Markel

Senior Associate - Employment Law

Manchester (hybrid working)

Ready to take your employment law career further?

At Markel Law, we don't just practise law, we help businesses move forward with confidence. As part of a Fortune 500 group, we combine global strength with a people-first culture where your ideas, expertise, and ambition truly matter.

We're looking for a Senior Associate to join our highly regarded Employment Law team, recognised in the Legal 500 and known for delivering pragmatic, commercially focused advice to a diverse client base.

If you're passionate about complex, high-quality work and want to play a key role in a growing, collaborative team this could be your next move !

Why join Markel Law?

• Be part of a Legal 500-recognised employment team with deep expertise
• Work on high-quality, complex matters across both contentious and non-contentious employment law
• Advise a broad client base-from SMEs to large national and international organisations
• Join a supportive, experienced team (majority 15+ years PQE)
• Enjoy real opportunities to develop leadership skills and shape junior talent

What you'll be doing:

You'll play a key role advising clients and managing employment matters end-to-end, including:

Advisory & transactional work

• Providing expert advice on day-to-day HR issues, disciplinaries, grievances and disputes
• Supporting ACAS early conciliation, settlements and employment strategies
• Drafting and reviewing contracts, policies, settlement agreements and handbooks
• Advising on complex issues including TUPE and collective consultation

Contentious work

• Managing Employment Tribunal cases from start to finish
• Drafting claims, responses and applications
• Preparing witness statements and evidence
• Briefing Counsel and attending hearings where appropriate

Client & team impact

• Delivering training, updates and thought leadership to clients and colleagues
• Supporting business development initiatives and strengthening client relationships
• Supervising and mentoring junior team members

What you'll bring:

We're looking for a confident, commercial employment lawyer who thrives in a fast-paced environment:

• • Strong experience across both contentious and non-contentious employment law
  • Qualified solicitor or barrister (UK) with a current practising certificate
  • Excellent drafting, analytical and problem-solving skills
  • Ability to build trusted relationships with clients and stakeholders
  • Commercial awareness and a client-first mindset
  • Experience supervising or mentoring others (or readiness to step into this)
  • Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and multitask effectively

Who we are:

Markel Group (NYSE - MKL) a Fortune 500 company with over 60 offices in 20+ countries, is a holding company for insurance, reinsurance, specialist advisory and investment operations around the world.

We're all about people | We win together | We strive for better | We enjoy the everyday | We think further

Avencia Consulting are an RPO who provide a recruitment service to our client Markel International.

What's in it for you?

• A great starting salary plus great annual bonus & strong benefits package…
• 25 days paid holiday plus Bank Holidays, with the opportunity to buy / sell extra leave
• Fantastic company pension scheme, private medical and dental cover, life assurance, travel insurance cover, income protection, season ticket loan as well as other great benefits on offer
• There are countless opportunities to learn new skills and develop in your career, and we can provide the support needed to do just that!

Are you ready to play your part?

Choose 'Apply Now' to fill out our short application, so that we can find out more about you.

At Markel, we are all about the people, celebrating the value of a diverse workforce that brings experience and expertise from a wide variety of backgrounds and life circumstances. Whatever your background, if you feel you meet the requirements of this role then we want to hear from you. We are also happy to consider candidates who are looking for flexible working patterns.

We will ensure that individuals are provided with any reasonable accommodations to be able to participate in the job application or interview process and to perform essential job functions if successful.