Senior Solicitor

About this Role

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.

We are looking for a qualified, practicing solicitor with a minimum of five years’ experience. The successful candidate will contribute 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 technical legal advice to the NEU’s Strategic Leadership Team in matters of policy, and campaigning activity.

Specific duties will include the supervision of 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.


They will demonstrate that they have effective people management experience and the ability to deal with confidential issues; can work collaboratively as well as empowering and motivating others; knowledge and understanding political, educational and legal contexts with knowledge in the areas of employment, trade union, contract, equality law with a good understanding of all areas of law.

This is an exciting opportunity for a candidate who is keen to take the next step in the career. This is a newly created post and therefore the successful candidate will have a degree of autonomy to the shape how the role fits into the Senior Management Team and the wider organisation.

Further information

In addition to salary, we offer good conditions 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.

Further details can be downloaded from our website at https://neu.org.uk/working-neu where applicants will be able to complete an online application on our recruitment portal. Closing date is mid-day Monday 1 September 2025.

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

THE UNION IS FUNDAMENTALLY COMMITTED TO EQUAL OPPORTUNIES