Head of Employee Relations - EMEAPAC (FTC)

Norton Rose Fulbright is a global law firm with more than 3,000 lawyers advising clients across locations in the United States, Europe, Canada, Latin America, Asia, Australia, Africa and the Middle East. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. With over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide, our culture is the thread that connects us, as well as our values of unity, quality and integrity. Our strategy and culture are connected – defined by shared ambition, global collaboration and a one-team mindset. We believe pioneering work happens when people are empowered to think beyond boundaries, explore new opportunities and grow through diverse experiences.

The Role

Reporting to the Director of Partner Performance & Business Partnering, the Head of Employee Relations will drive the Employee Relations vision and strategy across the region. They will provide strategic, proactive and commercial advice on all employee relations matters and will support, where appropriate, Partner ER matters. This role has one ER Manager reporting into it. This role is a 12-month fixed-term contract.

Key Responsibilities

• Work closely with the Director of Partner Performance & Business Partnering, General Counsel and Risk and our senior leadership team to develop, drive and communicate the strategy for the ER function across the EMEAPAC region.
• Drive best practice approaches to ER issues across the firm.
• Further develop and refine the suite of ER templates and tools (e.g., PIPs, redundancies, investigations, terminations, etc.) that support the business partnering and advisor teams across the region.
• Proactively and regularly review employee handbooks, policies and contractual documents, update and make changes that ensure our approach supports our strategy and culture and is in line with market and employment law changes.
• Maintain a deep and up-to-date understanding of key industry trends and employment law changes – incorporate them into day-to-day ER operations and proactively brief the Business Partnering teams and business where relevant.
• Leading the People & Culture’s teams initiatives in response to the Employment Rights Act (2025).
• In collaboration with key stakeholders, build clear processes and structures in respect of handling Partner ER matters including investigations and complaints in a sensitive and appropriate way.
• Build strong and sustainable relationships across the firm; be a trusted advisor.
• Proactively support with coaching and developing our leaders in relation to avoiding/reducing ER risks and issues and being an inclusive leader.
• Monitor and advise on regional ER cases.
• Enabling and upskilling local people and culture teams through classroom training or 121 coaching.
• Build regional knowledge base and understanding across teams.
• Further build and lead the Centre of Excellence (‘CoE’) for ER across the firm, providing strategic advice on regional P&C policies, ER matters, investigations and processes.
• Where appropriate and in conjunction with Learning & Development, General Counsel and Risk and Compliance, design and/or deliver training programmes or e-learning that supports strategy, builds awareness and reduces risks and issues.
• Provide strategic and commercial advice to the EMEAPAC Business Partnering Team, regional Heads and local offices including on policies, ER matters, cases, exit negotiations, investigations and processes with minimal input from external legal counsel.
• Conduct and review ER processes such as investigations and/or support, coach and advise others in conducting investigations as required.
• Advise and support with any complex exercises such as re-orgs and TUPE.
• Drive a data-led approach; monitor core ER metrics and ensure we effectively track ER activity, analyse trends and spot issues – escalating as appropriate.
• Suggest, design and implement targeted interventions to close gaps and minimise risks.
• Work closely with our General Counsel team to ensure we fulfil our legal / regulatory requirements (i.e. SRA) and appropriately report matters for EPLI purposes.
• Work alongside and build exceptionally strong relations with the firm’s external counsel in all locations; whilst driving a commercial approach.
• Manage and track the external legal budget, and seek to minimise costs and limit to more complex cases.
• Lead, drive and initiate appropriate ER related initiatives and participate in wider P&C projects, providing a people ER/Risk lens.

Key Skills and Experience

• Relevant ER experience, including experience of setting, communicating and driving ER vision and strategy.
• Evidence of dealing with complex ER matters across a multi-national organisation.
• Experience in leading ER at all levels, including senior leadership and Partners and ideally within a Partnership structure.
• A deep and broad understanding of managing complex reporting relationships in a matrixed organisation and ability to incorporate multiple cultures.
• Exceptional partnering, consulting, influencing, negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Strong commercial acumen; effectively balancing our business and our people needs.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with the personal presence to influence others whether in small groups or presenting to large audiences and can tailor style to all levels.
• A high degree of professional ethics and integrity.
• Strong leadership and team management experience.
• Substantive international experience, a willingness to travel where needed, regularly working across time zones, and the flexibility to deal with a diverse set of clients, advisors and colleagues across the EMEAPAC region.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realize their full career potential. Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know.