Schools HR/Employment Lawyer
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ABOUT THE ROLE
Due to growth and an influx of client work, we are excited to be recruiting for a new Senior Associate/Legal Director level employment lawyer to join our successful and Legal 500 ranked Education department based in our London office. The department undertake all and any legal work for schools and colleges. It is organised into three teams: (1) Property & School Organisation; (2) School Support; and (3) Schools HR/Employment.
This new hire for our Schools HR/Employment team, would see you provide a broad range of employment advice to schools, academies, multi academy trusts, dioceses and other educational institutions, as well as our strategic partners and HR consultancies in the education sector.
The candidate will also provide support to the School Support team, who advise on admissions, exclusions, parental complaints, FOIA and DPA, governance, contracts and safeguarding.
The team have built a reputation for high-quality, cost-effective advice to schools and academies. Our service is highly responsive and clients, many of whom are inexperienced buyers of legal services, require quick, good legal advice often in a crisis and a typical day would be varied as you provide advice on a wide range of employment/HR matters, including the opportunity to get involved in contentious work dealing with claims in the employment tribunal and at appeal level (including to the EAT).
Note to agencies: We are currently engaged with three agencies on this vacancy, who have been briefed on the role.
ABOUT YOU
If you have a passion for employment law and want a job that is different to other employer work (due to its rewarding nature acting for schools and benefiting the interests of children and the wider education system), this would be an excellent opportunity to work in a highly regarded and supportive team. The work the Schools HR team is also often at the leading edge of employment law.
As an experienced employment lawyer, you would be able to comfortably explain your technical expertise in providing day to day HR and employment law advice and support in a variety of scenarios, confidently handling employment tribunal claims from inception to final hearing and have the ability to provide clear and easy to understand advice.
We would welcome applications from private practice, inhouse and public sector legal teams.
In return, you will be exposed to great quality interesting work and have the opportunity to grow your expertise and personal brand in a collaborative, entrepreneurial and supportive working environment. For the right person, the opportunity to develop their own practice niche and team around them would also be available.
WHY US
Winckworth Sherwood is an exciting, diverse, and growing business. We are a full-service law firm with a diverse client base, that prides itself on providing advice across a broad range of sectors and markets. Delivering a first-class service is key to everything we do.
Our clients range from some of the UK’s largest businesses and institutions, housebuilders and developers through to investors, professional partnerships, family offices, not for profit organisations and private individuals – all of which benefit from the flexible, practical approach of our lawyers.
We recognise that our people play a key part in our success and as a result we are committed to their development and well-being. We promote a healthy work-life balance and flexibility, keeping our people motivated and stimulated to deliver great things.
YOUR APPLICATION JOURNEY
Application review
Your profile will be screened by a member of the WS recruitment team. If you CV is shortlisted, you will be invited to have a short call with our Recruitment Manager, Ash Evans, to discuss your interest in the vacancy. No AI is used in our application screening process! Every candidate who applies to this role will be told if they have been successful or not in moving to the next stage.
1st interview (via Teams/in person at our London office)
This will be with the Head of the Schools HR team, and Ash, who will discuss your interest in the role, what you are looking for professionally, and ask some competency/behavioural questions that relate to the key skills/behaviours needed for this position.
Every candidate who reaches this stage will be offered the chance to have a feedback call with our Recruitment Manager to understand why they weren't progressed to the next interview stage, so that you can use this feedback to help with other job applications.
2nd interview (in person at our London office)
At this stage, you will meet the Head of the Education Department, as well as other members of the Schools HR team. You will be asked further questions around your career and technical skills. This is also a good opportunity to ask any final role/firm specific questions.
Every candidate who reaches this stage will be offered the chance to have a feedback call with our Recruitment Manager to understand why they weren't offered the position, so that you can use this feedback to help with other job applications.
Offer of employment
If you are successful and accept our offer of employment, we will submit your details to our background screening company (Giant), who will conduct a series of background checks. Once these have been completed and we have separately validated your proof of right to work in the UK, a start date can be agreed, and your onboarding schedule can be planned.