Private Equity Senior Associate

Job Description

The role

Our growing global Private Equity group lies at the heart of the Firm's business strategy, in London. It offers unparalleled opportunities to work on the most high-profile and market-leading mandates.  The group advises an impressive range of clients, covering a wide variety of financial sponsors (including many leading international private equity houses, infrastructure and other investment funds, banks and other financial institutions), their portfolio companies and management teams. The group is supported by the Firm's integrated network of offices (providing the largest geographic coverage of any single law firm) as well as expertise in other key complementary practice areas (including acquisition finance, capital markets, funds and regulatory) and industry sectors to offer clients unrivalled strength and depth of resource.  

Our global team is best known for our capacity to lead on PE transactions of any nature and anywhere in the world. Having been leaders in PE since its inception 40 years ago and with over 700 private equity lawyers across our offices, the diversity of our clients and product areas, the geographies we work in, and our wider industry knowledge gives us a global perspective on private equity trends and issues. 

We continue to be recognised by leading industry bodies for our market leading work with some of the largest global PE houses choosing to repeatedly work with us. 

Recent deals the private equity team have worked on

• EE Capital as Fenway Sports Group agrees strategic minority investment in Liverpool Football Club.
• Partners Group on the sale of atNorth.
• Blackstone, Brookfield and KKR on their US$ 16.0 billion infrastructure partnership with Kuwait Oil Company.
• Sixth Street's Bay Collective on acquisition of Sunderland AFC Women.
• Permira on its strategic investment in Quadrante.
• Cinven and La Caisse on the joint acquisition of leading specialty MGA platform, Optio.
• 3i Infrastructure on the sale of TCR to GIP and on the investment in Lefdal Mine Datacenter.
• Vitruvian Partners on its strategic investment in ASR
• Partners Group on sale of Greenlink electricity. Interconnector.
• Permira on a $525 million strategic investment led by the Permira funds in Property Finder.
• Antin Infrastructure Partners on the acquisition of NorthC Datacentres.
• EQT on the EUR 725m IPO of HBX Group International ("Hotelbeds") on the Spanish stock exchange.
• Partners Group on the acquisition of Premium Pet Food Company MPM Products from 3i.
• KKR on acquisition of Techone.
• TPG Rise Climate on its acquisition of Aurora Energy Research.
• CVC and Cinven on the agreed sale of NewDay’s portfolio of consumer credit receivables.
• Permira on the P2P of JTC Group​.
• Cinven on the acquisition of Smart Communications.
• Ardian on the acquisition of a further 10% stake in Heathrow Airport.
• Blackstone on the sale of Dutch bank NIBC to ABN Amro.

Recent Awards and accolades include

• Band 1 for Private Equity in Chambers UK, Europe and Global 2026.
• Tier 1 for Private Equity Legal 500 UK and Worldwide 2026.
• Recognised as the leading legal adviser in Q1 2026, ranking high in both European and U.K. M&A advisory roles. according to LSEG data. The highest-ranking non-US firm by deal value, handling roughly USD91.7bn in announced deals
• 9 winning deals at the 2026 IJGlobal Awards.
• Shortlisted for 'PE team of the year' in this year's Legal Business Awards for the Cinven and CVC’s sale of NewDay.
   

Who you will work with

The lawyers in our Private Equity group are at the centre of market leading transactions, not only as legal advisers but working closely with clients at a strategic and business level. The entrepreneurial nature of the Private Equity deals that we work on requires lawyers with a unique blend of specialist skills. In today's challenging market environment, we play a key role to our clients as a strategic adviser, requiring practical, commercially minded legal advice to help them and their portfolio companies respond swiftly and effectively to the challenges and opportunities they face. 
 

What you will be responsible for

As Senior associate in our leading practice, you will work at the forefront of the market across a diverse range of deals. You will be part of team that offers cutting edge advice complemented by unrivalled quality of service, experience, and training.   

We advise on all aspects of private equity transactions, including: 

• Investments, whether by way of private acquisitions, public company takeovers, minority investments or joint ventures.
• Exits, whether by way of trade sale, IPO or dual track.
• Ongoing work for portfolio companies, including add-on acquisitions, asset sales, refinancing and restructurings.
   

Key tasks and responsibilities

• Being an integral member of the deal team on transactions, leading key workstreams on large transactions and potentially even running smaller transactions (depending on your precise level and experience).
• Drafting legal documents clearly and concisely, creating solutions using legal knowledge and commercial judgement to advise and support leading multi-national corporates.
• Developing relationships with clients and actively engaging in business development and thought leadership initiatives and seeking out opportunities for new work.
• You will have exposure to work which often involves complex, high value matters that frequently headline in the business press.
• As you grow in experience, you will have extensive client contact both as part of your daily working routine as well as having the opportunity to develop new client contacts.
• You will develop an unbeatable multi-disciplinary skill set as well as client-facing skills whilst working with some of the best-known market leaders in their respective practice areas.

Qualifications

Your experience

You will have strong extensive relevant Private Equity transactional experience as a Senior Associate lawyer, probably gained at a City firm, or at an overseas common law practice with a highly regarded profile.   

You will have an outstanding academic history and proven first rate legal skills, combined with a strong reputation amongst existing clients for providing commercial solutions and excellent transactional and managements skills and be recognised as a lawyer that is sought out by existing clients.

You should demonstrate strong communication and analytical skills along with a high level of commercial awareness.

You will need to demonstrate that you can thrive in a team with high professional standards and a flexible client-friendly commercial approach. You will have had strong exposure of collaborating with multi-jurisdictional and multi-disciplinary teams.

You will naturally be able to demonstrate excellent document drafting skills as well as strong communication and analytical skills along with a high level of commercial awareness.

It is crucial that you can demonstrate an appetite for business development, client relationship management and thought leadership. 

Additional Information

How we will support you

From your first day with us, you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and development your skills and knowledge. From formal training, informal coaching and mentoring through to skills-based and technical training and on the job learning. 
 

Hybrid working

This role follows our 'balanced' hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow, you will be supported to work in a hybrid way in line with the hybrid working policy. 
 

What we offer including our broad range of benefits and working environment 

When you join Clifford Chance, you will have access to a broad range of benefits to support you across many aspects of your personal and professional life including financial, wellbeing, lifestyle, and family friendly benefits. For more information on what we offer specifically in the UK, please visit our What We Offer page on our career site.  
 

Equal opportunities

At Clifford Chance, we understand that our true asset is our people. Inclusion is good for our team and their families, our firm and society. 

We are committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age.  This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment. 

We have a variety of flourishing employee networks. These networks are a place for colleagues to share experiences and advocate for change wherever they see an opportunity for improvement. 

Our goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in our firm.  

Find out more about our inclusive culture here.