Job Description

Construction Solicitor (1-3 PQE)
Location Birmingham, Bristol or Leeds
Description
Make a Real Impact
Bevan Brittan is a leading commercial law firm. Alongside our recognised expertise in housing, local government, and health and social care, we are specialists in the construction, energy and resource management, higher education and financial services sectors.
Supported by our valued business services professionals, our award-winning and growing legal teams provide almost 2,000 organisations with commercial, corporate, property, finance, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal and advisory services.
As a responsible business, we embrace four values: Relationships, Reputation, Responsible and Results. These give us a sense of purpose. They influence the decisions we make and how we work with each other. Importantly, they motivate us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients and the communities that we're part of.
Consistently recognised as one of The Times Best Law Firms and highly ranked across the legal directories, we are proud of our hard-earned reputation. Our 2023/24 financial results confirmed both revenue and profit growth for an eleventh consecutive year, ensuring our ability to continue investing in our people.
Looking to the future, we're targeting ambitious growth and success. And we're looking for the best people to be part of it.
Join a team of experts and progressive thinkers
You will be a member of a nationally recognised construction team led by Andrew Tobin and Jonathan Turner, both of whom specialise in non-contentious construction projects.
Our market-leading construction team works for our clients across the UK. Our broad practice covers education (schools and universities), housing (including social and build to rent), health (NHS and private providers), local authority regeneration and highways and major programme delivery for central government.
We advise clients on the delivery of projects using and adapting industry standard forms or bespoke documentation. You will gain experience in negotiating construction and engineering contracts plus all related documents in a wide range of project types and using many of the industry standard forms (particularly JCT and NEC) plus supply chain contracts on PPP projects. We are involved in a number of the major construction programmes for delivery of new hospitals, social housing, schools and highways.
The role
As our team continues to grow, a vacancy has arisen for a Solicitor to be part of the team working mainly on non-contentious construction work. We are, however, interested to hear from candidates who have experience of a balanced role with contentious construction and who are looking to develop their career towards non-contentious work.
You will be working on high value, complex instructions including government departments, local council estates and capital programme teams, NHS Trusts and housing associations. Some recent examples include advising on the following projects:

• City of London on the construction of the new Museum of London at Smithfield Market
• A global healthcare product manufacturer on construction of its new UK headquarters
• A number of care home operators, developers and funders on the construction of a wide range of care facilities
• Peabody Trust on the delivery of 11,500 new homes at Thamesmead
• Leeds Teaching Hospitals Trust on the construction of the new Leeds General Infirmary
• Places for People/Balfour Beatty joint venture on the construction of 1,500 new homes adjacent to the Olympic Park
• University of Oxford on a range of construction projects.

What we are looking for from you
The successful candidate will have strong drafting and legal analysis skills (commensurate with their level of experience) and have an ability to liaise effectively with clients. Most importantly, we are looking for ambitious lawyers who want to take on challenging work in the development of their careers. We are happy to consider candidates who are looking to work flexibly in terms of location and/or weekly input. The team is continuing to grow and so career prospects are excellent for the right candidate.
The successful candidate will also possess the following:

• 1-3 years' PQE
• Private practice or in-house experience, working in a team and ideally some experience coordinating advice with fee earners from other disciplines
• Good networker or at least an interest in getting involved in networking and developing business
• Strong foundation of technical skills and an ability to work through, with support from senior fee earners, complex issues in a pragmatic and commercial manner
• Keen interest in becoming a specialist in the Construction sector

Work with approachable people
When we ask colleagues what makes Bevan Brittan a great place to work, the most popular thing they say is "the people". The overwhelming consensus is that we make time for each other. We welcome questions and support each other. Naturally, we look for new colleagues who align with our values.
Supported to be your best
Hybrid working
We operate a hybrid working model based on the needs of our clients, teams and people. Our core business hours are 9am - 5:15pm Monday to Friday, but we're open to our people working more flexibly around those times and welcome a conversation with you if you have any questions about this. We try to offer you the flexibility to work your week in a way that suits you.
Learning, Development & Progression
We're committed to supporting your professional and personal development needs.This means that we offer a range of tailored training courses and you will have lots of opportunity to learn from those around you. We actively encourage progression and this is reflected in our annual review and promotion processes. You will be supported by your line manager to achieve your full potential.
Wellbeing
As a Bevan Brittan employee, you'll have access to a variety of services that support your wellbeing. We've pledged our commitment to The Mindful Business Charter and lots of our people contribute to our Wellbeing Responsible Business strand, which organises an annual calendar of wellbeing events and initiatives.
Benefits

• A minimum of 25 days holiday (plus the option to buy up to an additional 5 days)
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Generous pension scheme
• Private medical insurance through Vitality
• Biennial private health assessment through Nuffield Health
• Life assurance
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to work scheme

Embracing our differences and valuing inclusion
Our shared aim is that everyone is welcome and can feel comfortable being themselves at Bevan Brittan. To support this, we actively value and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in everything that we do. You'll be empowered and supported through our employee led networks, diverse colleagues, and a broad range of firmwide initiatives.
Recognising the unique contributions that a diverse workforce can bring to our business, we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We take great pride in being a Disability Confident Employer. If you need any adjustments throughout the recruitment process or have any questions, please get in touch with our recruitment team by emailing
Acting responsibly, now and for the future
To us, being a responsible business is second nature; a core part of Bevan Brittan's identity. Our colleagues are heavily involved in shaping and delivering activity across the four pillars of our : Community Engagement; Environmental Sustainability; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; and Wellbeing.
Our people deliver pro bono legal work for charities and not-for-profit organisations. We play an active role in our local communities and donated 100,000 across our four regional office charities last year. We are also proudly carbon neutral. We've achieved the UN's Climate Neutral Now accreditation and our environmental sustainability plan focuses on achieving our net zero carbon target by 2040.
Collectively, the four pillars ensure we look after our colleagues' wellbeing; offer an environment in which everyone can progress on merit, give something back to the communities in which we work; and protect the environment.

Skills Required