Overview

We are excited to share a fantastic opportunity for a Senior Practice Development Lawyer to join our Employment team. We consider applicants for any of our UK offices, excluding London. The successful candidate will report to Sue Gilchrist, lead Employment PDL with a secondary line to Kate Dodd, partner.

Responsibilities

• Lead collaboration closely with partners, legal directors, and senior stakeholders across the employment practice on strategic developments.
• Drive innovation by identifying and deploying new or alternative practices, products and resources that deliver measurable value to clients.
• Oversee horizon scanning and provide strategic insight into key legal and market developments, ensuring timely dissemination to clients and internal teams.
• Assess and advise on the implications of legal and regulatory changes, including their impact on transactions, disputes, and client risk profiles.
• Manage the development and quality assurance of technical and commercial resources, including precedents, guidance notes and toolkits with a focus on ensuring clarity, consistency, and visual effectiveness.
• Work with the firm’s BD and PR teams to contribute regularly to external media and Pinsent Masons’ Out‑Law website.
• Curate and deliver a robust current awareness programme, including newsletters, alerts and thought leadership content, tailored to client and sector needs.
• Strategically oversee the production and maintenance of precedents, standard forms, practice notes and knowledge materials, including digital and intranet content.
• Lead and prepare responses to public consultations on legal and policy developments.
• Provide expert analysis on legal and policy developments to global colleagues and clients, ensuring commercial relevance and clarity.
• Manage maintenance of the Team’s knowledge databases, ensuring accessibility, accuracy and strategic alignment.
• Work with the firm’s Central Knowledge and Research teams to ensure best use of resources and technology.
• Initiate and lead strategic knowledge projects, including scoping, prioritisation, and implementation – in collaboration with partner and lawyer teams.
• Design and deliver training programmes for the team, including bespoke sessions for senior lawyers and leadership teams; oversee organisation of all training programmes for the group.
• Identify and source appropriate external training for lawyers.
• Design and deliver training to key clients, including proactively identifying relevant topics aligned with client needs and market trends.
• Attend client and sector events, briefings and presentations.
• Champion innovation, identifying and launching new work streams, products and resources that enhance client service and internal efficiency.

Qualifications

• Previous experience working as an employment lawyer in a UK law firm, ideally for at least eight years.
• Client facing experience in a range of employment law areas.
• No previous PDL experience required.

Key Skills

• Enthusiasm and a desire to drive positive change.
• Practical and flexible approach, with an ability to think and act strategically.
• Self‑starter – innovative, takes the initiative and follows through.
• Highly collaborative and able to work among a group of high‑performing peers.
• Creates confidence with partners and senior lawyers and forges co‑operative working relationships with colleagues.
• Strong communication and influencing skills and the ability to work effectively at all levels with clients, lawyers and support services.
• An interest in the future of legal services and innovative service delivery.
• Self‑driven with highly effective time management skills.
• Experience of and a passion for training delivery.
• Approach and behaviours consistent with the firm’s purpose‑led approach and core values of being "approachable", "bold" and "connected".

Benefits

• A supportive and friendly working environment in a great team with warmth, dedication and a passion for excellence.
• Autonomy, responsibility and opportunities to develop client relationships with great clients.
• We are a market‑leading, dynamic and growing global team who work together to produce outstanding results for our clients.
• We invest in our team and have a fantastic training and career development programme, regular 121s, career discussions and appraisals.

Contact

Contact details: Steffy Lam – In‑house Recruitment Advisor, steffy.lam@pinsentmasons.com

At Pinsent Masons we value diversity and inclusion. We are committed to creating a better workplace where all our talent can succeed and feel like they belong. We want to attract, retain and develop people at all levels and encourage applications from all suitably qualified candidates whatever your ethnicity, religion, age, physical or mental disability/ long term condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression or any other characteristics protected by local law in the jurisdictions in which we operate.