Senior Associate - Employment Team

About us

Stone King is an ambitious and friendly firm specialising in the Business & Social Enterprise, Charity, Education, Faith and Private Client sectors. Our collaborative culture and core values are intertwined with our ethos of doing the right thing by our clients, communities, and our people. Our passion for the sectors we work in and the purpose-driven work we do with our clients has resulted in SK being recognised as national leaders in our specialist fields across the country.

The opportunity

The opportunity is to join our highly successful employment team specifically to grow, and develop our Charity Employment work with our Partner Harriet Broughton, based in our London or Cambridge Office. Stone King LLP is recognised as a Times Best Law Firm for its Charity work and is also rated in Band 1 UK wide in Chambers and Partners and in Band 1 for London, Bath and Yorkshire and Humber in Legal 500 for its Charity work.

Our employment team is currently largely focused on the Education Sector: this opportunity is to immerse yourself as an employment lawyer in the specific employment, worker and volunteer issues facing charities across top 100 household name charities as well as our mini sectors: Arts, Culture and Heritage, Citizenship and Campaigning, International, Almhouses, the Environment and Professional bodies.

As well as delivering pragmatic and risk assessed advice, the right candidate will play a key role in the development of our Employment offering to our Charity clients.  This will include driving and participating in various marketing and business development events and activities.

Reasons to apply

• Opportunity to help grow our employment work, be an integral part of the Employment teams growth ,a key member of our Charity Sector with ample opportunities for professional development.
• To be part of an ambitious, collaborative and friendly national firm where our culture and values are at the heart of everything we do. We believe our people are our greatest asset and strive to create the best place to work.
• Excellent benefits for our people, with a focus on wellbeing and development at the forefront.
• Hybrid working - Stone King are proud to be signatories of the Mindful Business Charter as part of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

Key Responsibilities

General duties include, but are not limited to:

• Effectively managing an individual caseload (with supervision where appropriate);
• Reviewing and drafting policies, handbooks and contracts;
• Advising with regard to disciplinary and grievance issues and procedures;
• Advising with regard to TUPE issues;
• Preparing bespoke contracts and advising with regard to implications e.g., secondment and consultancy agreements;
• Advising in relation to potential discrimination issues, particularly disability, age, religious/belief and sex discrimination;
• Assisting clients in negotiations with regard to termination and addressing issues e.g., Settlement Agreements;
• Identifying in general where potential pension issues may arise;
• Preparing cases for Tribunal hearings, principally on behalf of Respondents including carrying out advocacy prior to final hearing;
• Attending to clients of the firm in the office or elsewhere if needed;
• Working in a collegiate and collaborative way within an immediate team and wider Firm environment.
• Communicating promptly and effectively both internally to colleagues and externally to clients;
• Maintaining your continuing professional development requirements and taking an active interest in furthering your knowledge within the field of law;
• Actively marketing the employment law team in conjunction with other team members and other teams in order to develop the firm’s client base
• Meeting clients both at their premises and at any of our offices;
• Providing legal support to the HR Consultants across our offices.

Requirements

Essential

• An experienced Solicitor, with extensive experience of running own caseloads and a proven track- record of supervising and delegating to others effectively.
• The ideal candidate will have the potential to market the firm and should have a strong interest in business development. Typical business development opportunities would include, but are not limited to: attending seminars and networking events, presenting workshops to the firm's clients and being involved in pitches/tenders.
• A strong commitment to career development and further learning.
• Previous experience handling own caseload and ability to work independently and as part of the team.
• Someone who performs well under pressure and can manage a sometimes intensive workload.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to prioritise workload.
• Previous experience of supervision and development of others. 
• Attention to detail. 
• IT literate including Office 2010.

Desirable

• Experience working within the Charity sectors would be advantageous.

• Experience as a volunteer in charities or some other charity experience.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Individual differences are embraced at Stone King, and we strive to create an environment in which people feel supported and able to be themselves. We have a partner-led Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Strategy Group, and a dedicated DE&I Adviser. We are committed to promoting an inclusive working environment that supports the growth and development of all our people, and we welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and identities. As part of our continued commitment to an inclusive working environment, we are proud to be part of the Race Fairness Commitment, the Age Friendly Employer Pledge and a Disability Confident Employer.

Stone King are signatories of the Mindful Business Charter as part of our commitment to mental health and wellbeing. We want to support all of our people in achieving a healthy work/ life balance and would be happy to speak with prospective candidates about flexible working arrangements.

As part of our commitment to DE&I, we want our recruitment practices to be as inclusive as possible, which means we will make reasonable adjustments to help you perform to your best, so please let us know if you need us to make any reasonable adjustments during the application or interview process. Our recruitment team are on hand to discuss any reasonable adjustments with candidates and can provide full job details and applications in alternative formats if required. You can contact our recruitment team via email at [email protected] or 01225 326770.

As a Disability Confident employer, Stone King LLP is committed to offering an interview to any job applicant that declares they have a disability and meets the minimum criteria for the role as defined by the job description and person specification. A full copy of the person specification and job description can be provided by contacting our Recruitment team.  In some recruitment situations such as high-peak times, we might need to limit the overall numbers of interviews we offer. This will include the number of interviews offered to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria. When that happens, we’ll still aim to offer a proportionate number of interviews to disabled applicants.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Profit Share Scheme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Employee Benefit Platform
• Private Medical Insurance
• Life assurance (4 x salary)
• Pension scheme
• 31 days holiday (in addition to statutory UK holidays)
• Additional day allocated for CSR activities per annum

Closing date: 25 October 2024

Adverts normally close at midday on the closing date, however vacancies may close early if sufficient applications have been received. Therefore we would encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible.

Stone King LLP is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to ensuring equality of opportunity by encouraging all our staff to achieve their full potential and guaranteeing that all employment decisions are taken without reference to irrelevant information or discriminatory practices.

Recruitment agencies – please do not send us unsolicited CVs. If you do so, we reserve the right to contact the candidate directly and your T&Cs will not apply

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