and general transfer queries.
• Union relations: Navigating policy negotiations, restructures, and changes to terms and conditions in a unionised environment, as well as advising on industrial action.

What We Are Looking For:

• A solid grounding in employment law with a genuine interest in the education sector.
• The ability to deliver solution-focused, commercially aware advice aligned to clients' needs.
• Strong relationship-building skills with clients and colleagues alike.
• A team-oriented approach and a commitment to continuous development.

Why Join Us?

We offer a flexible and hybrid working model. Our comprehensive benefits package includes private medical insurance, pension contributions, an employee assistance programme, and a range of wellbeing initiatives. Enhanced parental leave is also available, reflecting our commitment to supporting you through every stage of your career and life.

Many of our people work flexibly in some way and we’re open to considering how we can accommodate flexible working arrangements alongside role requirements. If this is important to you, please talk to us about it during the recruitment process.

We celebrate diversity and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, national origin, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, social economic background or age.

We’re a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the minimum/essential criteria for the role.