Employment Practice Development Lawyer in Edinburgh

We are excited to share a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Practice Development Lawyer to join our Employment team. We are happy to consider applicants for any of our UK offices, excluding London.

Why this role is special:

• You’ll work closely with our lawyers and directly with clients to deliver cutting-edge knowhow, training, and legal products.
• You’ll help shape and deliver strategic knowledge initiatives that make a real difference to our clients and our practice.
• You’ll have the opportunity to innovate, lead, and influence how we deliver value to clients.
• You’ll be part of a close-knit, collaborative PDL community across the firm.

Background to the role:

We have an enthusiastic and experienced Employment PDL team and are looking to add to our team to prepare for the significant amount of legal change coming our way in future years. The successful candidate will report to Sue Gilchrist, lead Employment PDL with a secondary line to Kate Dodd, partner. This is a client-facing, solutions-focused role that sits at the heart of our knowledge strategy and our client relationships. The firmwide PDL team is a close community across all practice areas and locations, ensuring that knowledge and best practice is shared across the firm’s international network.

Background to the Firm and team:

Our Employment & Incentives Team is independently recognised as one of the best and most experienced teams in the UK. We have one of the best resourced teams of employment specialists of any law firm in the country, offering both national coverage from our UK offices and an international offering through our employment specialists in Europe, the Gulf, Asia Pacific and Australia. We act as trusted advisor to leading FTSE blue chip organisations (both in the UK and internationally). Our clients rely upon us to help them not only with technical legal issues but also to act as true business partners, understanding the challenges and opportunities within their respective sectors and businesses. We pride ourselves on being confident and commercially aware, pragmatic and responsive. We provide our clients with innovative commercial solutions, not merely details of the legal issues. We help our clients navigate their daily challenges and deliver their strategic objectives. We do not let employment law get in the way of our client's workforce management. Our approach has resulted in us developing long term relationships and partnerships with clients, many of whom are household names.

What will we offer you?

• A supportive and friendly working environment in a great team with warmth, dedication and a passion for excellence.
• Autonomy, responsibility and opportunities to develop client relationships with great clients.
• We are a market leading, dynamic and growing global team who work together to produce outstanding results for our clients.
• We invest in our team and have a fantastic training and career development programme, regular 121s, career discussions and appraisals.

Purpose of the Role:

To work as an integral member of the Employment PDL team, leading on delivery of high-quality knowhow, guidance, and training for Pinsent Masons lawyers and for clients. To continue to build on the PDL team’s expertise and reputation, enabling our lawyers and clients, developing our practice, and building client relationships through:

• Leading the tracking, creation and dissemination of technical and commercial intelligence to clients and lawyers, ensuring insights are timely, relevant and aligned with client priorities and sector developments.
• Identifying and shaping innovative practices, products and resources, proactively spotting opportunities to enhance client service and internal efficiency, and driving their development and implementation across the team.
• Owning and delivering strategic knowledge and client initiatives, working in close partnership with client teams and lawyers to ensure consistency, impact and alignment with firm-wide goals.
• Collaborating with Advanced Delivery teams to enhance legal service delivery through innovative use of people, processes and technology, contributing to the design and rollout of scalable solutions.
• Championing innovation in legal practice, leading the development and implementation of new products, resources and service models that respond to evolving client needs and market dynamics.
• Designing and delivering high-value training programmes for both internal lawyers and external clients, ensuring content is commercially relevant and technically robust.
• Building and deepening client relationships through strategic engagement, including collaboration on client policies and precedents, horizon scanning, training, briefings, working with our international lawyer teams and thought leadership activities.

Detail of the Role:

We are looking for an enthusiastic, technically able, commercially astute, well organised, and self-motivated Practice Development Lawyer. Candidates should have comprehensive knowledge of UK employment law and should have strong client-facing experience across a range of employment law matters. Working with our existing Employment PDL team, responsibilities of the role will include:

• Leading collaboration closely with partners, legal directors, and senior stakeholders across the employment practice on strategic developments;
• Driving innovation by identifying and deploying new or alternative practices, products and resources that deliver measurable value to clients;
• Overseeing horizon scanning and providing strategic insight into key legal and market developments, ensuring timely dissemination to clients and internal teams;
• Assessing and advising on the implications of legal and regulatory changes, including their impact on transactions, disputes, and client risk profiles;
• Managing the development and quality assurance of technical and commercial resources, including precedents, guidance notes and toolkits with a focus on ensuring clarity, consistency, and visual effectiveness;
• Working with the firm’s BD and PR teams to contribute regularly to external media and Pinsent Masons’ Out-Law website;
• Curating and delivering a robust current awareness programme, including newsletters, alerts and thought leadership content, tailored to client and sector needs;
• Strategically overseeing the production and maintenance of precedents, standard forms, practice notes and knowledge materials, including digital and intranet content;
• Leading/preparing responses to public consultations on legal and policy developments;
• Providing expert analysis on legal and policy developments to global colleagues and clients, ensuring commercial relevance and clarity;
• Managing maintenance of the Team's knowledge databases, ensuring accessibility, accuracy and strategic alignment;
• Working with the firm’s Central Knowledge and Research teams to ensure best use of resources and technology;
• Initiating and leading strategic knowledge projects, including scoping, prioritisation, and implementation - in collaboration with partner and lawyer teams;
• Designing and delivering training programmes for the team, including bespoke sessions for senior lawyers and leadership teams; and overseeing: organisation of all training programmes for the group; and identifying and sourcing appropriate external training for lawyers;
• Design and delivery of training to key clients, including proactively identifying relevant topics aligned with client needs and market trends;
• Attending client and sector events, briefings and presentations;
• Championing innovation, identifying and launching new work streams, products, and resources that enhance client service and internal efficiency.

Relevant Experience:

• Previous experience working as an employment lawyer in a UK law firm, ideally for at least eight years.
• Client facing experience in a range of employment law areas.
• No previous PDL experience required.

Key Skills:

• Enthusiasm and a desire to drive positive change.
• Practical and flexible approach, with an ability to think and act strategically.
• Self-starter – innovative, takes the initiative and follows through.
• Highly collaborative and able to work among a group of high-performing peers.
• Creates confidence with partners and senior lawyers and forges co-operative working relationships with colleagues.
• Strong communication and influencing skills and the ability to work effectively at all levels with clients, lawyers and support services.
• An interest in the future of legal services and innovative service delivery.
• Self-driven with highly effective time management skills.
• Experience of and a passion for, training delivery.
• Approach and behaviours consistent with the firm’s purpose-led approach and core values of being 'approachable', 'bold' and 'connected'.