Associate (2-5 PQE) - Incentives and Remuneration

The Department

The Remuneration and Incentives team sits within the Employment department at Mishcon de Reya and works closely with the corporate department, particularly on transactional matters and early-stage business support. Our experts are also part of the firm's tax practice.

Mishcon has grown significantly in recent years, both organically and through acquisitions. We're building additional capacity to support our varied and expanding client base and we'd love you to be part of that journey.

We don't split our team into those who work on M&A transactions and those who handle advisory work. We're a cohesive group of experienced specialists who thrive on working across the full range of what we do.

Our team is primarily based in our London office, with a growing presence across our Oxford and Cambridge offices too. We support clients nationally and internationally.

Our work

We provide wide-ranging tax and legal advice support to companies, including: designing, drafting and implementing of a full suite of statutory and bespoke equity incentives and cash-based bonus plans for employees, NEDs and consultants. We support employers in relation to de-risking and optimising remuneration arrangements and supporting evolution of reward planning as a business scales in size and as it expands globally. We provide employer support through the hire to retire/fire lifecycle, including aligning award terms with applicable governance requirements and crafting on-boarding offers and termination packages.

We do not only work for employers. Our top tier employment practice is often instructed by individual executives, sometimes in high profile and contentious matters. Our incentives team will support and advise in relation to the equity incentives elements of the compensation arrangements, frequently adding value by helping to negotiate more favourable outcomes for our clients.

We ensure we understand our clients' objectives and aims (near-term and longer-term too) and work with them to identify, design and implement remuneration and incentive solutions that are most appropriate for their needs and circumstances.

Our clients

We advise businesses across all sectors, including entertainment, life-sciences, technology, fashion, energy, private equity, and an expanding portfolio of innovation-led and emerging growth companies.

We advise private and quoted businesses of all sizes, whether headquartered in the UK or abroad, including FTSE listed companies, global private and family-owned businesses, high growth entrepreneurial businesses, innovation and emerging growth companies, private equity backed companies and employee-owned businesses.

We also advise management teams on their equity arrangements, including in relation to market practice and trends and we also support individual executives and non-executives (including non-resident directors and those who are globally mobile).

Skills/Experience

This is an exciting opportunity to join our market-leading Incentives team recognised as Incentives Team of the Year at the International Employment Lawyer awards in 2025.

We're looking for someone curious, driven and eager to grow in this space and you don't need to tick every box on this list. Experience in incentives is a pre-requisite for this role, and it is also very helpful to have some background in employment taxes or corporate work. We value potential and we welcome applications from people with a range of backgrounds, either legal (from a well-known law firm) or tax (from a well-known tax advisory practice).

Strong written and verbal communication skills matter here, as do organisation and a genuine commitment to excellent client care. These are qualities you may have developed across a variety of settings, and we recognise and value that.

There is real responsibility from day one, and we're looking for someone who brings energy, curiosity and a positive, collaborative spirit to a busy and varied caseload. You'll build trust with clients and senior colleagues over time, and we'll actively support you in doing that. We love creative legal thinkers who can approach matters from both a legal and a commercial perspective.

We encourage everyone in the team to develop their own knowledge, practice and profile through business development activities, both internally and externally and we'll support you in doing so. We're open to applicants across the full 2-5 PQE range and are committed to finding the right person, someone who is excited to build a varied, fulfilling career as an incentives and remuneration specialist as part of our supportive and forward-thinking team.

Attributes

• Demonstrable passion for employee incentives and share plans work.
• 2-5 years PQE gained at a reputable law firm or tax practice.
• A background working in, or material exposure to employee incentives and share plans is essential.
• Experience of, and a keen interest in, advisory matters such as the design and implementation of incentive structures is required. Any exposure to or involvement in corporate transactions (including take-privates, mergers and acquisitions and IPOs ), would be highly advantageous.
• Some knowledge or understanding of employment taxes and tax relating to employee share plans would be very beneficial, though full expertise is not expected at the point of joining.
• Excellent attention to detail and organisational skills.
• Excellent writing skills, with strong drafting abilities.
• Ability to effectively manage own workload, undertaking a truly client facing role.
• Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels, both internally and with clients.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Able to coach and supervise trainees, nurturing their career potential.
• Personable and confident, able to build relationships with colleagues, clients and external organisations.
• Resilient and calm under pressure.
• Adaptable and flexible approach.
• Pro-active and takes initiative.
  
  

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.

About Mishcon De Reya LLP

Mishcon de Reya is an independent law firm, which now employs over 1400 people withmore than 650 lawyers offering a wide range of legal services to companies and individuals. The firm has grown rapidly in recent years, showing more than 40% revenue growth in the past five years alone.

With presence in London,Oxford, Cambridge,Singapore, Hong Kong and UAE, the firm services an international community of clients and provides advice in situations where the constraints of geography often do not apply.

The work the firm undertakes is cross-border, multi-jurisdictional and complex, centred around three increasingly entwined and connected sectors: the Innovation Economy, Private Wealth and Capital, and Real Estate. The firm is known as a disputes

powerhouse with a formidable capacity firmwide for dispute resolution.

We strive to create a fully diverse and inclusive workplace where all our people are empowered to fulfil their potential. We are proud of our agile working culture and are always happy to talk flexible working.