Senior Associate in Suffolk

Required: 6 years +

Term Type: Permanent

Fulltime: True

Location: Ipswich

About us

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 and over 600 staff 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 6th best law firm to work at in 2026.

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 45% of our partnership.

The team you will join

Birketts’ Employment Team has experience in all areas of contentious and non-contentious employment law matters, representing clients from a broad range of public and private organisations as well as senior executives. We are proud to act for sector leading clients nationwide and some important and high-profile businesses and institutions across a number of key sectors. Ranked 1 tier in Chambers and Legal 500, you will join a highly successful Employment team who is seeing consistent and continuous growth, and which works and collaborates closely as a supportive team of colleagues. Our employment advice is supplemented by a well-developed in-house employment client training offering (known as Shaping Excellence), an immigration team, an employee incentives group and Resolve, which consists of an HR consultancy service, a workplace investigations service and a team of accredited mediators.

The work you will be doing

• General employment issues ranging from maternity rights to general contractual issues.
• Drafting service agreements, contracts of employment and staff handbooks.
• Drafting and reviewing employment policies ranging from performance, sickness, and misconduct procedures to maternity and parental leave schemes.
• Transactional corporate support work.
• Wrongful and unfair dismissal.
• Redundancy and restructuring.
• Transfer of Undertakings.
• Awareness of boardroom disputes and severance claims.
• Employment litigation in the employment tribunal.
• Discrimination (including sex, race, disability and age).
• Trade union work for employers.
• Professional Discipline and conduct, including advising professional conduct/fitness to practice panels.

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.

What we are looking for

• Ideally a minimum of 3 years PQE gained at a reputable legal firm.
• Track record of managing caseloads with minimal supervision.
• Strong attention to detail to produce work documentation which is consistently of a high standard.
• Dependable and efficient in time management.
• An interest in business development and an eye for identifying and leveraging opportunities.
• Professional integrity and a commitment to providing excellent client service.
• To be competent in using Microsoft Word, Excel, time recording software, case management, Outlook and digital dictation.

Birketts has designed a 'Talent Management Framework' which provides a career structure that will help us develop, retain and reward talented people. As an Associate, we typically expect candidates to have between 3-6 years PQE.

Hybrid Working

Birketts is a flexible business which has embraced a hybrid working model where our colleagues enjoy a mix of home and office working. This role attracts a split of 60% office days and 40% working from home days per week. 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.

Benefits

• 25 days holiday (FTE) plus Bank Holidays.
• 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.
• Dress for your Day Policy.

Inclusivity and Culture

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. 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.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI)

At Birketts, we recognise the evolving role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the legal profession and recruitment. We welcome innovation and understand that candidates may use AI tools to support their job applications. However, we expect all applicants to use AI responsibly and ethically.

Our expectations regarding AI use in applications:

• Your application should reflect your own voice, experiences, and insights. AI may assist in structuring or refining your responses, but it must not replace your personal input.
• Do not use AI to misrepresent your qualifications, experiences, or skills. Any form of exaggeration or fabrication may result in rejection from the process.
• If you have used AI tools to assist with your application, be prepared to discuss how and why you used them during the interview process.
• Do not submit content generated by AI tools that may include personal or sensitive data not intended for public disclosure.
• AI-generated content should be reviewed and edited by you to ensure accuracy, relevance, and alignment with the role and our firm’s values.

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment practices. The use of AI should enhance, not compromise, your application. We encourage candidates to demonstrate critical thinking, commercial awareness, and a genuine interest in our firm.

If you have any questions about our expectations or the use of AI in your application, please contact our Talent Acquisition Team via talent@birketts.co.uk.