Associate/Senior Associate

DAC Beachcroft are recruiting for an Associate/Senior Associate role within their Manchester Technology, Commercial and Data Protection team, to work for a number of key clients across sectors including financial services, health, insurance, manufacturing and real estate.

The Manchester team is small but the quality of work is very high and varied, with particular focus on acting on technology related transactions, data protection advisory and general commercial contracts.

Clients range from local scale ups, through to larger national companies and some international clients. It presents a great opportunity for a high calibre candidate to get exposure to excellent quality, interesting work.

The workload includes general commercial agreements (agency, distribution, supply of goods and services), software development and licensing, software as a service, technology implementation projects and bespoke IT agreements. On the data protection side, we advise on all aspects of compliance, particularly in the context of technology projects and work closely with our London based data protection team.

The work is therefore broad and of high quality, enabling you to work with various individuals across the wider national team for a very broad mix of clients. We are looking for someone with ambition and a genuine enthusiasm for technology, data and general commercial work, with an interest in undertaking meaningful BD and profile raising activities in addition to fee earning work. The ideal candidate would be able to operate with a fair degree of autonomy and would be empowered to develop their career here.

• Handle a varied workload and act as a point of contact for clients, demonstrating a level of knowledge and skill commensurate with experience.
• Work flexibly with clients who may or may not be legally qualified. Develop an early awareness of the relationship with and position of client contacts.
• Assist, where required, with the relationship management of existing clients of the business.
• Undertake marketing and business development activity within the team e.g. article and newsletter authorship, attending seminars and client training.
• Work with other practice groups to identify mutual business opportunities. Build effective internal and external networks.
• Maintain an awareness of the firm's strategies and plans.
• Maintain and develop technical knowledge and commercial skills and awareness through attendance at training sessions, reading appropriate publications and exceeding Law Society CPD requirements.
• Handle confidential information in line with the firm's data security protocols.

• Ideally 3-8+ years PQE
• Knowledge of and genuine interest in technology, commercial contracts and data protection and the market, and the enthusiasm to learn more.
• Strong Commercial technical skills.
• Experience of working in the Manchester market.
• Qualified solicitor in England and Wales.
• Proven ability to meet financial management objectives.
• Good relationship and client handling skills. Able to deal confidently and professionally with clients on day to day issues. Able to demonstrate a reasonable level of self-sufficiency, combined with an awareness of the boundaries of own competence/authority.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to negotiate and influence at all levels.
• Experience of dealing with commercially minded and focussed clients and shaping advice to the needs of such clients, or able to demonstrate a clear willingness and capability to work in this way.
• Demonstrate ability to work collaboratively with team members, to share knowledge with and support other members of the team.

We are a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We are market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients – from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK's top-five housebuilders.

We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe. In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Bogota, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Lima, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Madrid, Mexico City, Milan, New York, Paris, Rome, Santiago de Chile, and Singapore plus a representative office in Miami and broad network of affiliations across the globe.

At DAC Beachcroft we are committed to and recognise the importance of equity, diversity and inclusion across the board, including and beyond the protected characteristics. We take decisions based solely on merit. We value, welcome and seek out people with different backgrounds and life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, ways of thinking and identities.

We are happy to talk flexible working with our Flex Forward scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further.

Note for Recruitment Agencies

DAC Beachcroft manages all vacancies via our in-house recruitment teams, prioritising direct sourcing and referrals. When external support is required, roles are released to selected agencies on our Preferred Supplier List (PSL).

Speculative CVs sent to any DAC Beachcroft employee without prior instruction from our recruitment teams (LLP and CSG) will not be accepted, and no fees will be payable.

For PSL queries, please contact: or