Salary: £26,000 - £30,000 per annum

Employment type: 12 month Maternity Cover

Hours per week: 37

Reporting into: General Legal Council

Department: Legal

Click here to read the full job description and view our excellent benefits here

This role operates on a hybrid working arrangement that will require 1 day per week working from our Coventry head office . This may fluctuate in line with business requirements. Our working model arrangements are a non-contractual benefit so please note that an Arden work location is added to our employment contracts.

About Arden University:

We are an aspirational and multi-award-winning university, delivering rapid growth with ambitious plans to disrupt the HE sector through our passion for innovation and digital education. Our vision is to become the first-choice university for career-focused lifelong learners worldwide, ensuring that everyone, everywhere can access higher education.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines, forge worldwide partnerships, and expand our locations.

About our Department:

The legal team touches every part of the University and we pride ourselves on giving our internal teams the best commercially astute legal advice. We are a fast paced business within a larger corporate group of entities and we balance delivering business as usual activities such as negotiating commercial supplier contracts with large scale projects such as property expansions and international projects. We use technology to maximise our potential and we work alongside business teams on the delivery of key initiatives.

As part of a larger corporate group we are involved from time to time with group wide initiatives and work cross jurisdictionally as part of the Universities international strategy. No day is ever the same and the work is varied.

The legal function also includes insurance, data protection and FCA compliance in addition to core legal activity such as commercial contracts, student complaints, property, consumer advertising, policy drafting, risk management and overall compliance.

About the Opportunity:

As a Legal Assistant at Arden University, you will play a key role in supporting a dynamic and commercially focused legal team that operates at the heart of the organisation. Working closely with internal stakeholders across the University, you will contribute to the delivery of practical, business-oriented legal support in a fast-paced and varied environment.

This is a broad and engaging role where no two days are the same. You will assist with a wide range of legal and compliance matters, including commercial contracts, student-related issues, property matters, and regulatory requirements. You will also support the team on larger strategic initiatives such as property developments and international projects, gaining exposure to cross-jurisdictional work within a global education context.

Alongside core legal activities, you will provide administrative and coordination support across areas such as data protection, insurance, risk management, and compliance. The role offers the opportunity to work with modern legal technologies and collaborate with teams across the business to help deliver key organisational objectives.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone looking to develop their legal career within an in-house environment, gaining hands-on experience across a diverse range of legal disciplines while contributing to meaningful projects that support the University’s growth and innovation.

About You:

The successful Legal Assistant will have / be:

Essential:

• Completed LPC or SQE 2 or someone who has significant experience working in a legal compliance/ financial services compliance environment

• Very strong attention to detail

• Record and document production skills

• Strong communication

• Excellent organisation

• Ability to manage own caseload autonomously

• Stakeholder management ability

• Commercial Contract drafting skills

Desirable:

• Experience of engagement with senior stakeholders

• An ability to progress workload at pace

Why Arden:

At Arden, you will become a part of a passionate and dedicated team who are committed to removing unnecessary barriers to learning and making education more accessible. Our people work hard to ensure our students journeys are the best they can possibly be, as such we want to reward our people with fantastic benefits. Employees benefit from:

• 30 days holiday + bank holidays on-top, and even a Christmas closure!

• A generous Aviva pension plan, company contributions starting from 7%

• SimplyHealth plan option

• Private Medical Insurance coverage (applies to certain job roles)

• Access to Perkbox benefits

• Study any Arden course for free, with a discount for all family and friends

• Plus, other excellent benefits

• Our ‘Golden Ticket’ which allows you to gift anyone in your life a free Arden education
  

Our Values:

Stand out, Progressive, Accessible, Resourceful, Kindness, reflect who we are as an institution, a team and as individuals. If they also reflect you and you are excited by the chance to be the driving, creative force within a growing business, we want to hear from you.

There has never been a more exciting time to join Arden University, as we expand into new disciplines and locations.

Closing Date: Monday 11th May

We reserve the right to close this vacancy before the specified closing date should we receive sufficient applications or in order to respond to business needs. In order to avoid missing an opportunity to apply please submit your application as early as possible.

If you are a current Arden student or have an upcoming course with us, you are not eligible to apply for Student Experience roles due to a conflict of interest related to system access.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion:

Arden University is proud to be a Disability Confident Employer. This means that if you have a disability, as defined by the Disability Equality Act 2010, you may be guaranteed an interview if you meet the essential criteria for the role.

If you wish to be considered under this scheme, you can indicate via the application form below. By doing so, you are also consenting for this information to be shared with the hiring team. For more details on what qualifies as a disability under the Disability Equality Act 2010, please refer to the guidance here.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Therefore, we make sure that our recruitment and selection processes never discriminate based upon people's age, disability, gender, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or other personal circumstances, and actively welcome applications from all groups.

Sponsorship statement:

Please be aware that some roles may not meet the points requirement for a sponsored Skilled Worker visa under the points-based immigration system. However, we welcome applications from candidates who do not currently have the right to work in the UK but may be eligible for a visa through an alternative route.