HR Business Partner

Our client, a leading global law firm require a HR Business Partner to join their growing team.

Reporting to the Senior Human Resources Partner, you’ll provide generalist HR advice across the location/s you support. You’ll also be responsible for firmwide project work and other HR  activity or Senior Office Partner relationship where appropriate.

Key responsibilities:

• Supporting the Senior HRBP team in the definition and delivery of HR strategy/plan for the Practice Groups in your location, in line with the People Strategy. Implementing key firmwide people related initiatives within the client group.
• Acting as a business partner to managers/partners. Delivering performance management, budgeting, workforce planning, project and change management. Exploring and challenging team structures to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Influencing and being part of project teams delivering business strategies and initiatives.
• Challenging existing HR ways of working to ensure maximum efficiency across all day to day activities.
• Supporting the business in driving and managing change (to leaders, role structures, new ways of working, use of new skills etc.) effectively, using change management tools and processes to ensure that teams continue to operate effectively.
• Coaching partners and managers and being their trusted advisors, not just on people issues but on business decisions and direction. When providing advice, always ensuring employment legislation is balanced alongside a commercial approach.
• Monitoring, measuring and reporting on HR issues, opportunities and development plans and achievements, through HR data analysis, to enable fact based decision making. Always doing so to agreed formats and timescales.
• Influencing reward decisions effectively within the practice group, ensuring compliance with the firmwide Reward approach and fairness & consistency of decision making. Co-ordinating the salary review & bonus allocation process for the relevant teams, taking accountability for ensuring that decisions are accurately captured and processed.
• Understanding the International priorities of the practice groups and promoting international mobility. Supporting both outbound and inbound international assignees and the relevant processes associated with international mobility, including package negotiation and arranging sponsors, performance management and repatriation.
• Championing the learning agenda within teams, and ensuring participation in the relevant programmes for individuals depending on their performance and potential. Working with the partners to develop talent and succession plans, working to ensure that the diversity profile of the practice groups improves in line with the firms objectives for inclusivity. Supporting the line manager to carry out the development activities identified in the plans in terms of both formal training and work place activities at Associate and Senior Associate level.
• Delivering training sessions to line managers on all relevant aspects of the HR annual cycle, i.e. PDR for reviewees and reviewers, induction day one etc
• Understanding and being able to explain the benefits of all the programmes in the core career programmes to enable the identification of the right individuals to participate and then ‘sell’ the programme to them. Supporting the Senior HRBPs to agree the core career programme nominations for the practice groups.
• Support the employee engagement agenda within your location/s. Understand and translate the employee engagement survey ‘Pulse’ results into meaningful action plans which are communicated within teams and acted upon. Encourage CR and probono activity and participation within client groups as part of engagement agenda.
• Managing vacancy approval (through budget as required), and then supporting the recruitment team to deliver external and internal recruitment for the practice groups. Ensuring the recruitment team are able to build an understanding of the practice group commercials and dynamics, and have access to line managers to enable effective recruitment processes.
• Managing the onboarding of all external candidates from induction planning onwards.
• Continuously increasing understanding of the wider world of HR, sharing external perspectives and best practice with the business and HR colleagues.
• Trainees – ownership of trainees during their seats in the practice groups, and inclusion in talent planning activities.

Skills and experience:

• Successful candidates will ideally be fully CIPD qualified and have a good amount experience in a generalist advisory role, ideally from professional services, but primarily experienced in working in a large and complex international organisation.
• You’ll have a good understanding and practical experience of complex ER and L&D delivery. In addition, we are looking for someone with a well-developed commercial acumen, with the ability to contribute to the wider business and HR agenda.
• Ideally your experience will include exposure to organisational development and change management.
• You’ll have a track record of coaching, motivating and influencing at management level using pragmatic and data based approach.
• Well-developed diplomacy, listening and influencing skills. You’ll demonstrate a range of influencing skills, personal impact and communication skills that will ensure success and command instant credibility at all levels of the firm.
• Excellent IT skills; competent Excel skills essential and competent in the use of information systems highly desirable.

Key competencies:

• Ability to drive change in a partnership, providing ‘friendly challenge’ and innovative thinking.

• Confident and credible in dealing with internal and external stakeholders and clients.
   
• Strong financial acumen and ability to understand the performance of the practice group and teams. Numerically agile and able to understand and interpret complex salary and performance data to influence decisions.
• A good understanding of how to add value in the HR arena and demonstrate this value within an organisation.
   
• Creative, commercial and able to think laterally in identifying and developing opportunities. You’ll approach your work with a practical can-do mentality. In this role, you will need to have the ability to work with minimum supervision, in an autonomous and independent way.
   
• Consistently positive attitude and ‘can do’ approach, as well as the ability being able to work well on your own initiative and as part of a wider team.
   
• Solution oriented with a lively, energetic and positive outlook. Pragmatic, robust and resourceful, with the ability to adapt quickly to different situations and personalities.
   
• Evidence of driving significant change in a partnership through well-developed diplomacy, listening and influencing skills. Evidence of ability to build strong internal relationships at the highest level in order to implement strategic change.
• Confident enough to challenge constructively combined with a level of resilience.