Job Description

We have an exciting opportunity for a Senior Associate to join our Employment team in Birmingham

About the team

We are around 20 employment lawyers, working as one team across our London and Birmingham offices, with a national reputation in the employment law market. We distinguish ourselves by being good people to work with and offering practical advice, backed by the highest technical standards, which comes off the fence (not just information or legal opinions and which is delivered in plain English.


We offer excellent training and development for our lawyers, consistent with the firm's ethos, as well as being part of a firm which regularly wins awards for being a good place to work. As a team, we contribute to many of the initiatives which help deliver those awards.


The vast majority of our clients are employers, rather than employees. We act for employers in a wide range of sectors but have particular strength in a number of areas including tech, manufacturing (particularly automotive), financial services, social housing, construction and public sector (the firm being on the government CCS panel). We regularly work with international clients supporting their UK operations and on implementation of global policies, as well as with law firms based overseas on referrals in and out.

About the role

This role will involve acting for our employer clients, from major corporates or public sector bodies, through to tech start-ups, providing advice in a wide range of employment law issues including:


Advising clients on how best to deliver their objectives, despite the complexities of employment law Drafting all types of employment-related documents - for example, service agreements, handbooks, secondment agreements, consultancy agreements); Advising on legislative changes as they are proposed and finalised; Advice on TUPE, from application to day-to-day support on handling information and consultation exercises; Advice on redundancy and re-structuring exercises; Corporate support; Transactional support to our commercial and real estate teams; All types of litigation, in the employment tribunal or civil courts, including discrimination litigation and business protection disputes; Support with all types of ER issues, from advising on grievances or protected disclosure issues, through to family friendly queries, agency work and working time issues; Advising on trade union issues and industrial relations disputes; Advising on and conducting workplace investigations; Employment-related data protection issues, including handling DSARs and employee privacy notices; Delivering training to clients; Business development and profile raising for the team whether by public speaking, within the firm and on a broader stage or producing alerts/articles for clients and targets.

About you

You will be a qualified Solicitor with 4 to 6 years' PQE.


Some or all of the following (depending on the level of qualification) would be beneficial:


Demonstrable post qualification experience gained in the field of employment law at a firm / department with a proven reputation in this field An excellent understanding of the principal provisions in relevant employment legislation Experience of taking an active role in building and maintaining client relationships Experience of participating in client development events A clear understanding of the importance of accurate and efficient financial management Experience of assisting partners and more senior lawyers with a broad range of marketing and profile raising initiatives Experience of writing technical articles and the presentation of seminars and other briefing sessions or assisting more senior team members with the same A developed understanding of how employment law can impact on a client's business
You should have:


Solid organisation and time management skills Experience of working in a team and the ability to develop relationships with colleagues and clients alike Proven attention to detail and drafting skills Sound problem solving skills The ability to adapt to a broad range of situations and circumstances and remain calm under pressure Strong interpersonal, communication and negotiation skills

What we can offer you

The opportunity to work for a firm which has been recognised as one of the best places to work in the UK and has been ranked by Great Place to Work for 25 consecutive years.


A hybrid approach to office and remote working. Lawyer bonus Generous annual leave, with the option to buy up to a week's extra annual leave Private medical insurance, and the option to add family members A generous pension allowance Life assurance covering four times your annual salary The chance of a three-month sabbatical every five years Maternity, paternity and adoption leave schemes A range of health and wellbeing programmes State of the art offices Opportunities to flourish in your role through training and personal development
Many of our people work flexibly in some way. If you would like to explore your own flexible working arrangements with us, we are happy to discuss this during the recruitment process.

Equal Opportunities

Gowling WLG is committed both to promoting equality and diversity in the firm and to Equal Opportunities in employment. The firm believes in equality of opportunity regardless of race or racial group (including colour, nationality, ethnicity, national origins), religion or belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re-assignment and gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, and pregnancy, maternity and paternity. This also includes any incidents of perceptive or associative discrimination and harassment.


At Gowling WLG we seek to attract and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, to create an exciting and rewarding place to work. Our aim is to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals.


Any offers we make will be conditional subject to clearance by the SRA, evidence of eligibility to work in the UK and DBS clearance.

If you have any queries in relation to this position, please contact Sam Price -

sam.price@gowlingwlg.com

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