About Arken
What is Arken?
Arken makes estate-planning software for the professionals who write wills. Two solicitors founded it in 1992, as DPL Professional, "to build transformative digital solutions that remove the administrative burdens that estate planning professionals face". It says its software "helps nearly 6,000 Will & Trust professionals" and that its more than 7,000 users have created over 7 million wills with it. The products draft wills, lasting powers of attorney and trusts, produce trust tax reports, collect client information through an online portal and handle clients' digital assets, with legal precedents and commentary reviewed by a Legal Advisory Board. Arken sells in the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it says it became the dominant wills supplier.
Where will I work?
Arken's office is at Oakhurst House on Mount Ephraim in Tunbridge Wells, Kent: the address on its website and, since March 2026, its registered office. Its careers page still names Westerham, its previous home. The week is hybrid: "Our teams can choose to work from home two days per week", which leaves two of the four working days in the office. Hiring runs from an informal phone chat to a video interview on Teams or Zoom, then an onsite (or virtual onsite) interview where you meet your manager and team. In September 2026 Arken had no open roles and invited CVs by email.
What is the Arken team like?
Small and informal. The team page lists 18 people and the development team, alongside six office dogs, and CEO Dave Newick has "over 25 years' experience in the technology industry". Arken calls itself "a fun-loving, collaborative team that strive to be pioneers in the legal tech space" and says "we foster a culture of trust and support, giving our people the positive space they need to do their best work." Its values are being "brave, curious and imaginative", working "with energy, focus and agility", and loving what it does. Its primary shareholder is, in Arken's words, "the founder of the 4-day working week movement". Staff go on "regular team days out, sometimes it's a summer BBQ with games and sometimes it's learning how to make cocktails", and "it's rare we don't have a dog in with us". Arken's four Glassdoor reviews give it 4.3 out of 5 overall and describe a friendly, fast-paced company.
Work-Life Balance
Arken works a four-day week on full pay. "We believe personal autonomy is key to productivity. That's why we offer our employees a 4-day work week." The aim, it says, is "100% productivity in 80% of the time" while you "still earn 100% of your salary". It moved to a four-day week in October 2020. In 2021 it told Legal Futures that all staff took Fridays off, apart from two customer experience staff who covered Fridays and took Mondays off instead, and that in a staff poll 76% said they were more efficient and productive and 81% were more likely to stay. Its careers page still lists "Fridays off" among the things the team loves, and two of the four working days can be spent at home.
Perks and Benefits
- A four-day week on full pay, with Fridays off
- Hybrid: two of the four working days from home
- Regular team days out, from summer barbecues to cocktail-making
- Dogs in the office