Graduate Trainee - Contract (2 years)

Closing Date: 5th November 2025

Baker McKenzie's Graduate Programme provides graduates from all academic backgrounds with a valuable opportunity to develop their expertise through six-month rotations in four key departments: Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Legal Project Management (LPM), Procurement, and Process & Quality. This structured programme enables participants to gain insight into diverse business functions, fostering a comprehensive understanding of the Firm and facilitating meaningful connections across departments. Graduates will cultivate transferable skills essential for making informed decisions regarding their career trajectory.

An informal review of your progress and development will be conducted at the midpoint of each rotation. Upon completion of each rotation, a formal evaluation will be undertaken with your assigned mentor and department manager to provide feedback regarding your performance.

Participants begin with an intensive one-week induction designed to familiarize them with the Firm's processes and policies. At the commencement of each rotation, dedicated departmental training is provided, complemented by daily support from an assigned buddy. The buddy, in collaboration with the department manager, closely monitors progress and guides professional development throughout the programme.

Teams:

The Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance team at Baker McKenzie ensures the firm adheres to local AML regulations when onboarding new clients or matters. Their work helps protect the firm from legal, financial, and reputational risks by preventing misuse of its services by money launderers and ensuring business is conducted with reputable clients engaged in legitimate activities using lawful funds.

The Procurement, Strategy and Operations (PSO) team manages the Firm's purchasing and vendor contracts to ensure goods and services are acquired cost-effectively and efficiently, optimizing the supply chain under the best terms.

The Legal Project Management (LPM) team at Baker McKenzie uses a structured approach to manage complex legal matters, aiming to improve efficiency, control costs, and meet tight deadlines. This global team collaborates with lawyers to plan, manage, and review legal projects, leveraging process design, customized fee reporting, and advanced technology to provide expert support throughout all project phases.

The Process and Quality team ensures Baker McKenzie's business services run efficiently by supporting service design, quality monitoring, improvement projects, and workforce planning.

Main responsibilities:

Anti-Money Laundering:

• Research and provide 'Know Your Client' details
• Name screen to check for political exposure, sanctions, and adverse media
• Risk assessing clients and matters against factors such as the service to be offered, client entity type, jurisdiction(s) involved, and industries involved
• Research beneficial ownership
• Document collection and verification

Procurement:

• Maintain and update the contract's database, including validating content and ensuring key data/legal points are tracked
• Assist members of the team with various internal purchasing requests ranging from physical goods to software
• Assist the Senior Specialist and Analyst in maintaining the Procurement Department's central knowledge repository in Microsoft OneNote
• Shadow and/or assist the Procurement Analyst with the allocation process of incoming work, enquiries and renewal contracts to specialists based in Belfast, Tampa, Chicago, and Colorado
• Shadow on calls between vendors and specialists and participate in bi-weekly Procurement, Strategy and Operations (PSO) Team Meetings

Legal Project Management:

• Design and implement projects to run in the most efficient and coordinated manner, to ensure the project is completed on time and on budget
• Track and manage budget via detailed financial reporting, track timeline and scope through the duration of a project
• Leverage technology to reduce administrative burden, organize project deliverables, and increase efficiency
• Utilize the Firm's non-legal resources (e.g., in Service Centers), Business Professionals teams, and innovative approaches to grow profitability

Process and Quality:

• Encourage and coach teams to lead and initiate LSS and service improvement projects
• Support service owners and managers in identifying opportunities for improvement in quality, effectiveness, and/or efficiency
• Conduct an unbiased, independent review of important areas and processes of a service
• Provide collaborators with technical tools to identify multiple causes and address solutions
• Contribute to significantly reducing the costs and improving the productivity of our services
• Develop an agile and flexible mindset to opportunities based on quality-related data
• Support the development of reports and dashboards to drive continuous improvement within the services

Skills and experience:

• A 2:1 degree in any discipline, must have graduated by September 2026
• A high level of attention to detail and strong time management skills
• Solutions-oriented with an analytical approach Proficient in Microsoft packages, specifically Excel
• Excellent verbal and written English communication
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Able to work within a team
• Can show initiative
• Able to be innovative in problem-solving
• Creative thinker

About us

At Baker McKenzie we are different in the way we think, work and behave. With our team of 13,000 people, including over 6,500 locally admitted lawyers, in over 70 offices worldwide, we have a passionately collaborative community of 60 nationalities and are committed to world-class career development to everyone in every job at every level. Baker McKenzie can offer you both the uncompromising commitment to excellence expected of a top firm paired with a passionately global and genuinely collaborative working environment.

Additional Information Working at Baker McKenzie Belfast Center:

Baker McKenzie is the world's leading law firm with offices all over the world. Our Belfast Center is home to over 400 colleagues in both legal and professional services.

We offer one of the best workplace benefits packages in the industry, featuring comprehensive private health cover, income protection, life assurance, and a comprehensive employee assistance plan. These and a host of other benefits make us one of the most desirable companies to work for in Belfast.

Baker McKenzie is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to promoting diversity and inclusion for all. Our unique international culture is reflected in the drawing together of a worldwide family of individuals from diverse cultures and backgrounds in all of our offices. We encourage the best people - regardless of race, religion or belief if any, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation or age - to fulfill their professional aspirations with us. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and accessible experience for all candidates.