Employment Associate / Senior Associate - Manchester

Irwin Mitchell; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading law firm in Manchester is seeking an Employment Associate or Senior Associate to join their expanding team. The successful candidate will handle a variety of employment law matters, including tribunal litigation and corporate support, while mentoring junior staff. This role offers excellent benefits including a generous holiday policy and a flexible working environment.

Benefits

25 days holidays plus bank holidays

Generous pension schemes

Volunteering days

Health membership benefits

Qualifications

• Minimum of 4 years post-qualification experience.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure.
• Desire to mentor and develop junior team members.

Responsibilities

• Engaged in a broad variety of contentious and non-contentious work.
• Involved in corporate support and supervising junior team members.
• Participation in business development and marketing initiatives.

Skills

Strong technical skills

Proven employment law experience

Ability to manage a varied caseload

Line management experience

Commercial awareness

Strong client service skills

Job description

Your Role

and What You’ll Be Doing

Our highly regarded Manchester Employment team, led by experienced partner, is expanding and we’re looking for a talented Employment Associate or Senior Associate to join us.

You’ll be part of a dynamic and collaborative team that represents a diverse client base, including SMEs and PLCs across various sectors such as retail, manufacturing, engineering, financial services and facilities management.

As an Employment Associate or Senior Associate, you’ll be engaged in :

• A broad variety of contentious and non-contentious work, including employment tribunal litigation, providing day‑to‑day HR and employment law advice and advising on complex restructures, redundancies, and TUPE.
• You will also be involved in corporate support, advising on executive severances / settlement agreements, and supervising junior team members.
• Participation in business development and marketing initiatives (including client training and seminar delivery) as part of your role.

Our Manchester team have been involved many in high‑profile cases and continues to grow its reputation for excellence. Recent work includes advising on large‑scale restructures, defending complex employment tribunal claims, and supporting clients through sensitive workplace investigations.

About You

We’re looking for someone who has a minimum of 4 years post‑qualification experience with :

• Strong technical skills and proven employment law experience.
• The ability to manage a varied caseload and to work effectively under pressure.
• Line management experience and a desire to mentor and develop junior team members.
• Proven commercial awareness, with strong client service skills and the ability to build and maintain professional networks.

If the above sounds like you, we would welcome your application.

Our Benefits - What We Can Offer You

• 25 days holidays as standard plus bank holidays - You can ‘buy’ up to 35hrs of extra holiday too.
• Generous and flexible pension schemes.
• Volunteering days – Two days of volunteering every year for a cause of your choice (fully paid)
• Westfield Health membership, offering refunds on medical services alongside our Aviva Digital GP services.

We also offer a wide range of well‑being initiatives to encourage positive mental health both in and out of the workplace and to make sure you’re fully supported. This includes our Flexible by Choice programme which gives our colleagues more choice over a hybrid way of working subject to role, team and client requirements.

We have been ranked in the Best Workplaces for Wellbeing for Large Organisations for 2024!

Our responsible business programmes are fundamental to who we are and our purpose. We’re committed to being a diverse and inclusive workplace where our colleagues can flourish, and we have established a number of inclusion network groups across our business to support this aim.

Our commitment to Social Responsibility, community investment activity and tackling climate change is a fundamental part of who we are. It’s made up of four strands : Our People, Our Community, Our Environment and Our Pro Bono.