Role Overview

This role will work alongside the People Lead to deliver a high-quality HR advisory service to the firm's Commercial groups: Commercial Disputes (which is comprised of the Commercial & Banking Litigation, Regulatory, Restructuring & Insolvency and Tax Disputes teams); Corporate (including Real Estate and Employment); and MIPTOC (which stands for Media, IP & Technology and Outsourcing & Contracts).

Key internal relationships

• People Lead (Commercial)
• People Assistants
• Senior Recruitment Manager and Recruitment Administrator
• Wider People & Talent Development (P&TD) team
• Commercial departments

Reports to

People Lead (Commercial)

Duties and Responsibilities include but not are limited to the following:

People Advisory Service

• Works closely with the People Lead to establish strong working relationships with key stakeholders and assist with the development and delivery of a high-quality, proactive and solutions-focused HR advisory service to the Commercial groups
• Supports People Lead with preparation and analysis of monthly reporting for Group and Team Leaders
• Brings any compliance risks to the attention of the People Lead and assists with developing and implementing solutions where appropriate

Talent Management

• Assists Commercial groups with identifying high performers and underperformers and helps to design appropriate development/improvement plans
• Collaborates with Learning & Development (L&D) to support Commercial groups with Quarterly Conversations and nominations for milestone programmes
• Oversees the set-up and preparation of talent mapping meetings, attending and contributing to these meetings where appropriate and ensuring consistency and fairness of approach. Assists with the analysis of and reporting on talent mapping across the Commercial groups
• Supports the Commercial groups to ensure that individuals are managed effectively through promotion processes. Oversees the accurate and timely completion of the relevant paperwork and system updates which will be administered by the People & Resourcing Assistants

Salary review

• Works with the People Lead to support the year-end and mid-year salary review processes for the Commercial groups, including preparing materials e.g. salary schedules
• Oversees the set-up and preparation of salary review meetings with relevant stakeholders, including Group/Team Leaders and Partners, attending and contributing to these meetings where appropriate and ensuring consistency and fairness of approach
• Assists with the analysis of and reporting on salary proposals across the Commercial groups
• Works with the People Lead and Reward & Operations Manager to use external salary benchmarking data, including Willis Towers Watson, to inform decisions

Employee Relations and Welfare

• Provides clear guidance on firm policies and procedures and keeps up-to-date with employment law to ensure that any advice given is accurate and relevant. Works with the People & Talent Development team to review and update policies and procedures as necessary
• Provides a first contact point for employees and line managers on routine employee relations matters such as performance and capability, welfare issues, sickness absence (including ergonomist and occupational health referrals), probation reviews and flexible working applications. Handles meetings in a confidential manner and escalates to the People Lead where appropriate
• Manages or supports disciplinary/grievance investigations and hearings, involving the People Lead where appropriate

Inclusion and Diversity

• Works in conjunction with the People Lead and Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) team to help deliver on the firm's I&D strategy and ensure that I&D is woven into every aspect of the service and output delivered in the role
• Plays an active part in one of the firm's I&D workstreams

Resourcing and Recruitment

• Supports the People Lead to manage headcount for the Commercial groups, including assisting with the annual headcount planning process and tracking headcount against the agreed plan for each team
• Works with the People Lead and Senior Recruitment Manager to clarify resource requirements for the Commercial groups and agree an appropriate strategy, e.g. recruitment or reallocation of existing internal resource, including seeking appropriate approvals
• Supports on recruitment-related activity, including interviewing for selected roles, reviewing salary bands and assisting with mobility and immigration queries
• Oversees the accurate and timely preparation of offer paperwork by the Recruitment Administrators and assists with aspects of the onboarding and induction processes, including supporting the new starter programme when required
• Collaborates with the Early Careers team in relation to the vacation scheme assessment and trainee qualification processes and requests for SQE sponsorship/support

Employee life cycle

• Oversees the starter/leaver/new parent leave/secondment processes for the Commercial groups, which will be administered by the People Assistants, ensuring accurate records are kept of employee movements and appropriate notifications are made to Payroll. Identifies areas for improvement in our processes and procedures and works with the Advisory team to implement appropriate changes
• Conducts new starter check-in meetings with employees and oversees the probation process which will be administered by the People Assistants
• Conducts exit interviews and escalates areas of concern/highlights positive feedback where appropriate. Works with People Lead to collate feedback and report on themes to senior management

Other

• Understands the information contained in the firm's HRIS, is able to run standard reports and helps ensure the integrity of the data for the Commercial groups. Works with the HR Systems team as required
• Manages ad-hoc requests, including remote working applications and achievement award nominations
• Involved in developing and delivering on People projects
• Collaborates and shares knowledge across the People & Talent Development team and coaches, mentors and motivates more junior team members

Knowledge, skills and experience

• Experience in a People Advisory environment, preferably within the legal sector or other professional services firm
• At least five years' HR experience, with two years at HR Officer/Advisor level, including supporting on key HR cyclical processes and managing employee lifecycle and routine employee relations issues
• Ideally has or is working towards the CIPD qualification

Attributes

The successful applicant will have/be able to demonstrate:

• A good knowledge and understanding of employment law, HR practices and procedures
• Strong interpersonal and client relationship skills with the ability to build rapport, influence and develop relationships at all levels
• Strong communication skills, both orally and in writing
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to plan own activities, multi-task and adapt plans to shifting priorities
• IT literacy with specific competence in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook)
• Strong accuracy and attention to detail with a commitment to maintaining data integrity
• A collaborative approach, effectively working as part of a team, but also be strongly self-motivated and with the ability to manage upwards
• A flexible, pragmatic and commercial approach to meeting business needs with a strong client service focus
• Good diagnostic and analytic skills with the ability to see beyond the immediate task/issue and to exercise sound judgment
• A proactive and solution-orientated approach, but conscious of when to consult with others
• An enthusiastic and positive attitude, with the ability to remain calm under pressure
• A high level of confidentiality and integrity

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