Employment Senior Associate/Legal Director

JR United Kingdom; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player seeks a Senior Associate/Legal Director to join its dynamic team in Reading. This role offers the chance to engage with a diverse range of clients across various sectors, including tech and finance. The successful candidate will enjoy a supportive work environment with opportunities for professional growth, working closely with experienced partners. With a focus on employee well-being, the firm provides generous benefits, including a tax-free bonus and flexible working arrangements. If you're a proactive lawyer with a passion for employment law, this is the perfect opportunity to advance your career.

Benefits

28 or 30 days holiday

Birthday off

Employee Ownership Trust bonus

5% matched pension contributions

26 weeks paid Maternity Leave

6 weeks paid Paternity Leave

Private Medical Insurance

Household and lifestyle shopping discounts

Qualifications

• Minimum of six years’ post-qualification experience required.
• Strong experience in claimant or respondent work, or both.

Responsibilities

• Manage a balanced workload of employee and employer work.
• Provide advice on grievance, disciplinary matters, and litigation.

Skills

Attention to Detail

Organizational Skills

Communication Skills

Client Care

Ability to Multi-task

Education

Post-qualification Experience (6+ years)

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

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Employment Senior Associate/Legal Director, reading

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Client:

Doyle Clayton

Location:

reading, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Views:

5

Posted:

05.05.2025

Expiry Date:

19.06.2025

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Job Description:

About Doyle Clayton

Doyle Clayton was founded in 1997 and we quickly established our reputation as a specialist employment law firm.We are now much more than just a team of employment lawyers.

The employer-employee landscape has changed dramatically and we have evolved and extended our services accordingly.We deal with all legal issues relating to people in the workplace, from employment law to business immigration, from pensions to partnership and LLP matters and HR services including incentives.We are a workplace law firm in the broadest sense and we are proud to be one of the first law firms to be established as an Employee Ownership Trust.This is similar to the John Lewis model where all of our employees are beneficiaries under the Employee Ownership Trust.

This means we share our current and future success with all our employees in terms of tax-free annual bonuses (subject to eligibility and an annual cap set by the HMRC) which aims to encourage all employees to have a positive impact on our future growth and success.

We are highly rated in both Chambers and The Legal 500 directories of leading UK law firms and provide advice across the UK and internationally. We have strong alliances across Europe and are a founder member of ELLINT, an international network of specialist employment law firms.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a forward thinking, dynamic law firm with a collegiate and supportive culture.

Overview of Role

The role will be based in our Reading office but from time to time the successful candidate will be expected to work from our London and/or Bristol offices. This is important so as to get exposure to other lawyers in the team and other types of clients. We operate a collegiate one-firm policy and lawyers in different offices often work together on client matters.

There are 13 Employment lawyers in Reading, 18 in London and 2 in Bristol. The Immigration team and lawyers specialising in pensions, regulatory and corporate matters are also based across these offices and there are 60+ fee-earners at the firm.

The successful candidate will be expected to take on a balanced workload of employee and employer work.

At the mid-senior level, employee work is for senior executives, partners and managers and can range from advice on grievance and disciplinary matters, performance management, unfair dismissal, discrimination and whistleblowing issues and claims, assistance with litigation in the Employment Tribunal and High Court including on team moves, and settlement agreements.

Employer clients includes well-known brands in tech, retail and pharma and a wide range of financial services organisations. Work will include the same matters as well as general day-to-day advice, work on contracts and policies, strategic and management issues, reorganisations and business transfers.We also expect mid-senior level lawyers to be a role model and sounding board for junior lawyers.

We do not operate strict partner teams and so the successful candidate can expect the enriching benefit of working with a range of experienced partners and senior fee earners. We also give plenty of responsibility and autonomy to lawyers once they have demonstrated that they are capable, as well as monthly 1:1s with Team Leaders and regular performance and career progression meetings.

As a smaller and entrepreneurial firm, our lawyers are expected to take a more ’hands-on’ approach to their workload than in larger more process-driven firms, and therefore the successful candidate will be adept at managing their own admin and file management.

Role Requirements

·Excellent attention to detail.

·Excellent organisational and prioritisation skills.

·Being able to work independently and part of a team.

·Ability to multi-task and manage sensitive documents

·A flexible, ‘can and will do’ attitude with a desire to learn and grow.

·Being proactive especially in anticipating potential issues.

·Strong oral and written communication skills, in particular being able communicate clearly and in a professional manner.

·Excellent client care approach.

·Ability to work in a fast paced environment and manage a busy workload.

·Being able to manage client and colleague expectations effectively, including when issues arise.

·Confident user of Microsoft Office products and other common software/applications.

·Strong experience in claimant or respondent work, or both. It is not a disadvantage if the candidate has focused on claimant or respondent work as in the role they will have the opportunity to learn and gain experience of the other side.

·Experience in Tribunal and High Court litigation.

·Minimum of six years’ post-qualification experience.

Doyle Clayton Employee Benefits

·28 or 30 days’ holiday (dependent on role and in addition to bank holidays).

·Birthday off as an additional day’s leave.

·Employee Ownership Trust bonus (tax free up to £3,600).

·5% matched pension contributions.

·26 weeks paid Maternity Leave.

·6 weeks paid Paternity Leave.

·Hybrid working (usually three days in the office and two days from home).

·Private Medical Insurance.

·Household and lifestyle shopping discounts.