Associate- Education

It’s the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams, together we win.   As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!    

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves, from when and where you work, to how you dress; we focus on outputs.  

Want to find more about our amazing benefits?

Our Infrastructure and Specialist Markets business group comprises of Residential Development, Commercial Property & Development and Building Communities supported by Social Housing, Town Planners, Energy, Education and Infrastructure project specialists. Our purpose is to lead the way in the evolution of sustainable communities.

Our specialist Education team sees its mission as helping to build the colleges and universities of the future. We aim to help our clients succeed and thrive in a fast moving and volatile sector environment. We enjoy exceptionally close working relationships with our clients who see us as a trusted part of their team and part of their path to success. We are involved in helping to develop the sector’s response to a wide range of social and policy issues. As a result, we currently advise over 100 Further and Higher Education institutions across England and Wales, including some of the biggest names in the sector. We are recognised as one of the leading firms advising the sector nationally and are ranked tier one in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners UK. Aside from our university, college and private provider client base, we also act for a number of sector bodies and regularly participate and speak at sector conferences and events. We advise on constitutional and regulatory matters; corporate governance; freedom of information and data protection; student relations and disputes; and international ventures.

We have exciting and ambitious growth plans and we’re looking for someone who will share our passion by joining our Education team. If you would like to be part of a team where you can really make a difference read on….

Our Education team are on the lookout for an innovative and ambitious Associate to help support the team’s development.  Your work will involve advising on further and higher education law and projects e.g. student matters, governance, constitutional, collaborative and international activity and regulatory (e.g. information matters). You will have lots of contact with clients, be involved in supporting some ground-breaking and market leading initiatives and be part of a friendly, fun and collaborative team who will support you to develop and grow your own profile.

Your key duties will be:

• Working with Universities, Colleges and Education sector bodies. 
• Work closely with other teams across the firm, particularly real estate, employment, disputes and commercial teams.
• working as part of a wider team that has a depth and breadth of experience and expertise across most industry sectors
• helping to build and grow the Education practice
• assist on a range of projects and managing your own caseload
• liaising with clients in a professional manner
• working to strict deadlines

Skills and experience you will have:

• ideally circa 3-5 years PQE, ideally specialising in education law
• a solid ability to prioritise workload and cope with changing demands
• confident interpersonal skills and the ability to work well with repeat clients and as a team
• strong IT skills
• the ability to seek out and develop marketing opportunities
• good technical knowledge
• an interest in being involved in marketing activities including attending networking events and writing articles for professional journals

Key competencies you will need:

• the ability to work under pressure and meet deadlines
• a genuine interest in the sector with a passion for supporting educational institutions
• a high degree of initiative and the ability to cope in a demanding environment
• excellent organisational and prioritising skills
• excellent communication skills and the ability to build rapport with colleagues and clients alike
• the ability to develop the knowledge and expertise of the team, as well as yourself

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have hubs in Birmingham, Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield. This role will be a hybrid of home working and from any of our office hubs with occasional travel to our Birmingham hub.

Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.