Senior Associate/Partner

About The Role

Legal Director/Partner – Corporate (Education)
Education Team | Cheltenham

About the role

Our award‑winning Education team is continuing to expand its corporate offering, and we are looking to recruit a senior solicitor (8 years + PQE) to play a key role in the next phase of the team’s growth.

This is a strategic hire, and the successful candidate will work closely with the Partner leading the corporate education practice, supporting the delivery of high‑quality work while also helping to drive the practice forward through business development and client relationship growth.

Education plays a vital role in everyone’s life, and advising schools on their long‑term future, through mergers, acquisitions and strategic collaborations, is both fascinating and highly rewarding. This role offers the opportunity to combine high‑quality transactional work with genuine sector specialism and a visible external profile.

About our Education team

Our Education team acts for over 300 educational institutions, including independent schools, academies, further education colleges, and universities. We work closely with Boards of Governors, Heads, Bursars, commercial school groups and school proprietors, supporting them through change, growth and challenge. The team is nationally recognised for its deep understanding of the education sector and its ability to provide clear, pragmatic advice in a highly regulated environment.

The work

You will take a leading role in advising education clients, particularly within the independent school sector, on a broad range of corporate matters, including:

• Sales and acquisitions of independent schools and commercial school groups,
• Charitable mergers, restructurings and collaborations,
• Strategic projects supporting long‑term sustainability and growth,
• Corporate governance and constitutional matters,
• Collaborate with partners and colleagues across the wider sector team to deliver seamless client service,
• Help grow the practice by getting involved with business development initiatives and build strong referral relationships externally and internally,
• Contribute to the team’s sector profile, including events, thought leadership and client training,
• Take ownership of client relationships and help mentor more junior team members.

You will regularly work with Boards of Governors, trustees, Heads, Bursars, school proprietors and directors, building trusted relationships and providing pragmatic, commercially focused advice tailored to the realities of the education sector.

About You

About you

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys being visible, takes pride in developing client relationships, and wants to play a meaningful role in shaping a growing specialist practice.

You will ideally have:

• Strong corporate experience at Legal Director or Partner level,
• A solid grounding in transactions, with confidence running matters day‑to‑day,
• Experience of, or holding a genuine interest in, the education and/or charity sector,
• Confidence going out to win work, develop contacts and convert opportunities,
• Excellent technical ability and drafting skills,
• Strong commercial awareness and a pragmatic mindset,
• A collaborative leadership style and enthusiasm for mentoring junior colleagues.

About Us

Why join our Education Team?

• A senior, visible role within a growing and well‑regarded education practice,
• The opportunity to help shape and grow the corporate education offering,
• High‑quality, meaningful work with real sector impact,
• Clear progression opportunities for someone with Partner ambitions,
• A collaborative, supportive culture that values initiative and leadership.

Benefits of working with us:

• Income Protection

• Private Medical Insurance

• Sight tests / Glasses discounts

• Bonus scheme
• Electric vehicle scheme

• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme

• 28 days annual leave (plus public holidays)
• Happy People / Perks at Work benefits portal
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Life Assurance
• 1/3 gym membership contribution
• Flu vaccinations

Is HCR the smart move for you?
HCR suits people who love a challenge and want to work in an environment where careers thrive on the back of hard work and personal merit. Our people enjoy feeling part of something bigger than themselves, and whilst our clients drive our development, it is our people who bring their energy, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial mindsets together to solve problems and help our clients succeed.

Why HCR people love their jobs
Our people tell us they enjoy working on good quality, interesting matters from a wide variety of our clients, because they get the experience they want to develop their careers. We will give you responsibility early, the mandate to make things happen and we’ll back your good ideas. Our “Passion for People” lives and breathes every day throughout the firm as our peoples’ energy and sense of fun create a warm environment in which to thrive.

What career progression will HCR offer you?
HCR’s growth constantly creates opportunities for people who want to go places and make a difference, your career plan can become part of our growth plan. At HCR you can expect to work with friendly, energetic, ambitious people, who love getting stuck into a client problem, and enjoy celebrating a good outcome. Our people value the sense of community provided by the individual personality of each office and the collegiate approach across all our service and sector teams.

What does HCR believe, achieve and stand for?
As a Times Best Law firm, among the UK Top 50, we provide the full range of services that you would expect to organisations, business leaders and individuals. However, in our mission to give everyone the opportunity to experience a different kind of legal service we take an entrepreneurial approach. We’re flexible and responsive to the needs of our clients, delivering the best outcomes for them. We have more than 1000 lawyers and support staff, including more than 180 partners, and have been awarded the Law Society’s Lexcel quality mark in recognition of our compliance and client care standards.

With 13 offices in England and Wales our well-established presence stretches from west to east, ensuring clients can access a full-service legal offering no matter where they’re located. We’ve expanded significantly across all our regions, and are well-respected as a regional firm with a strong London and international presence.

With solid connections in the communities we work in, and a track record of delivering legal advice to businesses and individuals throughout the areas we base ourselves in, our clients continue to value our approach to providing legal advice, in the way they need, when they need it.

As HCR is an equal opportunities employer, we don’t just accept differences, we celebrate them. We want to attract a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and skills to create a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and which works together to achieve the best outcome for our clients. We are privileged to be an armed forces-friendly organisation.

We also want you to achieve your absolute best during the recruitment process. Please let us know of any changes we can make at any point that will help support your application. If this opportunity sounds of interest to you, please make an application and submit your CV.

A note for recruitment agencies – The HCR Resourcing Team is responsible for recruitment across the firm, and where possible will use direct hiring methods. We do work with a Preferred Supplier List, and where appropriate, we will release vacancies to those agencies who we deem most appropriate to support us. Only those agencies will be invited to submit candidates via our recruitment portal. Any speculative or unsolicited CVs sent to any employee or Partner of HCR will not be considered an introduction, and no fees will be applicable. Furthermore, we retain the right to pursue these candidates without query of ownership