Human Resources Manager

ROLE OVERVIEW //

We are currently recruiting a Human Resources Manager, supporting our legal practice groups, to work within the HR Advisory team. The role is a permanent, full-time position with line management responsibility and will report into the Senior HR Manager for Legal Groups.

Human Resources (‘HR’) is responsible for supporting and developing the firm’s people to help drive and shape the future success of the firm. Our dedicated HR Advisory team provides a comprehensive offering, including end-to-end HR advisory support to all practice groups and Business Services departments. The team works closely with the other communities of expertise within HR and across the firm to provide a proactive, first-class service.

The HR department comprises the following teams:

• HR Advisory,
• Recruitment (lateral and trainee),
• D&I,
• HR Systems,
• Reward, Benefits and Wellbeing; and
• Global Mobility.

The HR Manager (Legal) is responsible for providing high quality, proactive advice and guidance to their dedicated legal groups on all aspects of the employee life cycle, people management and HR led initiatives, as well as supporting the wider HR team with the people agenda.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES //

The key responsibilities of this role are set out below – there may be others which are not listed. The role may require a degree of flexibility from the successful individual, which could include working outside our normal working hours of 9:30am to 5:30pm.

Advisory

• Develop and sustain strong business relationships with key stakeholders and employees in the legal groups and the wider firm to become a trusted advisor.
• Ensure a strong understanding of the work, people, challenges and intricacies of the relevant legal groups to ensure advice is proactive and tailored appropriately to support the changing needs of the groups and the firm.
• Provide high quality advice and guidance to partners to support with attracting, retaining and developing the best talent.
• Areas of support will include performance, career development, health and wellbeing, absence, disciplinary, grievance and other employee relations issues which support the effective management and development of our people.
• Work with the partners to ensure the structure of the legal groups is appropriate and meets the practice’s business needs.
• Provide regular strategic management information to groups, continually looking for ways to add to and improve what is provided and how it is utilised.
• Manage all aspects of the life cycle of employees, from embedding new employees through to conducting leaver’s feedback meetings.
• Provide proactive HR and wellbeing support to all employees within the legal groups, establishing presence within the groups and being seen as the go to person for support.
• Responsible for the implementation and smooth running of the performance review processes in relevant groups. Including attending and contributing to moderation meetings and running other performance and feedback processes such as 360 exercises.
• Work with the partners to consider feedback collated from leavers’ feedback meetings to identify key themes to address, finding appropriate solutions and supporting groups to implement them.
• Work with L&D colleagues to ensure partners and associates have the right skills, experience and knowledge to manage people effectively, including identify training needs.
• Facilitate and deliver training programmes in conjunction with L&D as appropriate.
• Working collaboratively with the D&I team to provide support and advice to partners on D&I projects and initiatives and embed D&I initiatives, and principles into HR processes and projects.
• Proactively identify where HR policies, procedures and initiatives can be developed and improved.
• In collaboration with Business Development, support partners with associate secondment opportunities and processes.
• Working closely with the HR Managers supporting the legal groups, collaborate and share best practice to drive consistency wherever possible.
• Maintain up to date knowledge of the group’s recruitment needs and any challenges, working in collaboration with the resourcing team to find solutions and support with aspects of the recruitment process where appropriate.

Management

• Working closely with the other HR Managers to manage, develop and mentor the HR Advisers.
• Play a proactive role in the wider Advisory team, role modelling behaviours, encouraging cross team working and knowledge sharing.

General

• Keep abreast of industry trends and developments, through a strong network of external contacts both within and outside the legal sector and make recommendations for change within the firm as required.
• In collaboration with the D&I team and Responsible Business department, work to embed the firm’s diversity strategy and principles in all HR Advisory projects and processes.
• Supporting the Senior HR Managers in defining and delivering the key priorities for the HR Advisory team both in terms of the annual business as usual calendar and on-going/new HR projects.
• Play a key and proactive role on projects and initiatives in HR Advisory and the wider HR teams to drive forward our people agenda.
• Working to ensure that the HR Advisory function provides a seamless service to the business.
• Work closely with other HR Managers across the HR department to ensure the wider team is aware of developments that will have a wider impact. Any other duties that fall within the parameters of this role.

CANDIDATE PROFILE //

• Candidates for this position should have direct or related experience of working in a professional services organisation, ideally with previous line management experience.
• Qualified at graduate level and CIPD qualified;
• Experience of working in a law firm or professional services business;
• An ability to interact effectively and build relationships and credibility;
• Strong working knowledge of employment law and best practice HR management;
• Experience of using HR systems and producing and analysing management information;
• Ability to build strong business relationships with internal and external contacts and the resilience to deal with demanding individuals;
• Client focused, with the ability to adapt and respond to changing needs;
• A confident, proactive individual prepared to take a hands-on approach to manage their workload and prioritise effectively to drive forward delivery of business as usual as well as project work;
• Comfortable accepting instructions and guidance from different angles;
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team but comfortable working on their own;
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, written, spoken and presentational including strong influencing skills. Ability to express views clearly and succinctly in a variety of communication settings and styles;
• Excellent proven organisational skills, with the ability to multi-task, keep calm under pressure and work to tight deadlines;
• Excellent attention to detail and good use of grammar;
• Proven ability to handle confidential matters with discretion;
• To act with empathy and have good active listening skills;
• Experience of working in a diverse team whilst fostering an inclusive team culture;
• High level of professionalism and integrity; displays the highest standard of professional ethics.