Job Description

About us

Linklaters is a leading international law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices. Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere.

We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

The Regulatory Compliance team is made up of the firm’s global in-house lawyers and advisers providing advice on all aspects of regulatory compliance as well as strategic initiatives and projects, including new business lines and legal tech.

We horizon scan for new legal & regulatory requirements and implement policies and processes to ensure the firm’s compliance with them, including training and monitoring. We are the main liaison with the SRA as the firm’s primary regulator and support the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice in investigating and reporting potential breaches. We also oversee the firm’s enterprise risk management programme and report on key risks to the firm’s senior management and committees.

Reporting to the Head of Regulatory Compliance, you will work closely with and be well supported by the existing team of Regulatory Compliance lawyers and specialists (based across London and Warsaw).

Key responsibilities

• Manages risk within the Firm globally with a focus on legal risk management and internal compliance with applicable laws, professional rules, and regulations.
• Provide in-house legal advice to colleagues across the business on a broad range of legal practice and regulatory compliance matters.
• Supervise and manage junior colleagues in responding to regulatory compliance queries and process requests from across the firm’s global network.
• Acts as trusted legal advisor to the Firm on a range of regulatory compliance and professional conduct matters.
• Assists in the continued development of the Firm’s policies and procedures to help ensure its ongoing compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• Raises awareness about key risk topics through regular training and other initiatives.
• Manages internal incidents and compliance breaches including supporting with management of the firm’s relationship with its primary regulator, the SRA (and with regulatory reporting to the SRA where needed) and contributes to the development of the Firm's enterprise risk management system and procedures.
• Coordinates, supports and provides advice, as appropriate, on specific projects or initiatives prioritised by the Firm, in particular on ESG matters.
• Keeps relevant stakeholders informed of changes in regulations, ensuring ongoing compliance and risk management.
• Contribute actively to the promotion of a risk management culture throughout the firm.
• This role regularly involves receiving enquiries and providing advice outside core hours to ensure responsiveness to issues as they arise globally.

About you

You will be a qualified solicitor and have:

• 2+ years’ PQE (ideally with experience advising on legal and regulatory compliance within global professional services firms, preferably in the legal sector, with a focus on risk mitigation, governance, and professional conduct).
• provided expert legal counsel on firmwide regulatory issues, supporting internal stakeholders across multiple jurisdictions and ensuring alignment with evolving legal frameworks and ethical standards.
• Experience in the development and implementation of compliance policies and procedures
• Promoted firmwide awareness of key legal risks through training and engagement initiatives, contributing to the enhancement of the enterprise risk management framework.

What sets us apart

• We offer a truly global work experience and the opportunity to be involved in strategic projects that drive innovation and shape the future of our business
• We belong to a firm that embodies its corporate social, environment, and governance responsibility commitments
• We remain focused on talent and having the best people which will result in a diverse workforce
• Having got the best people, we want them to feel included, valued and respected so they can perform at their best
• We advocate speak-up culture to empower our people in sharing their voices and an open-door policy to ensure they are listened to
• We invest in custom-fit career paths for our people in line with their talents and aspirations
• We provide agile working solutions to meet the changing needs of our people and our business
• We are committed to people first relationships based on mutual trust, respect, and appreciation
• We support the health and wellbeing of our people, providing a safe space to talk about emotions and mental health with access to expert advice as needed
• We invest in developing leaders of the future who demonstrate emotional intelligence and a passion to discover, coach and develop the talents of others.

Our commitment to you/Linklaters

We are a friendly, informal practice and are committed to providing you with the support and training you need to maximise your potential. We place great value on working as a team in a positive, supportive, fair and open working environment. We respect and value difference and insist on inclusivity, celebrating all aspects of diversity because we want everyone to feel that they belong. You will be challenged, mentored and supported in the development of your career and given access to professional learning and skills-based programmes aimed at providing you with the tools to meet your career ambitions.

How to Apply

Applications are only accepted online via the portal. Questions must be directed exclusively to the recruitment team on: lateralrecruitment@linklaters.com and not the practice or partners.

Technical Skills

Business Partner Support, Contract Management, Contractual Advice, Ethics Management, External Relations, Knowledge Management, Legal & Commercial Research, Legal Advisory, Legal Risk Management, Policy Design, Policy Development, Regulatory Compliance

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive. It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

Application Policy

Applications and CVs (direct or via agency) are only accepted online via the portal. Queries related to our roles must be directed to the relevant recruitment team and not the partners, practices or stakeholders (lateralrecruitment@linklaters.com for legal roles or ukbtrecruitment@linklaters.com for business team roles).