Administrator - Ipswich

Term Type: Permanent

Department: Charities

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.

Our vibrant and growing Charities Team advises a wide range of clients on matters including charity law, governance, charity mergers and formation and much more. We are active in the charity sector and regularly publish thought leadership pieces and attend events to connect and engage with current issues in the sector.

The team currently comprises 5 specialist qualified charity law solicitors and two administrators in the Charity Administration and Clerking Team, which sits within the Charities Team, all led by a partner. There is also a much larger charities sector group firm-wide. The team is primarily based in Ipswich with one Legal Director based in London. The team has ambitious plans to recruit into our other offices in the near future as part of its growth strategy.

Clients we work with include charities (many are household names), independent schools, social enterprises, public bodies and other not for profit organisations. We also advise high net worth individuals and corporates on setting up new charities or making charitable donations, as well as other entities on their dealings with charities. In addition, we offer charity administration and clerking services, in particular for grant-making charities. Ranked Top Tier in Legal 500, you will join a successful and enthusiastic Charities team which works and collaborates closely as a supportive team of colleagues.

If you are seeking a new, challenging role with a modern, forward-thinking firm, then this could be the role for you! We are looking for a part-time Administrator to join our Charity Administration and Clerking Team to work on processing applications for grants from grant-making charity clients, other administrative support for charity clients (including making filings with the Charity Commission, sending out notice of board meetings, and maintaining charity registers) and attending and taking minutes at board and committee meetings for charity clients. You will work within the charities team, reporting to the Head of Charities. Whilst this is currently a part-time role, we are anticipating growth in this area, so there is potential for the role to become full time.

We are seeking candidates who are highly organised and efficient, who have experience in administration and following specific procedures. You will need to have strong attention to detail skills to deliver our administration support services to a consistently high standard. You will have a flexible approach to work to ensure client deadlines are always met and clients are communicated with on a consistent and regular basis. No prior knowledge of charity law is required though as support and training will be provided by the team as required.

• Receiving applications for grants and dealing with all correspondence with applicants (by post, email and phone).
• Processing all applications, including assessing the applications against specific eligibility criteria and uploading data onto the client portal.
• Communication – supporting the Head of Charities with providing updates to clients and other parties to ensure excellent client service.
• Charity administrative services – servicing charity clients for whom we provide a secretarial function, including preparing and issuing notice of board and committee meetings, maintaining charity registers, and making filings with the Charity Commission on behalf of our charity clients.
• Charity clerking services – attending and taking minutes at board and committee meetings of charity clients.
• General administrative support as and when required in respect of other matters (including, for example, assisting with team administrative tasks and procedures).

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