Emerging Talent Development Manager

An exciting opportunity to join CMS as an Emerging Talent Development Manager. We offer this role on a hybrid working basis.

About us

CMS is a Future Facing firm with more than 80 offices in over 45 countries and 5,800+ lawyers worldwide. We combine deep local market understanding with a global perspective. We are passionate about building strong relationships with our clients, our people, and the communities we work in.

We take a bold, dynamic, and agile approach to ensure our clients are able to face the future with confidence. We are driven by emerging technologies such as generative AI and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of working. Our aim is to inspire, impact and support our clients and our people, helping them to maximize their potential and thrive.

About the role

Working as a member of the Emerging Talent team with a focus on the acquisition and development of our apprenticeship programmes across the UK as well as our International graduate programmes, you will strive to achieve the highest standards of learning and development, HR and acquisition provision for the firm’s emerging talent. This role can be based in London or any of the following regional offices: Bristol, Manchester or Sheffield.

Reporting to the Head of Emerging Talent, you will be responsible for the current and future solicitor apprentices, including graduate solicitor apprentices as well as the acquisition of the firm’s future talent, ensuring they are fully supported and engaged with the business prior to joining and throughout their time up to qualification as a newly qualified solicitor.

In this role, you can expect to get involved in a variety of work including:

1. Delivering the annual Emerging Talent strategy in line with firm-wide objectives and develop the media and marketing campaign to support this.
2. Delivering a compelling and unique marketing & advertising campaign to ensure a strong brand both on campus, in the legal/emerging talent press and online to attract candidates of the highest calibre.
3. Ensuring the attraction of quality candidates and a fair, consistent & comprehensive selection process.
4. Managing the recruitment and interviewing process for the graduate emerging talent programmes.
5. Building relationships with academics, faculty staff, careers service staff and student societies and law society presidents. Establish strong working relationships with emerging talent representatives from other firms, agencies, organisations and publications.
6. Working with the RBSI and Diversity & Inclusion teams on emerging talent diversity initiatives and work closely with the Emerging Talent Advisors to ensure a seamless progression from academics to firm.
7. Working with colleagues to drive innovation and continuous improvement across the HR function.
8. Developing the innovative CMS Whole Lawyer Programme as best in class in the market and ensure maximum benefits derived from investment.
9. Supporting all legal apprentices with developing their career in the firm and progressing to qualification.
10. Managing and liaising with key stakeholders (partners and office managers) for all international secondments, including obtaining the relevant approvals, management of the logistics, recommendations and obtaining feedback.
11. Managing the planning of the Emerging Talent Induction from the planning, attending and facilitating of the programme.
12. Working closely with our preferred education providers to ensure that the compulsory and optional training needs/courses are completed.
13. Working with colleagues to drive innovation and continuous improvement across the Emerging Talent team.
14. To carry out ad-hoc tasks and projects to support the strategic direction of the overall Talent Acquisition function.

About you

We will invest in your ongoing training and development to support your professional goals and help you to thrive in your role from day one. Our opportunities are open to all suitably qualified applicants, so to be considered for this role, you must meet the following skills and experience:

1. Proven track record of recruiting and developing emerging talent within a professional services or legal environment.
2. Commercially focussed, with good negotiation skills, well organised and with the ability to manage a large and varied workload.
3. Ability to define and implement creative campaigns and innovative approaches.
4. An understanding of how to qualify as a solicitor through apprenticeship and alternative qualification routes in England, Scotland and some of our international offices.
5. Strong HR technical skills, able to manage a wide range of situations.
6. Effective networker, good at building and maintaining relationships both internally and externally.
7. Excellent written and oral communication skills.
8. Proactive customer service focus.

What’s in it for you?

We want to reward you today and help you plan for tomorrow. We appreciate that everyone is different, therefore we have designed a benefits system that offers choice and flexibility based on individual needs and lifestyles. To name a few, these include:

1. Competitive basic salary (reviewed annually)
2. Flexible, hybrid working policy
3. Generous bonus scheme
4. Up to 25 days holiday (rising to 28 days with service)
5. Holiday exchange scheme
6. Private medical insurance
7. Enhanced parental leave
8. Reasonable adjustments and accommodation for disabled talent in accordance with the Equality Act 2010.

If you would like to read more information regarding our range of benefits, please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Equal opportunities

At CMS, we place diversity and inclusion at the centre of our culture and the heart of our organisation. As a firm we recognise, celebrate, and embrace the diverse talent our society has to offer because we know that to solve big problems, we need the best and brightest minds available to us. In support of this goal, we commit to actively breaking down barriers which stand in the way of those from diverse backgrounds and play our part in levelling the playing field.

As a Future Facing Firm, we strongly believe that a career in law should be open to people from all walks of life, because not only does diversity of thought and experience make our firm a stronger and more sustainable business, but it also makes it a more rewarding place to work.

When recruiting, we prioritise attracting talented people and we actively promote a flexible working environment which enables all our team members to thrive. If you see a role you are interested in, but don’t feel you meet 100% of the criteria we encourage you to still consider making an application. We also welcome applications from those who may be looking to return to the workforce after a career break.

We are proud to say our leadership in creating an inclusive working culture has been celebrated and recognised externally, including being listed for a number of years in the Times Top 50 Employers for Women and the Social Mobility Index.

We are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer, and we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities, whether visible or invisible. We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity throughout our recruitment process and in every element of the employee life cycle. If you require assistance, or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please contact Becky Lowe at who will be happy to support you.

Ready to apply? Here are the next steps.

We look forward to receiving your application online via the CMS careers site . Please contact our Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions.

Please note that we have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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