Senior Associate - Corporate, Capital Markets

The role

This is an exciting opportunity for a Senior Associate to join a growing and ambitious Capital Markets practice within our Corporate Transaction Services team. You will play a key role in developing our broader equity capital markets offering, working alongside experienced partners on fast paced transactions for UK and international clients, while also being given the opportunity to build your own practice. 

The foundation of our practice is our market leading Venture Capital Trust (VCT) offering where we have the ability to act as both legal advisor and sponsor, providing our staff with unique experience for a City law firm. This has been expanded in recent years to be a wider listed closed-ended investment funds practice with the addition of investment trust and REIT clients. While there will be opportunities to get involved in this work, the principal focus of this role will be on the continued growth of our general ECM practice. You will advise companies at pivotal stages in their development on a broad range of transactions, including IPOs, secondary fundraisings, placings, public M&A, corporate governance and ongoing regulatory compliance.  

While we have a particular strength and focus in the natural resources sector, the practice is generally sector agnostic and we act for businesses raising capital across a wide range of industries. The role will offer substantial exposure to international clients, as well as the opportunity to build relationships with industry leaders, listed companies, investors, brokers, nominated advisers and other market participants. This is a genuine opportunity to help shape a growing practice, take on meaningful responsibility, and develop into a trusted adviser in a dynamic and evolving team.

As well as being a growing and ambitious practice, we are already well established. Adviser Rankings Ltd has recently confirmed Howard Kennedy as the law firm acting for the highest number of Main Market listed company clients. We are also ranked seventh in the FTSE Financials & Real Estate client count rankings, placing us ahead of four of the five Magic Circle firms.

Role responsibility

• Leading and advising on equity capital markets transactions, including IPOs, secondary fundraisings and public M&A.
• Advising listed companies on ongoing disclosure obligations and compliance with applicable market regulations, including the UK Listing Rules, AIM Rules and market abuse regime.
• Leading the drafting, review and negotiation of transaction documentation, including admission documents, prospectuses, placing agreements, shareholder circulars and announcements.
• Managing legal due diligence and disclosure exercises.
• Leading verification processes in relation to public documents.
• Coordinating brokers, nominated advisers, accountants and other professional advisers throughout transactions.
• Managing client relationships and acting as a trusted adviser on a range of capital markets and corporate matters.
• Supporting and contributing to business development initiatives and profile-raising activities.
• Supervising, mentoring and developing junior lawyers within the team.
• Managing matters efficiently and providing commercially focused, pragmatic legal advice.

About you

Ideally you will be able to demonstrate;

• Significant post-qualification experience gained within a corporate and/or capital markets practice.
• Strong experience advising on capital markets transactions and listed company matters.
• A strong understanding of UK capital markets regulations and listed company advisory work.
• Excellent drafting, technical and analytical skills.
• Strong project management skills, including coordinating multiple workstreams and managing internal and external stakeholders.
• The ability to build and maintain effective relationships with clients, intermediaries and colleagues.
• Experience supervising, mentoring or developing junior lawyers.
• Commercial awareness combined with a proactive and collaborative approach.
• A commitment to delivering exceptional client service and developing innovative solutions for clients.
• An interest in business development and contributing to the continued growth of the Capital Markets practice.

At Howard Kennedy we believe that everyone deserves the space to thrive. We’re committed to creating an inclusive recruitment experience that reflects the diversity of both our people and our clients.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and identities, and we’re committed to ensuring that our recruitment process is fair, transparent, and accessible to all.

We understand that every candidate’s needs are different If there’s anything we can do to make your application journey more comfortable— whether for interviews, assessments, or onboarding—please let us know. We’ll work with you to remove any barriers and ensure our recruitment process is comfortable for you. 

Contact our recruitment team at recruitment@howardkennedy.com to discuss any support you might need.

Agency Introductions

Please note that we are not accepting applications via agencies for this role at this time. Before sharing any named candidate CVs, please contact your recruitment representative. If any named CVs are sent from agencies without approval from our recruitment team, they will not be deemed valid introductions, and no agency fee will be paid.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• 25 days annual holiday
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Life Assurance
• Interest free Season Ticket Loan
• Private Healthcare
• Pension Scheme
• Staff Introductory Scheme
• Employee Assistance Programme

About us

With almost 200 lawyers in one location, we ensure our clients have the right team to help them get from where they are to where they want to be. We advise major corporates and institutions as well as entrepreneurial, ambitious enterprises which are often privately or family owned, or private equity backed. As well as our significant business law capability, we are one of only a few London-based law firms with a large private wealth offering. Our clients find our straightforward approach a compelling alternative to larger, less personal firms.

Whether you are an ambitious and talented individual wanting to hit the ground running from day one, or an established professional looking for a new opportunity, Howard Kennedy is the firm where you can really make it happen.

We have earned a strong reputation for our exceptional and uniquely talented people who between them deliver outstanding results for clients. In a firm of our size, our strong team dynamic creates a thriving culture of creativity and entrepreneurialism. Howard Kennedy is a pragmatic and non-hierarchical environment where success is shared, and you are proactively encouraged to thrive at your own pace.

Our distinctive culture is built on fairness and respect. Guided by the firm’s values of talk straight, think smart and be yourself, everyone in the firm holds equal value, and everyone plays their role in supporting, encouraging and inspiring colleagues to do their best work.

At the same time, we recognise and reward individualism, celebrating the diversity of our people and supporting them to grow their practice and drive their own career advancement.

As well as client work, there is opportunity to broaden your horizons at the firm with fulfilling pro bono and charity projects. We have a regular social calendar full of wellbeing activities, charitable and social events too.