Associate / Senior Associate

Birketts LLP; Essex; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Job summary

Birketts LLP in the UK seeks an Employment lawyer to join their large Employment Team within the Corporate Division. The role covers advisory work, contentious and non-contentious matters, with a focus on senior stakeholder support and career progression.

Hybrid working is offered, with a split between office and home days. Candidates typically have 3–6 years PQE (Associate) or 6+ years (Senior Associate) and will handle high-profile projects, negotiate settlements, and provide strategic

Qualifications

• As an Associate/Senior Associate, typically 3–6 years PQE for Associate and a minimum of 6 years PQE for Senior Associate.
• Strong legal and commercial judgement with ability to draft complex documents.
• Active support for business development, events, pitches and networking.
• Deliver high-quality client service with minimal supervision and timely advice.

Responsibilities

• Provide employment law support on corporate transactions, including mergers, TUPE, outsourcing and reorganisations.
• Advise large employers on day-to-day HR and employment law issues and workforce planning.
• Manage Employment Tribunal litigation including unfair dismissal and discrimination.
• Lead workplace investigations, grievances, discipline, whistleblowing and related issues.
• Draft, review and negotiate contracts, service agreements and bonus plans.
• Advise on restrictive covenants, confidentiality and protections for business interests.
• Advise multinational organisations on cross-border employment matters and international restructurings.

Skills

Legal judgement

Commercial judgement

Client service

Business development

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

Outlook

Case management software

Digital dictation

Job description

About us

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals and over 600 staff based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do. RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 45% of our partnership.

The team you will join

Our Employment Team sits within the wider Corporate Division. The team specialise in all aspects of employment law facing employers and HR professionals - from everyday operational challenges through to advising on strategic issues.
The team currently comprises of specialist qualified employment law solicitors, including partners, working across all offices, making us one of the larger employment teams across the East and South. We have the strength and depth of expertise to ensure we deliver the service you would expect in respect of technical quality, practical approach, and timeliness of advice.
Birketts' Employment Team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as senior executives. We are proud to act for sector leading clients nationwide and some important and high-profile businesses and institutions across a number of key sectors.
Our employment advice is supplemented by a well-developed in-house employment client training offering (known as Shaping Excellence), an immigration team, an employee incentives group and Resolve, which consists of an HR consultancy service, a workplace investigations service and a team of accredited mediators.

The work you will be doing

To include:

• Providing employment law support on corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, TUPE transfers, outsourcing projects and business reorganisations.
• Advising large employer clients (250+ employees) on day-to-day HR and employment law issues, workforce management and strategic people-related projects.
• Managing Employment Tribunal litigation, including unfair dismissal, discrimination, whistleblowing, breach of contract and other workplace claims.
• Advising on workplace investigations, including grievances, disciplinary matters, whistleblowing complaints and allegations of misconduct.
• Advising on the design, implementation and management of whistleblowing procedures, investigations and related regulatory and governance issues.
• Advising on disciplinary, grievance, capability, performance management, restructuring and redundancy processes.
• Acting for senior executives in relation to recruitment, service agreements, remuneration arrangements, exits, boardroom disputes and negotiated departures.
• Drafting, reviewing and negotiating employment contracts, executive service agreements, bonus arrangements, incentive plans and workplace policies.
• Advising on restrictive covenants, confidentiality obligations, team moves and the protection of business interests, including enforcement action where appropriate.
• Advising multinational organisations on international employment law issues, including cross-border employment matters, global workforce projects, international restructurings and the coordination of advice from overseas counsel.
• Conducting settlement negotiations and drafting settlement agreements on behalf of employers

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

What we are looking for

Birketts has designed a 'Talent Management Framework' which provides a career structure that will help us develop, retain and reward talented people. As an Associate, we typically expect candidates to have between 3-6 years PQE. As a Senior Associate, we typically expect candidates to have a minimum of 6 years PQE.

• Applies strong legal and commercial judgement, researches precedents effectively, and drafts complex documents with appropriate senior guidance
• Manages time recording, billing support and workload efficiently to meet financial targets and maximise fee recovery
• Actively supports business development through events, pitches and networking, building profile and identifying opportunities via firm and client relationships
• Delivers high-quality client service with minimal supervision, providing timely, accurate advice and demonstrating strong understanding of client needs and priorities
• Manages time reliably, communicates proactively, embraces feedback, and demonstrates a collaborative, adaptable and positive "can-do" approach
• Consistently meets compliance requirements by completing reviews and reports on time, adhering to risk management best practices, understanding Lexcel standards, and completing all mandatory training
• Strong attention to detail to produce work documentation which is consistently of a high standard
• Professional integrity and a commitment to providing excellent client service
• To be competent in using Microsoft Word, Excel, time recording software, case management, Outlook and digital dictation
• Any information provided in relation to PQE should be used for guidance only and will not be determinative in the recruitment decision. Applicants will be considered on their individual merits.

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week.

We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and par