Corporate Lawyer, 2+ years PQE

Job Description

Ranked among the country’s leading dealmakers, Harper Macleod’s Corporate team continues to grow and we’re looking for a lawyer who has the drive and ability to join a group advising some of Scotland’s leading businesses. 

Your role 

You will work with Partner Paula Skinner and her highly regarded team within Harper Macleod – one of Scotland’s largest and most active corporate practices. You’ll work closely with dynamic, founder-led and high-growth businesses across the UK, supporting them at every stage of their lifecycle, including start-up, growth and investment rounds to eventual exit. Joining a close-knit and fast-paced team, your role will involve general corporate advice such as advising on investments, acquisitions and disposals along with shareholder arrangements and share incentivisation schemes. Our team’s scale and reach mean we regularly advise on transactions of varying size and complexity, from early-stage investments to multi-million-pound disposals. Key sectors include technology, healthcare, and other innovation-driven industries. 

What you’ll do

• Manage your own portfolio of clients, with genuine early client contact and be ready to take a step up in your career
• Navigate differing client demands with confidence, organisation, and commercial awareness
• Work collaboratively with colleagues at all levels in a supportive and high-performing team
• Contribute to complex transactions while also leading on smaller matters independently
• Build long-term relationships with clients who value pragmatic and personable advice.

About you 

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Personable and client-focused, with excellent communication skills
• Commercially astute, able to balance competing demands and deadlines
• A genuine team player who enjoys collaborating and contributing to a positive team culture
• Experienced in corporate transactional work with a minimum of 2+ years’ PQE and experience of taking transactions from beginning to end
• Motivated by working with innovative, founder-led companies and fast-growth sectors

Why Harper Macleod? 

Joining us means being part of a market-leading corporate team with:

• Exposure to high-quality transactional work
• Direct access to inspirational and entrepreneurial clients 
• A supportive culture that encourages growth, learning and progression 
• Opportunities to shape deals and build your reputation in Scotland’s corporate ecosystem
• Ability to have a level of responsibility you are ready for – rather than a PQE way of working – so if you’re an ambitious self-starter, this is the role for you.

Let your ambitions and ours go hand in hand

At Harper Macleod you’ll be part of a collective effort that is never satisfied: celebrating the successes and inspiring one another to always improve.  You want to deliver extraordinary results for your clients.  We want to deliver extraordinary opportunities for you and encourage you to make a difference.

Harper Macleod’s culture is the sum of the actions of the people who make up our business – it’s built around taking calculated risks and pushing for innovative solutions.  You know the law, but you also know that there’s much more to being a lawyer than that.

You know that doing things the right way is always the best way – the right things for clients, colleagues, and our communities.  We will never compromise on this.

In 2025, we were proud to be named the best law firm in Scotland by the prestigious Chambers UK to go alongside many other accolades. A year earlier, we were named ESG Firm of the Year and the only Scottish law firm to be included in Legal 500’s Green Guide, both for the second year running. 

We offer a competitive salary and benefits package, active colleague engagement, wellbeing, sustainability & CSR programs, and the opportunity to develop your career.

We believe the best is yet to come for Harper Macleod.  If this sounds like the type of firm you’d like to be part of, maybe the best is yet to come for you?

To apply please send a CV and current salary details to Rona Cargill, HR Director rona.cargill@harpermacleod.co.uk.

Harper Macleod LLP is committed to promoting equal opportunities and developing a diverse workforce. 

www.harpermacleod.co.uk