Associate / Senior Associate

Birketts is a full service, UK Top 50 law firm. With a heritage spanning 160 years, we have more than 700 lawyers and legal professionals based in Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Ipswich, London, Norwich and Sevenoaks. We advise businesses, government and public sector organisations and individuals in the UK and internationally across four principal practice groups: Real Estate, Corporate Services, Dispute Resolution and Private Client.

We are defined by our Next Level Law proposition. We work with our clients as a proactive partner, horizon scanning and thinking ahead to the changes, challenges or opportunities that they may face.

Next Level Law is also applied to our people. Our collegiate culture means everyone is encouraged to achieve their next level in everything they do.  RollOnFriday recently ranked us as the 5th best law firm to work at in 2024.

With our ambition to succeed, comes a strong desire to make a positive contribution to the communities we serve, and we are committed to delivering the objectives set out in our ESG strategy. Diversity plays an integral part in all that we do, with female partners comprising 40% of our partnership.

Birketts’ Public Sector Team is recruiting for a highly motivated and forward thinking Associate or Senior Associate to join our growing team on a full or part time permanent basis. You will join a nationally recognised, highly successful, leading Public Sector Team, which has clients throughout the UK. The team has enjoyed substantial growth and we now require extra resource to take forward our ambitious plans for the future.

Birketts’ Public Sector Team is ranked Tier 1 in Legal 500 and is appointed as legal services provider on a number of public sector frameworks.

We act for public sector clients nationally including in central and local government, executive agencies, non-departmental public bodies, police authorities, educational institutions and health authorities. The team delivers commercially focused advice in respect of complex, innovative and high profile strategic projects, as well as working collaboratively with our public sector clients to support them in the delivery of their day to day services. We pride ourselves on delivering high quality legal services which add value to public sector organisations, generate income and support regeneration.

Our lawyers come from a range of backgrounds, including from both the public and private sectors and work closely with our specialist teams, such as Property, Planning, Construction, Litigation and Social Housing.

Key accountabilities will include:

• Acting on a broad range of commercial work for public sector clients.
• Depending upon experience, acting in relation to the delivery of strategic advice on high profile projects, as well as acting on mainstream public sector matters to support the wider practice.
• Drafting and negotiating a range of documentation including contracts and frameworks for a wide range of services and goods, shared service and collaboration agreements between public bodies.
• Subject to experience, providing procurement advice in relation to the procurement of services and goods.
• Subject to experience, advising on a range of issues including local authority powers and other public law matters.  
• Depending upon experience and seniority, overseeing the training of junior lawyers and providing support and guidance, as well as providing technical support to the wider team.
• You will have the opportunity to develop and grow your practice and be actively involved in the growth and development of the Public Sector Team.

This list is not exhaustive and the duties may vary from time to time, according to circumstances.

We are seeking a commercial lawyer with at least 2 years PQE experience, gained within the public or private sector, with a strong and proven ability to deal with commercial contracts/agreements and meet the demands of a varied caseload.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic market leading team dealing with high quality work, where as Associate / Senior Associate you will cover a broad range of non-contentious commercial work for our ambitious public sector clients and their partners.

You will join a progressive and highly supportive team who are passionate about delivering high quality legal services to the public sector.

The successful candidate will be able to think commercially and analytically, so as to provide accurate and practical advice with an ability to think clearly under pressure.

Knowledge and experience of procurement law would be advantageous but not essential. Similarly, experience of public law would be advantageous but not essential.

The role requires excellent inter-personal, written, oral communication and negotiation skills.

The ideal candidate will be enthusiastic, focused and flexible, with a strong desire to further develop their practice with public sector clients

The candidate will have excellent client relationship skills and will also be expected to play an active role in the further development of our Public Sector practice and to focus on growing new relationships, as well as providing a high level of service to existing clients. 

Birketts has designed a career structure that helps us develop, retain and reward talented people. Promotion is based on assessment of your performance, competency and achievements. Our Talent Management Framework (TMF) will see you joining as an Associate or Senior Associate (depending upon experience) with the opportunity to be promoted in accordance with the TMF.

At Birketts, our culture is driven by ambition and a commitment to positively impact all the communities we serve. We are dedicated to the success, development, and wellbeing of our colleagues, helping them achieve their goals and seize the opportunities that come with our growth. Alongside a flexible and inclusive work environment, we offer the following core benefits:

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays (rising with service up to a maximum of 30 days). Senior Associate - 30 days holiday
• Long Service holiday award – 1 extra week every 10 years continuous service
• Private Healthcare with BUPA (offered after probation is passed)
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme (5% employer / 5% Employee)
• Staff Profit Share and Individual Performance Bonus Scheme 
• Salary sacrifice (Pensions, Staff Profit Share)
• Life Assurance - 4 x salary / Permanent Health Insurance
• Paid CSR Day
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Subsidised gym membership
• Electric car scheme
• Agile/Hybrid Working Policy
• Dress for your Day Policy

https://www.birketts.co.uk/recognition-reward-benefits/

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. We welcome applications from people looking for flexible, agile, and part-time roles and we are happy to explore your preferred working patterns as part of your application. 

Please note that this job profile is not an exhaustive list of duties but merely an outline of the key components of the role. You may be required by your line manager to take on additional responsibilities when requested.

Birketts is committed to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. Our policy is unequivocal: we do not tolerate discrimination based on age, disability, sex, race, religion or belief, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, or sexual orientation.

We pride ourselves on being an inclusive organisation that actively promotes equality of opportunity for all, valuing the right mix of talent, skills, and potential. We welcome applications from a diverse range of candidates, and selection for roles is based solely on individual merit.