Senior Early Careers Manager

Watson Farley & Williams is an international law firm advising on complex disputes and transactions through local knowledge and an integrated international network.  We have a strong sector focus, combining our technical excellence with deep industry knowledge across Energy, Transport and associated Infrastructure.

The firm has achieved rapid expansion and year-on-year growth owed almost entirely to a focused strategy, strong leadership and the quality of its people.  The next stage in the firm’s growth plan is to achieve full-service strength within core sectors across the global platform.

We strive for excellence in all that we do and view investment in our people as key to achieving our business goals and values, which rest on developing deep and long-lasting relationships externally and internally through respect, sharing, communication and integrity.

Our global practice is integrated across our offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and North America delivering consistently high levels of service across borders and locally through a deep understanding of local business customs and culture.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace to attract and retain the most talented people from all backgrounds and cultures.  We believe in celebrating difference and that people from any background can rise to the top, ensuring opportunities to develop and progress are available for all.

The London HR team is led by a Global HR Director and comprises of a generalist HR Advisory team along with specialists in the areas of Diversity and Inclusion, Sustainability, Reward and Benefits, Resourcing and Early Careers.

Internationally, we work with the Office Managers or HR Managers across offices in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the USA.

Reporting to the Head of HR (UK), the Senior Early Careers Manager is responsible for leading the delivery of a comprehensive service to support the recruitment, management and development of 18-19 Trainee Solicitors and approximately 24 vacation scheme participants each year and, from September 2025, a small number of Solicitor Apprentices.

As the main internal and external point of contact for all Early Careers matters, this is a client-facing role involving key stakeholders in support of activities undertaken by the Early Careers team, encouraging buy-in and participation in all activities undertaken by the Early Careers team and overseeing a proactive advisory service to employees on all Trainee Solicitor and Solicitor Apprentice issues.

Head of HR, UK
London Training Principal
London Group Heads
Learning & Development

Marketing and Candidate Attraction:

• Leading all aspects of the firm's Early Careers branding, publicity, marketing and promotional materials ensuring that the firm's profile is represented effectively and in line with business needs and strategy such as the firm's diversity and inclusion strategy.
• Developing and executing comprehensive strategies to attract and recruit Apprentices and Early Careers talent.
• Designing and implementing recruitment campaigns and initiatives to target appropriate talent pools.
• Utilising innovative sourcing methods to reach and engage with diverse Apprentice and Early Careers candidates.

Recruitment and Assessment:

• Managing the Trainee Solicitor, vacation scheme and Solicitor Apprentice selection processes, overseeing the management of the firm's online application system and relationship with the external assessors, designing and participating in assessment centres, conducting interviews and overseeing all offer-related administration including PGDL and SQE sponsorship arrangements.
• Overseeing the organisation and planning of the three annual vacation schemes and their content and, with partners, making decisions on Training Contract offers to vacation students.
• Leading the design and delivery of work experience programmes for Year 12 students.

Trainee Solicitor and Solicitor Apprentice Development:

• Leading and managing the welfare and development of 36-38 Trainee Solicitors and, from September 2025, a small number of Solicitor Apprentices.
• Overseeing the organisation and running of the firm's induction for Trainee Solicitors and Solicitor Apprentices.
• Monitoring and analysing performance metrics of all Trainee Solicitors and Solicitor Apprentices throughout their training contracts/apprenticeships, ensuring high performance.
• Working with the Learning & Development team to ensure that individual and departmental training needs, and regulatory training requirements, are met and liaising with Trainee Supervisors to ensure that all Trainee Solicitors and Solicitor Apprentices receive thorough and varied training.

Future Trainee Solicitors:

• Overseeing the welfare and development of 36-38 future Trainee Solicitors during the period between accepting a Training Contract offer and joining the firm, including the maintenance of a programme of liaison, engagement and support.
• Leading our Law School relationship with BPP, ensuring a consistently high standard of training and education for future Trainee Solicitors and dealing with any future Trainee Solicitor performance issues that arise.

Trainee Solicitor Resourcing and Qualification:

• Overseeing the six-seat Trainee Solicitor seat rotation process and, from September 2025, the Solicitor Apprentice rotations, considering business requirements and SRA regulations and including all aspects of international and client secondments.
• Collaborating with internal stakeholders to identify talent needs and developing effective strategies to determine resource plans to deliver a pipeline of newly qualified solicitors to meet business requirements, taking into account the future needs of practice areas through consultation with Group Heads and the Training Principal.
• Managing the Trainee Solicitor and Solicitor Apprentice qualification process with a view to maximising retention rates for each Trainee Solicitor and Solicitor Apprentice intake and providing support to Trainee Solicitors and Solicitor Apprentices who don't stay with the firm on qualification.
• Overseeing all SRA paperwork and processes relating to admission to the roll, liaising with the SRA on all relevant queries and keeping up to date with SRA regulations and processes.

Other:

• Managing and developing an Early Careers Advisor and an Early Careers Assistant.
• Being responsible for budgeting and monitoring all costs relating to Early Careers and ensuring return on investment
• Conducting regular reviews of salaries, Cost of Living Allowance payments and maintenance grants.
• Ad hoc projects and any other reasonable duties as required.

• Experience of operating successfully at Manager level in a Graduate Recruitment and Development / Early Careers focused role, ideally gained within a legal environment.
• Good process, project and change management experience with proven ability to implement change initiatives successfully.
• Experience of improving processes and driving value-add service delivery.
• A confident communicator who is able to build trust and offer proactive solutions.
• The ability to foster and develop relationships with internal and external clients.
• Proven ability in influencing at management level with a commercial mindset to understand the client's needs and what is important to them.
• A collaborative working style, pragmatic and positive in approach.
• Attention to detail and a passion for high quality and accuracy.
• Strong IT skills including proficiency in HR technology/systems.
• Experience of managing junior team members essential. 

We offer a competitive benefits and wellbeing package for all employees.

The Firm promotes a culture of agility and flexibility and is fully supportive of flexible working arrangements where these can be accommodated.

Respect for different backgrounds and perspectives is at the heart of our firm’s core values and we recognise the importance of fostering an inclusive environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential. This is a key feature of our Global Code of Conduct, which places diversity and inclusion at the centre of our firm’s ways of working.

We believe that exceptional client service can only be delivered by exceptional people. For this reason, we aim to attract, retain and develop the best talent from a wide range of backgrounds. All decisions relating to employment will be objective and based on merit and ability.

We are committed to ensuring that our recruitment processes are as inclusive and barrier-free as possible. This includes making adjustments for candidates with a disability or long-term health condition.  If you require adjustments to be made at any stage of the recruitment process, we’d encourage you to get in touch with a member of our team who would be happy to discuss options with you.