HR Business Partner, Digital Legal Delivery (Digital) & AI in Belfast

Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer is a world-leading global law firm, where our ambition is to help you achieve your goals. Exceptional client service and the pursuit of excellence are at our core. We invest in and care about our client relationships, which is why so many are longstanding. We enjoy breaking new ground, as we have for over 170 years. As a fully integrated transatlantic and transpacific firm, we are where you need us to be. Our footprint is extensive and committed across the world’s largest markets, key financial centres and major growth hubs. At our best tackling complexity and navigating change, we work alongside you on demanding litigation, exacting regulatory work and complex public and private market transactions. We are recognised as leading in these areas. We are immersed in the sectors and challenges that impact you. We are recognised as standing apart in energy, infrastructure and resources. And we’re focused on areas of growth that affect every business across the world. All of this is achieved by supporting the growth of our people, who help us deliver on our ambition – which is to help you achieve yours.

The Opportunity

Key Responsibilities

• The primary focus of this role is to act as one of the key HR contacts for the Digital practice group & the AI team across the UK and EMEA, and to pro-actively deliver business-focused HR services to the teams.
• Business partnering and day to day operations
• Work closely with Digital & AI teams to understand how HR can support their people and operational priorities.
• Act as a trusted adviser and sounding board, providing HR advice and expertise on a wide range of generalist issues, taking into account the operational impact of any intervention.
• Allocate appropriate tasks to the People Operations Team, ensuring the effective and efficient delivery of day-to-day HR operations.
• Support the various change management initiatives underway across the firm and work with the HR Manager to communicate any organisational change to the practice areas/teams as appropriate.
• Deputise for the HR Manager as required - for example, attending management meetings.
• Support the Practice Manager and other business services teams such as Business Finance with ad hoc requests and projects.
• Employee Relations
• Act as first point of contact for the Digital and AI teams, providing guidance and support to employees and managers to ensure that all employee issues are resolved promptly, with the emphasis on building excellent relationships and instilling trust.
• Proactively identify changes and improvements to employment policies and practices.
• Assist with the successful implementation of new employment policies and practices across the Digital & AI teams.
• Advise managers on how to effectively manage poor performance, ensuring issues are being dealt with in the appropriate way.
• With guidance from the HR Manager, lead on straightforward ER issues such as disciplinaries and grievances.
• Manage all flexible working requests and advise on policy and procedure.
• Monitor and manage all office sickness absence, including referrals to Occupational Health as necessary, and implementation of the firm's sick pay policies.
• Manage long-term sickness cases and PHI claims where necessary.
• Support the People Operations Team with managing the maternity, shared parental leave and adoption processes for employees.
• Escalate risk issues promptly and openly to HR Manager, identifying the requirement for employment law advice (or other) advice where appropriate.
• Joiners and Leavers
• Co-ordinate the on-boarding process and update the People Team and leadership/senior management team as required.
• Liaise with the Recruitment Team and People Operations Team to oversee the effective implementation of the induction process for all new joiners.
• Conduct new joiner conversations, collate feedback and communicate to the appropriate people as necessary.
• Conduct exit interviews and communicate feedback to the business as necessary.
• Oversee the probation review process.
• Secondments
• Manage client and intra-office secondments, working closely alongside the International Mobility Team and relevant managers in the practice.
• Proactively promote secondment opportunities and manage the client secondment process.
• Oversee secondment policy and ancillary secondment documents, ensuring that Digital & AI secondees have clear escalation routes whilst on secondment.
• Track all movement of employees to and from Digital & AI from a secondment and transfer perspective.
• Recruitment
• Assist the Recruitment Team with the co-ordination and delivery of lateral recruitment processes as required.
• Interview or support candidate assessment processes as necessary.
• Co-ordinate the annual Belfast trainee recruitment process, working closely with relevant managers in the practice, the Recruitment Team and the HR Manager.
• Maintain resourcing plans for designated client groups and work with the Recruitment Team to provide cost-efficient and effective recruitment solutions which are in line with the needs of the business.
• Reward and performance
• Assist the HR Manager to co-ordinate the delivery and communications of moderation, performance review & talent sessions, and salary review processes in conjunction with the Reward and Management Information Team.
• Co-ordinate the delivery and communications of the bonus process with support from the HR Manager as required.
• Development
• Attend meetings with Learning and Development Managers for Digital & AI when required.
• Working with L&D, arrange internal and, where required, external coaching for team members.
• General and Project Work
• Serve as the first point of contact for all HR issues.
• Oversee monthly payroll activities, ensuring accurate and timely processes are in place.
• Assist and lead, where applicable, small-scale HR projects for the Digital & AI team.

Qualifications, skills and experience

• Sound understanding of current employment legislation, covering both Northern Ireland legislation and England & Wales.
• An extremely well organised and commercial HR generalist with a minimum of three years' HR generalist and business partnering experience at adviser level, preferably with some professional services experience, although those with less or more experience will be considered provided they can demonstrate the core skills and experience required for the role.
• Track record of building strong relationships with internal clients, built upon sound technical knowledge and excellent interpersonal skills.
• Track record of project and stakeholder management skills; confident, with the ability to advise, influence and negotiate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.
• Strong influencing and negotiating skills.
• Sound knowledge of employee relations legislation and policies and a thorough understanding of performance management processes.
• Proven track record of case management in relation to performance management, grievances and disciplinary matters, health and well-being.
• Experience of lateral and retained recruitment at all levels.
• PC literate (Microsoft Office suite).
• An innovative mindset, curious about AI and emerging technologies.

Competencies

• Personal Leadership
• Positively impacts those around them, makes quality decisions and develops themselves both personally and professionally.
• Demonstrates sound knowledge in their field.
• Anticipates potential problems and identifies a range of possible solutions.
• Adapts their interpersonal style to suit different audiences in a genuine way.

• Builds Authentic Relationships
• Takes time to get to know people beyond their role.
• Treats people with respect and in a fair and consistent way.
• Recognises when colleagues are under pressure and volunteers to assist them where possible.

• Collaborates with others
• Works within teams and across boundaries to share knowledge and achieve results.
• Identifies and builds relationships required to achieve the best outcomes for the firm.
• Engages people with the right skills, knowledge and expertise to provide advice and assist with tasks.
• Connects other people in the firm who have mutual interests or work objectives.
• Generously shares their time, knowledge, expertise and talent to support others’ success.

• Enhances the Client Experience
• Creates opportunities to enhance the experience of the firm’s clients through their daily tasks.
• Behaves consistently with the firm’s values in their interactions with others.
• Conducts themselves in a way that reflects positively on the firm’s brand, both inside and outside the firm.

• Achieves Results
• Maintains focus and drive to achieve quality outcomes.
• Focuses their time and efforts on issues that will have the greatest impact on agreed objectives.
• Anticipates responses and plans their approach accordingly.
• Looks for the most effective way to achieve outcomes.
• Maintains perspective and optimism when faced with setbacks.

Closing date for applications is Thursday 25 June at 12:00pm.

Team

People

Working Pattern

Full time

Location

Belfast

Contract type

Permanent Contract

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to attracting people from all backgrounds and creating a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone thrives. We see this as essential to our success, including our ability to innovate and achieve sustained high performance. This is a key part of our Values—Human, Bold, and Outstanding.