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Job Title Banking Senior Associate
Closing Date 25-Jun-2023
Position Full Time
Business Entity Gateley Legal
Department Banking
Location London – United Kingdom
Job Type Experienced Hire
Description

We are seeking to hire an ambitious and dynamic Senior Associate (8 years PQE and above) to join our growing and successful Corporate Lending & Acquisition Finance Team in London.

This is an exciting time to join the team as we have just recruited John Hayward, a leading leveraged finance partner, to join Chris Fanner in our London office and we are looking to continue the development and growth of the team.

The team has a very strong deal pipeline and has recently won a number of new clients. We require a number of lawyers to help to cement and establish these new relationships as well as assisting with more established clients (debt funds, banks, private equity and corporate relationships). This presents an exceptional opportunity for the right candidate to work with two senior and very experienced City based specialist leveraged finance partners and to begin to develop your own practice.

As part of our ongoing strategy to grow and development the team the successful candidate will have very good prospects for future promotion.

We are seeking applications from Banking lawyers who have 8 years' post qualification experience who are qualified to practice law in England and Wales (or have equivalent experience).

If you are looking for an opportunity to work within a supportive, ambitious, growing and energetic team and would like to join an award-winning law led professional services business, we would like to hear from you.

Gateley are fully embracing the new hybrid culture, so a mixture of both home and office working is available.

The Team

Our Banking & Finance team consists of 12 partners and over 30 lawyers in the UK (with four partner and 12 lawyers in London) and has a wealth of experience in all aspects of international and UK financing transactions in London and throughout our national network.

We act for UK based and international financial institutions, including almost all of the UK clearing banks and "challenger" banks and debt funds as well as asset-based lenders, private equity and financial investors, corporate borrowers and high net worth individuals, providing the full range of banking services. We advise on senior debt and unitranche structures as well as super-senior RCFs and term facilities, mezzanine, PIK and other junior and hybrid debt structures. We frequently collaborate with teams in our other offices and we work closely with our corporate and private equity team.

We are members of the Loan Market Association (LMA) and we are used to working on multi-bank syndications, club transactions as well as bilateral transactions. The growing international reach of our business increasingly involves us in complex, cross border transactions for UK and overseas lenders. We have advised on Sharia compliant facilities, project and infrastructure financings as well as traditional debt structures.

Gateley have made a significant investment in IT and technology including an automated drafting system for complex and leveraged finance transactions. We also have two dedicated senior banking PSL lawyers and an extensive training programme for lawyers at all levels of qualification offering training in technical legal as well as soft skills. We are serious about helping our people to achieve and exceed their potential.

The Person

The candidate will demonstrate a genuine desire to be part of a rapidly growing team, enthusiasm and the drive to continue learning and be actively involved in business development activities. This role will ideally suit a Senior Associate who has previous experience working in a corporate lending and acquisition finance banking team but we would also consider someone with other transactional banking and finance experience who would like to make a transition.

Candidates will be able to demonstrate the following attributes:

  • The ability to work effectively in and support a team of other senior and junior lawyers with the objective of delivering an exceptional client experience
  • Strong drafting, technical and negotiation skills
  • Excellent inter-personal skills and a confident manner in engaging with clients and both more senior and junior colleagues as well as peers
  • A strong team work ethic and the ability to work effectively under pressure
  • Experience of working in collaboration with and mentoring more junior lawyers and other colleagues
  • A willingness to get involved in and help to organise business development activities
  • Drive, commitment, self-motivation and a "can do" attitude
  • Discretion and professionalism at all times
  • Exceptional attention to detail

We have a strong infrastructure to deliver and provide a comprehensive training programme encompassing technical legal, transaction management and soft skills throughout the careers of our lawyers.

The Benefits

With support, coaching and feedback from some of the most engaging colleagues around our great development and progression opportunities will reward your commitment and loyalty. We offer a competitive remuneration package where you will be rewarded for your individual performance with an opportunity to receive an annual bonus. There is also the opportunity to participate in our share option scheme for our senior associates (Gateley plc is listed on the AIM market).

In addition, we have a wide range of learning and development opportunities via our Learn platform to develop new skills and progress your career. Our My Flex comprehensive rewards package includes options covering annual leave (and the benefit of purchasing extra days), cycle to work, critical illness benefit, employee assistance programme, group personal pension, health care, season ticket loan and many more benefits (grade dependent). Finally, with Perks At Work/Home you can select a host of retail benefits that suit your needs alongside a Community Online Academy, free courses for all from fitness to coding to languages to hip hop dance.

We are Gateley

We are forward thinking and straight talking, our approach is to find solutions to the problems that our clients face. Gateley is a legal and professional services group, we are a group of formidable experts in all areas of law and business. Passionate problem solvers, we get our kicks from finding the right answers and getting our legal and business clients where they need to be. We support more than 5,700 active clients, ranging from FTSE 100 companies to private individuals, in the UK and beyond. Being part of Gateley is not just about the expertise that you bring; it's about attitude too.

The 'Gateley Story' is the story of our people and our culture. It is what has got us to where we are today as a successful business and it's the driving force behind the Gateley Team Spirit and the values that have shaped it. We have a set of shared internal values that capture what the Gateley Team Spirit is and this includes five elements that bind us all together as one Gateley: Ambitious for Success, Forward Thinking, Room to Breathe, Trusted to Do and Working Together. . Every year across the group, we recognise members of our team that have gone and above and beyond and have lived these shared values. They are recognised at our annual Gateley Team Spirit awards.

Diversity, inclusion and well being

Diversity, inclusion and well-being is an important part of Gateley's culture and values. We recruit talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures, providing equal opportunities for all to join our team regardless of age, sex, race, sexual orientation, disability, or culture.

We create an exciting and rewarding place to work that aims to fulfil everyone's potential and together to achieve personal and business goals. We offer flexible working patterns to help our staff achieve a good work/ life balance and we encourage candidates seeking flexibility in their next role to apply for any of our vacancies.

We are proud to have been recognised by The Law Society as gold standard for our Diversity and Inclusion Charter and to be Stonewall Diversity Champions.

Additional Information

If you are successful in receiving an offer of a role with our company a variety of pre-employment screening checks will be completed. Our screening checks can include but are not limited to your eligibility to work, professional and academic qualifications, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers. The screening that takes place will be relevant to your role and will vary from role to role.