SATIC: Employment Law Senior Associate at PwC South Africa

About the job

About SATIC and the role


SATIC ,the South Africa Technology and Innovation center is supporting PwC UK's Employment Law Team, delivering project‑based assignments, specialist legal advice and ongoing managed legal services.
The team's core offerings include client facing work and being responsible for supporting UK lawyers with undertaking workplace investigations, drafting reports and undertaking research.
It will combine strong technical excellence with commercial judgement, project leadership and a collaborative approach to cross-disciplinary delivery. This is an opportunity to advise high-profile clients on strategically significant matters in a dynamic, non-traditional legal environment.


Qualifications/Certifications


LLB or equivalent legal qualification
Admission as an attorney in South Africa or equivalent common law jurisdiction


Experience required


At least 3 years' experience with a solid understanding of gained in a reputable employment law.
Demonstrable experience across some of the following: redundancy and reorganisations; changing terms and conditions; investigations and ER advisory; managing litigation; and cross-border projects, involving detailed technical legal work under supervision:
Experience of the employment workstream on transactions and large-scale change programmes, including project management of multi-jurisdictional matters.
Proven client relationship skills and providing clear, outcome-focused advice.
Evidence of business development capability, including cross-selling and thought leadership.
Excellent communication, drafting and presentation skills.
Strong matter management discipline, including scoping, budgeting, profitability and risk management.
A collaborative, entrepreneurial mindset and enthusiasm for working within a multi-disciplinary, technology-enabled environment.
Strong organizational skills and experience of taking on significant levels of responsibility on transactions, including the management and coordination of local legal teams and external advisors.
Strong client service skills and experience of dealing with clients directly.
Draft a wide range of legal documentation for transactions governed by the laws of England and Wales, as well as reviewing cross-jurisdictional legal documents.
Collaborate with other PwC teams outside of legal, to support transactions by running the employment workstream on domestic and cross-border deals, collaborating closely with our Tax, Deals and Workforce colleagues.
Business development, including over time building a network and developing direct client relationships.
Proven ability to manage high document volumes accurately and at pace, meet tight deadlines, and juggle multiple priorities.
Proficiency with and understanding of efficient project management tools and legal technology to support the delivery of our work including process improvement.


Responsibilities of the role


Involved in a broad range of contentious and non-contentious employment work, including high-value and complex mandates and advise (with senior legal oversight) on:
Be part of workforce change projects, including restructuring and redundancy programmes, transfers, changes to terms and conditions, and intra-group workforce moves, often across multiple jurisdictions.
Help to project manage high profile non-financial misconduct investigations.
Help to provide strategic ER advisory support, investigations guidance and risk management advice, partnering with HR, Reward, Compliance and senior leadership stakeholders.
Provide strategic ER advisory support, investigations guidance and risk management advice, partnering with HR, Reward, Compliance and senior leadership stakeholders.
Design and deliver client training, thought leadership and horizon scanning on employment law developments and workforce regulatory change.
Support pitches and proposals, contribute to go-to-market campaigns, and identify and convert new opportunities, both within PwC and externally.
Manage matters profitably and efficiently, with disciplined scoping, budgeting, resourcing and risk management, and effective use of technology-enabled delivery.
Coordinate multi-jurisdictional projects, leveraging our international network to deliver consistent, timely and compliant outcomes.
Prepare plain‑English advice notes identifying material risks, required mitigations, and recommended negotiation positions aligned to playbooks and PwC UK Employment Law Team client risk standards.
Liaise with clients and internal stakeholders (partners, client teams, engagement teams, risk) to explain service‑specific requirements and PwC UK Employment Law Team transaction positions.
Support senior lawyers on complex transactions, ad hoc tasks, escalations, and negotiations; triage transaction packs and prioritize risks.
Maintain and improve playbooks, templates, know‑how, and SharePoint resources; contribute to training and process enhancements.
Support compliance processes (acceptance/continuance, independence, information security, data protection).
Meet agreed SLA turnaround times and quality standards; contribute to client satisfaction scores and continuous improvement initiatives.
Perform related tasks to support the PwC UK Employment Law Team as required.


Desirable skills


Clear, concise, and confident communicator (written and verbal); able to tailor complex issues for non‑legal and senior audiences.
Strong negotiation and influencing skills, using transaction standards / playbooks and corporate legal judgment to secure acceptable outcomes.
Advanced analytical and problem‑solving abilities; able to triage complex document or transaction packs and prioritize material risks.
Excellent plain‑English drafting with exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
Ability to translate legal and transaction risks into practical, business‑oriented advice notes.
Relationship‑building skills; becomes a trusted advisor to internal clients, and senior lawyers.
An interest in working in a variety of employment related advisory support.
Working knowledge of data privacy and information security
Strong technology proficiency: Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams), document comparison/blacklining, and collaboration tools (e.g., SharePoint/OneDrive).
Experience with legal technology solutions (e.g., document automation, AI‑assisted review) and openness to innovation.
Comfortable working with non‑legal advisors in multi‑disciplinary client teams.
Excellent organization and time management; manages multiple priorities and tight deadlines under pressure.
Data‑driven and process‑oriented; handles high document volumes with speed and accuracy; leverages checklists/playbooks.
Continuous improvement mindset; contributes to, playbooks, training, and system/process enhancements.
Cross‑cultural and time‑zone collaboration skills for example the UK - South Africa virtual teaming.


Requirements added by the job poster


3+ years of work experience with Labor and Employment Law
3+ years of work experience with Employee Relations