Job Description

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Senior Associate to join our Brisbane office, working within a team at the intersection of employment, regulatory and commercial law.

This role will see you advising a sophisticated client base within the education sector, including organisations that operate and manage large private schools. These clients are complex, well-funded entities with significant governance structures, regulatory obligations and large, diverse workforces.

As a Senior Associate, you will play a key role in the team—working closely with Principals and senior lawyers while also taking ownership of matters and developing direct client relationships. You will be involved in a mix of advisory, strategic and complex matters, with the opportunity to contribute to the ongoing growth and direction of the practice.

The practice combines day-to-day employment and industrial relations work with high-level, sensitive and often complex disputes and litigation, offering excellent breadth and depth of experience.

About the Role

In this role, you will have responsibility for a broad and engaging practice, including:

• Providing strategic employment and industrial relations advice, including workforce restructuring, performance management, and termination matters
• Managing complex and sensitive disputes and litigation, including matters before courts and tribunals
• Advising on regulatory, governance and risk frameworks impacting large organisations
• Delivering commercially astute advice on funding, organisational risk and operational decision-making
• Working across commercial and operational matters with a workplace law overlay

• Leading matters where appropriate, supervising junior lawyers and contributing to team development

You will work closely with clients as a trusted adviser, delivering pragmatic, commercially focused advice on business-critical and often high-profile matters.

About You

We are looking for a confident and commercially astute lawyer who enjoys developing client relationships and contributing to a collaborative, high-performing team.

You will bring a strong foundation in employment, industrial relations, litigation or a related discipline, along with the ability to operate with increasing autonomy and sound judgment.

Ideally, you will have:

• 5+ years’ PAE in employment, litigation or a related area
• Demonstrated experience across advisory and/or disputes work, with the ability to manage matters end-to-end
• Strong technical and drafting skills, with attention to detail and sound legal judgment
• A pragmatic, solutions-focused approach and strong commercial acumen
• Excellent communication skills and the confidence to engage directly with sophisticated clients
• Experience mentoring or supervising junior lawyers (or a genuine interest in doing so)
• A proactive approach to building client relationships and contributing to business development

Most importantly, you will be a motivated and capable lawyer who is ready to step into a more senior role, contribute meaningfully to the team and continue to grow your career in a supportive and collegiate environment.

About Us

McInnes Wilson is a leading independent full-service firm with offices in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Canberra and Maroochydore. The firm has approximately 60 principals and over 400 staff nationally. We pride ourselves on delivering high quality outcomes for our valued clients whilst being recognised as a positive, collegiate place to work. We believe in our people and trust them with our brand.

What we offer

As a national corporate law firm, we offer exposure to premium clients, large scale, multi-party, complex litigated matters and transparent career pathways, together with a variety of benefits including: generous paid parental leave, paid salary continuance insurance, flexible working, study assistance, pro-bono opportunities, complementary massages, realistic billables targets for legal practitioners, a formal mentoring program, professional memberships, birthday leave, social club, EOFY functions and end of year celebrations.

All applicants should note that the successful candidate will be required to undergo background screening including reference checks and police checks.

Any questions regarding this role should be directed to our Talent team, recruitment@mcw.com.au.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our firm. We encourage applications from all qualified individuals who represent the communities in which we live and work. We encourage people from all backgrounds to join us; we are committed to providing an equitable recruitment experience for all candidates.

We kindly request that recruitment agencies do not contact the business in relation to this vacancy. Unsolicited CVs will not be considered or accepted.