Tax & Reward - Knowledge Lawyer

We are recruiting a Knowledge Lawyer with at least five years’ PQE to join our Tax & Reward group.

About Macfarlanes

We are a distinctive London-based law firm with a unique combination of services built and shaped around the needs of our clients. Our unrivalled blend of expertise, agility and culture means we have the flexibility to meet their most challenging demands and adapt to the changing world around us. While many of our services can be found at other firms, the mix cannot.

We find, recruit and train talented people from all backgrounds, building careers for the long term, to one day shape and lead the firm. We know each other personally which means we work together with more cohesion, and less formality. Our culture is thoughtful, challenging and supportive, and we are a place where everyone, at whatever level, can thrive. We remain focused on equal treatment in recruitment, retention and promotion.  

Practice overview

Our Tax & Reward group consists of 11 Partners, 31 Senior Associates, 21 Associates, seven Trainee Solicitors. The practice is also supported by two Knowledge Lawyers who together provide full-time equivalent coverage.

We are one of the leading tax advisory practices in the UK and provide a full range of transactional tax work reflecting the Firm’s broad practice, including corporate, finance, real estate and investment fund transactions. We specialise in advising the alternative investment funds industry, in relation to complex M&A, and, alongside our leading private client team, advising large family-owned businesses. We represent a unique offering in terms of recognised technical excellence combined with specialists covering tax policy, employment and mobility tax, VAT, transfer pricing, valuation, outsourced tax management and tax risk management.

The role

We are looking for an experienced, UK lawyer to join the Firm’s existing Knowledge team to provide professional support to fee earners within the Tax & Reward group.

The individual will be required to carry out a broad range of work. Key duties will include:

Professional support

• responding to fee-earner queries and supporting fee-earners at all levels in accessing available resources to support them in their day-to-day work;
• assisting with preparing internal updates for the Tax & Reward team to ensure fee-earners are kept up-to-date with the latest technical and tax policy developments, including a regular newsletter update to highlight technical developments, relevant articles and publications, recent knowhow additions, and upcoming training.
• working with the Tax Policy team to ensure the group is kept up-to-date on proposals for law reform and HMRC consultations relevant to our clients and practice, as well as industry and sector developments;
• supporting all fee-earners, particularly juniors, to facilitate team cohesion generally and contribute towards a supportive and inclusive professional working environment.

Practice development

• supporting and collaborating with fee-earners in writing high quality, targeted articles and other content for publication on topics relevant to our clients and practice and aligned with the team’s business development priorities, including assisting with writing articles for technical and trade publications;
• assisting with facilitating and/or attending working groups within Tax & Reward to support fee-earners in progressing projects and initiatives for the growth and development of the various parts of the practice; and
• working closely with the Tax Policy and Marketing teams to contribute to and co-ordinate a wide range of business development activities within Tax & Reward.

Knowledge sharing and knowledge management

• generating knowhow contributions from fee-earners across all areas of the group’s practice, and preparing, submitting and maintaining knowhow entries in the knowledge management systems used by the team;
• collaborating with fee-earners to create, develop and improve the knowhow resources available across each of the different practice areas within the group;
• creating and maintaining standard precedents, guidance notes and other knowhow resources to facilitate fee-earners in their day-to-day work;
• assisting in institutionalising, embedding and continually improving the tax knowhow system so resources can be accessed efficiently and reliably by the team;
• assisting in reviewing external resources available to the team, and liaising with the central Information Services team in respect of group subscriptions and resources; and
• engaging proactively in an ongoing firmwide project to upgrade the knowledge management system and other systems and resources which may be useful for the team.

Education and training

• assisting with the planning for, as well as the organisation and delivery of, a high quality, relevant and engaging group education and training programme, including an annual technical conference, and weekly technical training sessions for all or part of the team;
• assisting with organising and implementing the group’s junior tax training programme and trainee education programme;
• assisting with supporting and coordinating fee-earners in Tax & Reward in providing education and training for other practice areas within the Firm; and
• assisting with generating ideas for, and supporting fee-earners in the preparation for and delivery of, external conferences and client events, webinars and training opportunities.

Projects and initiatives

• working closely with the Firm’s LawTech team on projects for the benefit of the Tax & Reward group, including driving engagement and buy-in from the team on new initiatives, as appropriate;
• proactive participation in firmwide Knowledge Lawyer meetings to represent the Tax & Reward group and contribute to firmwide projects with Knowledge Lawyer engagement; and
• engaging with the City Tax PSL Network and other forums and networks where it may be beneficial for the group to have Knowledge Lawyer involvement.

Please note that the job description is not exhaustive and may vary in line with changes in the team’s objectives and firm’s policy.

The candidate

This is a unique opportunity for an experienced Associate looking to move into a Knowledge Lawyer role to assist with supporting fee-earners across the full breadth of the Tax & Reward group, contributing to the growth and development of the team

The right candidate will be self-motivated, interested in, and committed to providing high quality technical legal support in an applied and practical context to fee earners at all levels, from Trainees to Partners. We expect our Knowledge Lawyers to be of the same calibre as, and work to the same standards as our other Associates. The role is very much part of and not independent from the team.

Ideally the candidate will have at least five years of post-qualification experience, but for the right candidate we would consider lesser levels of experience.  

The candidate may already have professional support experience or come straight from private practice. We are looking for an individual who is currently in a fee-earning role in private practice but who wants to move into the Knowledge Lawyer role, or someone who has recently made the move, so that the individual brings recent technical and market experience to the Knowledge Lawyer role.

Knowledge Lawyers at Macfarlanes are expected to record time fully, including against chargeable matters where their advice and assistance has added to the service provided to the client. Guidance given to individual fee earners which clients would expect to form part of the intellectual capital of the Firm would not be appropriate for time charging. The candidate would be expected, from time to time, to have direct contact with clients, for example in relation to education, updating or other business development activities or in respect of specific advisory matters.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks, which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These may include, but are not limited to, your professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records and employment references. These checks will be initiated with your consent and your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role. If you would like to apply through the Disability Confident Interview Scheme, please email the recruitment team at recruitment@macfarlanes.com.