Employment Senior Associate

Overview

A leading UK law firm is seeking Senior Employment Associates to join its London Employment team. The practice acts exclusively for employers, advising a highly sophisticated client base on complex employment litigation, investigations and advisory matters.

This opportunity is ideally suited to a 5+ years’ PQE employment lawyer with strong tribunal litigation experience, particularly in complex, multi-day employer-side disputes. The role offers exposure to high-profile clients, strategic litigation and board-level advisory work within a collaborative and high-performing team.

What You’ll Do

• Manage complex employment tribunal litigation, including multi-day hearings.
• Advise on discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claims.
• Handle high-value, reputationally sensitive employment disputes for major corporates.
• Provide strategic employment advisory and regulatory guidance to senior stakeholders.
• Conduct workplace investigations and advise on sensitive internal matters.
• Support corporate transactions with employment law input where required.

Key areas include:

• Employment tribunal litigation (core focus)
• Discrimination and whistleblowing claims
• Workplace investigations and advisory work
• Board-level employment and regulatory advice

About You

• 5+ years’ PQE (flexibility to 4 years’ PQE for exceptional candidates).
• Strong experience in employer-side employment tribunal litigation.
• Ability to run complex tribunal cases independently from instruction to hearing.
• Experience in discrimination, whistleblowing and unfair dismissal claims.
• Experience supervising juniors or managing case teams is highly desirable.
• Strong understanding of the Employment Tribunal system in England & Wales.

Preferred experience:
• Exposure to high-profile or reputationally sensitive disputes.
• Experience advising senior management or board-level clients.
• Background in a leading City, Magic Circle or specialist employment practice.
• Strong academic background from a reputable university.

Non-negotiable:
• Must be England & Wales qualified.
• Must have significant tribunal litigation experience.
• In-house-only candidates will not be considered.

Why Apply?

• Opportunity to work with global household-name clients including JP Morgan, Citi, Google and TikTok.
• Exposure to high-value, strategically significant employment tribunal litigation.
• Real ownership of complex cases with strong partner support.
• Clear progression opportunities in a merit-based structure.
• Strong balance of high-quality work and sustainable hours expectations.
• Collaborative, low-ego team culture with high retention.

Salary & Benefits

• £135,000–£165,000 base salary.
• Hybrid working model (3 days in office, Wednesday mandatory).
• No rigid overwork culture; realistic utilisation expectations (~106%).
• Bonus structure includes:
• Performance-based element linked to chargeable hours (approx. 1,440–1,500 target for Senior Associates).
• Discretionary element based on contribution, client impact and BD.
• Additional firm performance bonus where applicable.

The Process

• Typically 1–2 interview stages with partners and senior lawyers.
• No technical tests or written assessments.
• Fast-moving process designed for senior lateral hires.
• Candidates will also assess cultural and work fit during interviews.

Ready to take the next step?

If you are an Employment Senior Associate (5+ PQE) with strong employer-side tribunal litigation experience, apply today.