All Locations
Cheltenham
All Departments
Education and Charities

About The Role

Join an award‑winning Education team as we grow our corporate offering to meet increased client demand. You will advise a broad portfolio of education clients within the independent schools sector on sales and acquisitions, charitable mergers, collaborations, and associated corporate matters. You will work alongside experienced colleagues who liaise closely with Boards of Governors, Heads, Bursars, Commercial School Groups and School Proprietors, and will help deliver clear, pragmatic advice to assist in guiding them through transactions. Our team is known for its practical approach and deep sector awareness, built through advising over 300 educational establishments nationwide.

 

What you will do

You will:

  • assist and support a varied corporate caseload across the independent school sector, drafting and negotiating transaction and ancillary documents, conducting due diligence exercises, and supporting strategic projects and reorganisations.
  • collaborate with partners and colleagues across the wider sector team to deliver seamless client service, contribute to matter management and delivery, and develop trusted relationships with our clients and their leadership teams.

The work is intellectually engaging, mission‑driven and commercially focused, offering early responsibility with appropriate supervision in an exciting area of law.

About You

  • You are a Solicitor with 0–2 years’ PQE, bringing a foundation in corporate work gained during your training contract or in post‑qualification practice and the confidence to contribute to live transactions from day one.
  • Experience with education and/or charity law clients is advantageous but not essential; more important is your appetite to learn, collaborate and deliver with precision.
  • You will demonstrate excellent technical ability and drafting skills, strong commercial acumen, meticulous attention to detail, and the organisational discipline to progress multiple matters efficiently while building positive, professional relationships with clients and colleagues.
  • We value a proactive, ambitious and team‑oriented approach. You will thrive in a collaborative environment, show sound judgment under time pressure, and communicate clearly in writing and in person.

If you are motivated by niche corporate work that has real‑world impact for educational institutions and their communities, we would be delighted to hear from you.

How to apply

Please send your CV and a short covering note explaining your interest in corporate work within the education sector.

About Us

Benefits of working with us:
• Private Medical Insurance
• Sight tests / Glasses discounts
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme
• 28 days annual leave (plus public holidays)
• Bonus scheme
• Electric vehicle scheme
• International secondments for 0-5 PQE
• 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 12 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

Other jobs like this

All Locations
Cheltenham
All Departments
Education and Charities
All Locations
Cheltenham
All Departments
Real Estate Finance
All Locations
Cheltenham
All Departments
Dispute Resolution