Senior Solicitor

National Education Union

London (Hybrid)

  • Location London (Hybrid)
  • Sector Education
  • Client National Education Union
  • Job Type Permanent
  • Salary/Remuneration £89,359 (salary scale rising to £95,459)
  • Reference GSe127706
  • Closing Date 12 noon, Monday 15th December 2025

The National Education Union is a force for change in the world of education, bringing together more than 450,000 teachers, lecturers, support staff and leaders working in maintained and independent schools and colleges across the UK. It is Europe's largest education union.

The Senior Solicitor is a newly-created leadership role, sitting on the Senior Management Team, and contributing to the advancement of the union’s aims by overseeing and managing the provision of legal advice in terms of trade union regulatory issues, ensuring all legislative requirements are met for successful industrial action and providing legal advice to the NEU’s Strategic Leadership Team in matters of policy, and campaigning activity.

You will supervise the professional conduct and practice of all in-house solicitors in the union as required by the Law Society and Solicitors Regulation Authority; ensuring the union complies with all relevant regulatory frameworks; providing or sourcing appropriate technical legal advice; contributing to the union’s responses to government consultations in relation to legal and employment matters and assisting in the delivery of legal training to staff and lay officers.

We’re looking for a qualified solicitor with substantial post-qualification experience in employment and regulatory law, ideally within a trade union or regulated environment, proven leadership and people management skills, strong advocacy and communication abilities, and a commitment to equality, diversity, and the values of the trade union movement.

This is an exciting opportunity for a senior legal professional who is keen to take the next step in the career. The successful candidate will have a great degree of autonomy in shaping the role.

In addition to salary, we offer excellent benefits including 35 days’ annual leave plus Christmas closure days and a defined benefit pension scheme. Salary will be calculated pro-rata for part-time applicants.

We welcome applications from individuals seeking part-time, job-share or other flexible working arrangements.

THE UNION IS FUNDAMENTALLY COMMITTED TO EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES.

For an informal conversation about the role, please contact our recruitment advisors at GatenbySanderson Alison Elton or Jacqueline Lau at jacqueline.lau@gatenbysanderson.com

Apply now and help shape the future of education.


 

To view the job description and person specification, please scroll to the bottom of the page, tick to agree to the privacy policy, then click 'Continue to full details'.

Continue to full details and apply

Share this job

Featured jobs

Assistant Director, RSSD (Head of Research Performance & Systems Innovation)

University of Birmingham

Birmingham

Director of Transformation

Buglife

Flexible within the UK

Deputy Director Guidance and Review for Martyn's Law

Security Industry Authority

Manchester or London office-base with hybrid working and some travel across the UK

Deputy Director of Martyn's Law Notifications, Case Work and Assessment

Security Industry Authority

Office based in Manchester, hybrid working available