Employment Agreement: senior employee

A comprehensive contract for senior staff, designed to protect your business.

Hiring senior employees comes with greater responsibility –  — and greater legal risk. Our Senior Employee Employment Contract template is designed to meet those challenges head-on. Drafted by expert UK employment solicitors, this professionally written contract gives your business the legal protection it needs while setting clear, practical expectations for senior hires.

This contract goes beyond the basics required by employment law. It includes enhanced protections around confidentiality, intellectual property, and post-termination conduct, making it ideal for senior-level roles where the stakes are higher.

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What this document covers.

This contract template includes all the statutory terms required under the Employment Rights Act 1996, plus enhanced commercial protections tailored for senior or managerial employees.

It’s suitable for roles with strategic, managerial, or high-trust responsibilities –  — such as heads of department, operational leads, or senior client-facing staff.

Key terms covered in this template.

    • Job title and duties
      Sets out the employee’s role and may include a high-level description of strategic or leadership responsibilities.
    • Start date and continuous employment
      Confirms the start date and continuity, with options to reflect prior service where relevant.
    • Working hours and location
      Allows for greater flexibility in hours and working patterns, including provisions for hybrid or remote leadership roles.
    • Salary, bonuses, and benefits
      Goes beyond the junior template to include optional clauses for performance-related bonusescar or travel allowancesprivate healthcare, or other senior-level benefits.
    • Annual leave
      Offers flexibility to include enhanced holiday entitlement above the statutory minimum, in line with seniority or market expectations.
    • Sickness absence
      Includes optional enhanced sick pay terms, suitable for more senior roles, while remaining compliant with statutory requirements.
    • Notice periods and termination
      Provides longer notice periods (often 3–6 months), with options to include garden leave and payment in lieu of notice (PILON) to help you manage exits smoothly and protect business interests.
    • Confidentiality and data protection
      Enhanced clauses to reflect access to high-value information, client data, strategy documents, or trade secrets.
    • Intellectual property (IP)
      Strengthened provisions to ensure any business-critical IP created in the role belongs to your company.
    • Restrictive covenants
      One of the key enhancements in this contract. It includes optional post-termination restrictions to help prevent senior staff from:

      • Poaching clients or employees
      • Misusing confidential information
      • Competing unfairly after leaving

    Disciplinary and grievance procedures
    Refers to internal procedures, with optional tailoring for seniority and board-level involvement if required.

Why use our template?

This template is a step up from a standard employment contract. It’s designed specifically for roles where the risks – and the rewards – are higher. That includes:

  • Greater commercial protections to help safeguard your business
  • Provisions that reflect senior-level responsibilities, including decision-making, staff management, or access to sensitive data
  • Optional clauses that allow for customisation based on role, sector, or benefit structure

Whether you’re hiring a head of operations, finance lead, senior engineer, or department manager, this contract ensures you’ve covered the legal essentials and protected your business interests.

Practicle guidance included.

As with all PaperRock templates, you’ll receive clear, plain-English guidance notes to help you fill out the contract confidently. These explain key terms and outline any options or decisions you may need to make, such as whether to include restrictive covenants or enhanced benefits.

You don’t need to be a lawyer to use this document. It’s designed for businesses that want professional-grade protection without professional-grade fees.

When to use this contract.

This employment contract is suitable for:

  • Heads of department
  • Senior managers or team leads
  • Strategic or operational hires
  • Employees with access to key clients, data, or trade secrets
  • Staff earning higher salaries or receiving performance bonuses

If you’re hiring someone into a junior or non-managerial role, we recommend our Simple Employment Contract (Junior Employee) template instead.

Template details

  • Jurisdiction: England and Wales
  • Format: Microsoft Word (.docx)
  • Length: Approx. 13-15 pages
  • Includes: Detailed guidance notes and clause options

A trusted resource for growing teams

This senior employment contract has been created by leading employment lawyers with deep experience advising UK businesses. It reflects current legal requirements as well as best practice when hiring at senior level.

At PaperRock, we know how important it is to get the legal detail right  – especially when you’re trusting someone with a key part of your business. That’s why we’ve created this flexible, robust, and user-friendly contract to help you hire with confidence.

What this document covers.

This contract template includes all the statutory terms required under the Employment Rights Act 1996, plus enhanced commercial protections tailored for senior or managerial employees.

It’s suitable for roles with strategic, managerial, or high-trust responsibilities –  — such as heads of department, operational leads, or senior client-facing staff.

Key terms covered in this template.

    • Job title and duties
      Sets out the employee’s role and may include a high-level description of strategic or leadership responsibilities.
    • Start date and continuous employment
      Confirms the start date and continuity, with options to reflect prior service where relevant.
    • Working hours and location
      Allows for greater flexibility in hours and working patterns, including provisions for hybrid or remote leadership roles.
    • Salary, bonuses, and benefits
      Goes beyond the junior template to include optional clauses for performance-related bonusescar or travel allowancesprivate healthcare, or other senior-level benefits.
    • Annual leave
      Offers flexibility to include enhanced holiday entitlement above the statutory minimum, in line with seniority or market expectations.
    • Sickness absence
      Includes optional enhanced sick pay terms, suitable for more senior roles, while remaining compliant with statutory requirements.
    • Notice periods and termination
      Provides longer notice periods (often 3–6 months), with options to include garden leave and payment in lieu of notice (PILON) to help you manage exits smoothly and protect business interests.
    • Confidentiality and data protection
      Enhanced clauses to reflect access to high-value information, client data, strategy documents, or trade secrets.
    • Intellectual property (IP)
      Strengthened provisions to ensure any business-critical IP created in the role belongs to your company.
    • Restrictive covenants
      One of the key enhancements in this contract. It includes optional post-termination restrictions to help prevent senior staff from:

      • Poaching clients or employees
      • Misusing confidential information
      • Competing unfairly after leaving

    Disciplinary and grievance procedures
    Refers to internal procedures, with optional tailoring for seniority and board-level involvement if required.

Why use our template?

This template is a step up from a standard employment contract. It’s designed specifically for roles where the risks – and the rewards – are higher. That includes:

  • Greater commercial protections to help safeguard your business
  • Provisions that reflect senior-level responsibilities, including decision-making, staff management, or access to sensitive data
  • Optional clauses that allow for customisation based on role, sector, or benefit structure

Whether you’re hiring a head of operations, finance lead, senior engineer, or department manager, this contract ensures you’ve covered the legal essentials and protected your business interests.

Practicle guidance included.

As with all PaperRock templates, you’ll receive clear, plain-English guidance notes to help you fill out the contract confidently. These explain key terms and outline any options or decisions you may need to make, such as whether to include restrictive covenants or enhanced benefits.

You don’t need to be a lawyer to use this document. It’s designed for businesses that want professional-grade protection without professional-grade fees.

When to use this contract.

This employment contract is suitable for:

  • Heads of department
  • Senior managers or team leads
  • Strategic or operational hires
  • Employees with access to key clients, data, or trade secrets
  • Staff earning higher salaries or receiving performance bonuses

If you’re hiring someone into a junior or non-managerial role, we recommend our Simple Employment Contract (Junior Employee) template instead.

Template details

  • Jurisdiction: England and Wales
  • Format: Microsoft Word (.docx)
  • Length: Approx. 13-15 pages
  • Includes: Detailed guidance notes and clause options

A trusted resource for growing teams

This senior employment contract has been created by leading employment lawyers with deep experience advising UK businesses. It reflects current legal requirements as well as best practice when hiring at senior level.

At PaperRock, we know how important it is to get the legal detail right  – especially when you’re trusting someone with a key part of your business. That’s why we’ve created this flexible, robust, and user-friendly contract to help you hire with confidence.

Explanatory Guides

As with all of our document templates, your purchase will include access to clear explanatory guidance on the document and its use.

Updated by a lawyer on 30/05/2025

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