Employment Partner / Senior Associate | Build and Lead the Suffolk Offering in Ipswich

Ipswich preferred | Bury St Edmunds considered | Senior leadership opportunity | Hybrid working

If you are an experienced Employment lawyer who enjoys the work but is ready for more influence, more responsibility and the opportunity to develop both people and a practice, this could be a particularly interesting move.

We are looking for an Employment Partner or experienced Senior Associate to take a senior role within the Suffolk employment offering of a large and highly regarded regional firm.

Ideally, you will be based in Ipswich, where you will work closely with and manage an existing Employment Solicitor. A Bury St Edmunds base could also work, provided you are happy to spend a few days each week in Ipswich to provide the leadership, support and visibility the team needs.

This isn't about arriving to an empty desk and being told to build a department from scratch. There is an existing team, established work and the wider support of an experienced Employment team. The opportunity is to take a leading role locally and build from there.

Why could this be an interesting senior move?

A genuine leadership role

There is already an Employment team in Suffolk handling a broad mix of contentious and non-contentious matters.

You’ll provide the senior presence above them: supervising, developing and supporting their work, while taking responsibility for more complex matters and helping to shape the employment offering in Suffolk.

For a Senor Associate who is already doing many of the things expected of a Partner but hasn't yet been given the title or opportunity, this could be particularly worth exploring.

Interesting, commercially focused work

The practice covers the full spectrum of employment and HR work, from everyday advisory matters through to complex disputes.

That can include:

• Grievance and disciplinary matters
• Unfair and wrongful dismissal
• Discrimination and whistleblowing
• Redundancy and restructuring
• Termination and settlement arrangements
• Restrictive covenants, including enforcement and defence
• Breach of contract claims
• Directors' service agreements
• Employment issues arising from boardroom disputes
• Confidentiality and employment-related data protection issues
• Subject Access Requests
• Employment Tribunal proceedings

There is also scope to deliver training to employers and line managers on topical employment issues.

Work closely with the Corporate team

This isn't an Employment team working in isolation.

There is a strong relationship with the firm's Corporate and Commercial lawyers, with Employment providing support on the people aspects of business sales and acquisitions, restructurings, transfers and outsourcing arrangements.

That creates both an interesting source of work and the opportunity to develop broader relationships across the firm's business client base.

Build the Suffolk practice

This is where the opportunity becomes particularly attractive at Partner or senior level.

You’ll have the platform of an established full-service firm behind you, but there is also room to develop the Employment practice in Ipswich and the wider Suffolk market.

That means building relationships with existing clients and referrers, developing new connections, raising the team's profile and identifying opportunities for growth.

You don't necessarily need to arrive with a substantial following. What matters is that you have the confidence and appetite to develop relationships and help grow the practice.

Who are we looking for?

There isn't a magic PQE number attached to this one.

You might already be an Employment Partner, or you could be a Senior Associate who is ready for greater responsibility and wants the opportunity to demonstrate what you can do.

You will need:

• Strong experience across employment law, ideally including both contentious and non-contentious work
• The technical confidence to deal with more complex employment matters
• Experience of supervising, mentoring or managing more junior lawyers
• Strong commercial judgement and client-handling skills
• An interest in developing client and referrer relationships
• The ability to work collaboratively with Corporate, Commercial and other teams
• A genuine interest in helping develop the firm's Suffolk employment offering

Most importantly, this needs to be someone who likes developing people as well as doing the legal work.

Location and hybrid working

Ipswich is the preferred base, particularly because an important part of the role is providing day-to-day leadership and support to the existing team member there.

A Bury St Edmunds base can also be considered, provided you are comfortable travelling to Ipswich a few days each week.

The firm offers hybrid and agile working, although there is generally more office presence while someone is settling in. Once established and relationships are in place, there is greater flexibility to work from home.

And the benefits are excellent

Alongside remuneration appropriate to the seniority of the appointment, benefits include:

• Unlimited paid time off
• Hybrid and agile working
• 6% employer pension contribution
• Life Assurance at 3x salary after probation
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Health cash plan
• Enhanced maternity and sick pay
• Employee Assistance Programme and wider wellbeing support
• Practising certificate, professional subscriptions and CPD costs covered
• In-house Learning & Development
• Leadership development programmes
• Support for further professional qualifications
• Cycle to Work and car lease schemes
• Discounted gym membership

Already doing the job without the title?

I’d be particularly interested in hearing from Senior Associates who are already supervising others, handling the difficult work, developing clients and taking responsibility within their current team, but perhaps don't see the opportunity to progress where they are.

Equally, if you’re already a Partner and the idea of taking a leading role in developing an Employment practice in Suffolk appeals, let's talk.

You don't need to actively looking, and you don't need to decide whether this is the right move before speaking to me. If there is something here that has caught your attention, that’s enough reason to explore it.

All conversations are confidential and without obligation.