New Business Assistant

Shoosmiths - UK Law Firm of the Year Winner at the Legal Week British Legal Awards 2015.

A leading UK law firm with a network of offices from the South Coast to Scotland, working together as one national team. An innovative practice and the first top 100 law firm to achieve “Gold Standard” Investors in People, our values and culture are not just words on our website but are the heartbeat of the firm. The lack of barriers between departments, a real lack of hierarchy, zero tolerance for arrogance and pomposity makes Shoosmiths a fantastic place to work.

Shoosmiths Private Client Conveyancing Team offers a highly professional conveyancing service designed to make the process of buying or selling your personal property anywhere in the world as efficient and stress-free as can be.

Shoosmiths remains the largest firm of conveyancing solicitors accredited under the Law Society's Conveyancing Quality Scheme. The conveyancing service provided by our Private Client Practice maintains the same high standards corporate clients have come to expect of Shoosmiths and is consistently commended in national consumer service awards.

Are you looking for your first move into an office-based administration/customer service job? Shoosmiths’ New Business Team are looking for an individual with a background in customer service and excellent organisational skills to ensure that new customers engaging the firm’s conveyancing services receive the best service possible.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone looking to start a career in conveyancing, as you will initially work in a trainee capacity and through our excellent training programme, gain knowledge of the conveyancing process from end-to-end.

You will play a pivotal role in incepting and opening new files for the conveyancing department and provide for the case teams any administration necessary to assist in the smooth progression of transactions. This will include uploading new files onto the case management system, allocating unreferenced post to the correct teams, ensure filing is kept tidy and accurate, and delivering new files promptly.

As a first point of contact for new customers, you will be given the responsibility to establish and build on the initial relationship and through acquiring knowledge of the conveyancing processes, be able to answer any queries in the early stages. You will be dealing with a range of customers from first-time buyers through to experienced sellers, therefore you will need to be able to answer the telephone in a professional manner and refer on customers to the relevant team where necessary.

In return, you will be given the opportunity to go through a structured training programme, attending training sessions arranged by the Conveyancing Trainer, completing online courses and shadowing more experienced members of the team.

The ideal candidate will have previous customer service experience, preferably gained within an office environment (however we will consider candidates with wider experience). You will have excellent attention to detail and a professional telephone manner.

Essential skills & experience:

• Excellent customer service experience, preferably gained within an office environment however we will still consider candidates with wider experience (e.g. hospitality, front of house, retail).
• Good written, numeracy and oral communication skills
• Accuracy and attention to detail
• IT literate with experience of using Word, Excel and the internet
• Ability to prioritise, be organised and efficient
• Flexibility with the capability to adapt to change, new practices and cope under pressure but with the ability to recognise when to seek assistance
• Able to integrate within a team and able to work on your own initiative
• A minimum of 5 GCSEs at grade C or above (or equivalent) to include Maths and English
• You must be available to work a late shift (11am - 7pm with a half hour break) and Saturdays on a rota basis, time off in lieu will be given for weekend working.

Desired skills & experience:

• Office administration experience within the property or financial service sector - e.g. Estate Agents, Mortgage Broker, Building Society, etc.

You may also have experience in the following: Administration Assistant, Customer Service Administrator, Customer Service Assistant, Conveyancing Assistant, Property Assistant, Lettings Administrator, and Property Sales Negotiator.

Benefits package 

Shoosmiths has an outstanding benefits package; we believe that all staff should be rewarded for their commitment to the continued success of the firm. These can include:

• A pension scheme with employer contributions of up to 5.5%
• Generous life assurance cover for peace of mind, up to 8 times salary
• Up to 23 paid working days holiday per annum with the option to buy up to 8 additional days. You can choose to 'flex' twice a year - January and July
• 'Happy Birthday!' - have a free day off to celebrate and a £50 voucher to spend! (We won't take it from your annual entitlement)
• Childcare vouchers which are not subject to tax or NI
• Interest free season ticket loans
• Staff introduction bonus scheme
• Corporate discounts on a wide variety of products and services
• Discounted conveyancing and legal advice, for instance for wills and family trusts

If you'd like to enquire about the salary, please feel free to get in touch with me via matthew.mercer@shoosmiths.co.uk or 03700 863 267. 

The application process

We will aim to respond to you within 3-4 working days following your application. If successful, you will be contacted by a member of our recruitment team for an informal telephone discussion. There will be one interview stage which will be held at our Northampton office. 

Interested but have further questions? Get in touch with me directly via email (matthew.mercer@shoosmiths.co.uk), phone (03700 863 267) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-mercer-91811a25). 

Shoosmiths is a committed Equal Opportunities employer promoting equality of opportunity. This means that everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, whatever their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, disability, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.