Early Careers Adviser

Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, approachable team who want you to succeed. You’ll be encouraged to get involved and be recognised for your contribution. We take your development seriously. Our learning and development programmes are second to none and are designed to help you strengthen your skills. Above all, you’ll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, value your efforts and help you to thrive.

The Early Careers team comprises five people and sits within the Human Resources department of 40 people. The team is responsible for attracting, recruiting and developing Macfarlanes’ Early Careers population. This includes circa. 66 Trainee Solicitors, three Training Scholars as well as the firm’s Vacation Scheme and First Year Insight Scheme participants.

The individual will be required to carry out a broad range of good quality work supporting the Development Lead. The successful candidate will also be flexible and willing to provide support across all areas of Early Careers as required. Key duties will include:

• Development
  • Provide development and pastoral support to Early Careers joiners from offer through to qualification, ensuring a consistent, supportive experience that prepares them for practice;
  • Develop and implement innovative keep in touch initiatives;
  • Act as a key point of contact for pre-joiners;
  • Manage the relationship with the firm’s academic provider;
  • Curate a seminar series to help foster a sense of connection and prepare individuals for starting their role;
  • Work with the Development Lead to deliver the development processes to the Early Careers population helping individuals navigate opportunities while aligning with business needs. This would include running the induction programme; coordinating the mid-seat and end-of-seat reviews; and holding new joiner catch‑ups; seat rotation 1‑1s; qualification 1‑1s; and general ad‑hoc check‑ins;
  • Identify opportunities to update the firm’s development offering to ensure it continues to meet changing business needs while supporting our populations in the best way.
• Attraction
  • Support delivering the candidate attraction strategy, including attending campus events, managing relationships with universities and generally promoting the firm;
  • Work with the Early Careers team, internal marketing team and external agency to generate ideas and content for social media and attraction campaigns.
• Selection
  • Screen application forms and online assessments, making informed recommendations on candidates to invite for assessment days;
  • Support with the running of Vacation Scheme and Training Programme assessment days, where necessary;
  • Conduct interviews for the First Year Insight Scheme and make informed recommendations on selection decisions;
  • Provide telephone feedback to unsuccessful candidates post interview.
• Programmes
  • Provide support during the work experience programmes, which include Vacation Schemes and the First Year Insight Scheme.
• General
  • Manage the operational budget for Early Careers activities, tracking spend and ensuring costs remain within agreed limits.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the team. During the first six months of employment, you may be required to attend the office four days per week to support onboarding, training and collaboration. Your line manager may adjust this requirement based on your progress and business needs.

The successful candidate will ideally possess the following:

• A minimum of 18 months experience in an equivalent role with experience working with the Early Careers population;
• Confident, committed and calm under pressure;
• Organised, with the ability to multi‑task and meet deadlines;
• Able to cope during busy periods and manage a high volume of work;
• Good communication skills and able to quickly build relationships with senior stakeholders;
• Approachable and friendly manner;
• Strong attention to detail.

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre‑employment checks which are conducted by a third‑party screening provider. These may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records and employment references. These checks will be initiated with your consent and your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Macfarlanes is a pre‑eminent law firm that serves a global client base in private capital, private wealth, M&A and disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients. We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long‑lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward‑thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print). We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.