Fund Formation and Sponsor Solutions Senior Associate 5+ PQE (dedicated client role)

Macfarlanes LLP; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Macfarlanes LLP in London is recruiting a Senior Associate or Senior Counsel with a minimum of five years’ PQE to lead day-to-day work for a major institutional investor client within our Fund Formation and Sponsor Solutions practice.

The successful candidate will act as a senior contact, oversee fund documentation, coordinate cross-border matters, and collaborate with Partners to shape strategy, development, and client service across complex private markets matters.

Qualifications

• Five years’ PQE minimum in a leading private funds practice or in-house with institutional investor exposure.
• Significant experience acting for limited partners or in similar fund structures.
• Strong client-facing and relationship skills across cross-border matters.

Responsibilities

• Act as lead lawyer and primary day-to-day point of contact for the client’s investor-side workstreams.
• Review and negotiate fund documents including limited partnership agreements and side letters.
• Supervise and develop junior team members and coordinate multiple workstreams.
• Collaborate with Partners and knowledge staff to maintain client know-how and precedents.

Skills

Funds experience

Private equity

Client relationships

Education

Solicitor qualified in England and Wales

Job description

We are recruiting a Senior Associate or Senior Counsel with a minimum of five years’ PQE to join our successful Fund Formation and Sponsor Solutions practice in a dedicated role as the lead day-to-day lawyer for one of the firm’s largest institutional investor clients.

About Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.

We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

What this means for you

Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, Partner-led team where you’ll develop and learn from experienced lawyers and business professionals. Our size means you’ll be given genuine responsibility early on and often be involved at the heart of client matters, gaining insight into how our high-quality legal advice is developed and delivered to help clients overcome their most pressing issues.

You’ll work closely with senior colleagues who are approachable and who want you to succeed. You’ll be encouraged to get involved in client and business development activities, and you’ll be recognised for your contribution.

The majority of our work has a cross-border focus, so you’ll often collaborate with global clients and specialist advisers in overseas jurisdictions. You’ll build connections with international law firms, broaden your experience, and be part of a multidisciplinary team that comes together to achieve the best results.

We also place real importance on your development. Our training and mentoring programmes are second to none, and designed to help you strengthen your legal and commercial skills.

Above all, you’ll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, where you’ll be recognised and appreciated, and encouraged to succeed.

Practice overview

Our Fund Formation and Sponsor Solutions group consists of eight Partners, two Senior Counsel, four Senior Associates, 16 Associates, five Trainee Solicitors, 16 Paralegals and one Senior Knowledge Lawyer.

Our Fund Formation and Sponsor Solutions group combines market leading funds and M&A expertise to advise sponsors, managers, investors and service providers across the full spectrum of global funds. We support at every phase of the lifecycle, providing counsel to UK and international managers on establishing funds in multi jurisdictions advising institutional investors, sovereign wealth funds and family offices on primary fund investments, co-investments and secondaries. Combined with our extensive sponsor-side experience, we have sharp market insight and positions us at the forefront of evolving industry practice. In addition, we advise on transactions across private capital and investment management, including seed capital arrangements, GP stake transactions, continuation vehicle structures and preferred equity solutions.

The role

The successful candidate will be dedicated to a major global private markets investor client of the practice, acting as a senior contact within the firm, with significant direct client exposure.

Responsibilities will include:

• acting as a lead lawyer and a primary day-to-day point of contact for the client across its investor-side workstreams, including primary fund investments, co-investments and secondaries, and developing a deep understanding of its portfolio, preferences and processes;
• acting as a key go-between for the client and the firm, managing, alongside the partners, inbound requests and queries from the client’s Legal, Compliance, Governance, Tax, Finance and Operations teams, and directing matters to the appropriate internal teams to ensure client priorities are met in a timely manner;
• liaising closely with the Partners who lead the client relationship, keeping them informed of developments, escalating issues as appropriate and helping to shape the strategy for the account;
• reviewing and negotiating fund documentation on behalf of the client, including limited partnership agreements, subscription documents and side letters, as well as co-investment and secondaries documentation;
• supervising, delegating to and developing the Associates and Paralegals in the team who support the client;
• working with our Senior Knowledge Lawyer to maintain a repository of client-specific know-how, including precedent side letters and the client’s positions on key fund terms;
• supporting other practice groups on the private funds aspects of wider transactions involving the client, including M&A, Tax and Competition; and
• assisting with client coverage and relationship management by acting as a valuable centralised resource as far as client know-how, activity and developments are concerned.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the practice area.

The role offers a focused remit with a more predictable working pattern than a traditional transactional role, together with a clear development path.

The candidate

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced funds lawyer who meets the following criteria:

• minimum of five years’ post qualification experience from a leading private funds practice or in-house at an institutional investor, with significant experience of acting for limited partners (including fund-of-funds, secondaries or co-investment investors);
• primarily focused on private funds (private debt (ideally), private equity, venture capital, infrastructure or real assets);
• experience of working directly with institutional investors (such as pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurers and family offices), with strong client-facing and relationship skills;
• experience of supervising Associates and Paralegals and coordinating multiple workstreams;
• a genuine commitment to develop professional and legal skills and provide first-class client service; and
• articulate and confident to deliver at the highest standard within a team of highly competent associates.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These checks will be initiated with your consent, and your CV will be sent to the provider by us. The screening will include but is not limited to your employment references, professional and academic qualifications including grades and any criminal records. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the Recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the Recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the Recruitment team at [e-mail].