People & Culture Advisor (6-month FTC) in Newcastle upon Tyne

We're Norton Rose Fulbright – a global law firm with over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. At Norton Rose Fulbright, our strategy and our culture are closely entwined. We know that our expansion will mean little unless it is underpinned by truly global collaboration and we understand that pioneering work only takes place when our people have room to move and think beyond boundaries.

The People & Culture Advisor resides within the People Experience team and forms part of the People & Culture Department and are responsible for providing seamless HR advice and operational support to our business. This is a highly collaborative role, working in a fast-paced environment, where you will play a pivotal role in guiding and supporting our leaders and teams on everyday people matters. Your insights and advice will help shape our workplace by focusing on core areas like talent management, career development, and employee engagement. You will be a trusted advisor, using your growing expertise to foster an inclusive environment and continuously enhance our People’s experience. The role requires a proactive self-starter with a strong commercial outlook and excellent interpersonal skills, both flexible, agile and capable of working in a demanding client-focused environment. The role is based at our Newcastle office but will also require occasional travel to our London office. This role is a 6-month FTC.

Key Responsibilities

• Supporting the People & Culture Business Partner for Disputes EMEA to deliver a proactive, highly responsive, high quality, efficient and effective service to the Disputes, Antitrust and Employment client groups and to some Newcastle based teams.
• Provide advisory support and guidance to the client groups and stakeholders, relating to practical application of employee lifecycle activity (to cover starters, leavers, secondments, family friendly leave provision, absence/sickness management, wellbeing, occupational health, and probations).
• Provide advice and guidance to the client groups on employee relations issues covering employee performance, probation, sickness absence.
• Participate and support in managing grievance and disciplinary meetings.
• Recognise and act where high-risk employee relations matters require escalation to the Senior People & Culture Advisor or the People & Culture Business Partner.
• Work closely and regularly with the People & Culture Centres of Excellence to ensure seamless operational delivery and process execution across our client groups covering our key P&C cyclical activities.
• Conduct exit interviews and manage the overall exit process in collaboration with the People Experience Assistants team.
• Liaise with new hires and hiring managers in relation to integration and induction.
• Liaison between clients groups and the Global Mobility team, on international moves, hires and secondments, work permits, visas and out of jurisdiction working, where guidance is required from immigration and/or tax experts.
• Ensuring transactional processes are performed, in conjunction with the People Experience Assistants and HR Systems (e.g., WorkDay and Service Now), in a timely and effective manner, in line with agreed SLA’s.
• Regularly and effectively reviewing data driven insights for client group to proactively elevate trends or issues to the People & Culture Business Partner.
• Working closely with & providing regular updates to the People & Culture Business Partner on case management associated with the designated client group.
• Demonstrate a sound commercial grasp and understanding of client groups business priorities and challenges, and tailoring support and guidance to meet priorities/objectives.
• Participate in HR projects and initiatives which are aligned to our business objectives and/or aim to improve HR process and enhance efficiency and employee engagement.

Continuous Improvement

• Committed to continuously elevating our P&C level of service.
• Collaborates with People Experience Assistants, and the People & Culture Advisors to share feedback, identify service issues/inefficiencies or opportunities, proposing solutions and supporting the implementation of any changes including training and upskilling where required.
• Proactively focuses on professional career development by keeping up to date with People and Culture and broader market trends, using resources available (e.g., XpertHR, CIPD) and by seeking opportunities to engage with appropriate learning and development training courses both internally and externally.

Personal Attributes

• Strong client and service orientation – proactive in creating solutions and identifying risk for the client group.
• Comfortable working with ambiguity and takes the initiative to establish recommendations/options available.
• Agile in adapting to change and responsive to evolving business needs and requirements.
• Resilient during times of pressure, remaining calm and engaged.
• Self-aware and accountable owning a situation and associated actions.

Skills and Experience Required

• Previous HR experience at HR Assistant / HR Advisor / junior HRBP level.
• Previous experience of working in a Law firm or partnership structure would be desirable.
• Experience of managing ER cases.
• Sound working knowledge of UK employment law, its developments and practical application.
• Highly proactive and responsive, committed to delivering customer needs.
• Highly organised and efficient with strong judgement and a commercial outlook.
• Ability to work as part of a team and collaborate effectively.
• Ability to build strong relationships with stakeholders, persuade, challenge and influence effectively.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
• Able to work in a fast-paced environment in which business priorities frequently change.
• Highly organised, agile, and adaptable in thinking and approach.
• High accuracy and attention to detail.
• Exceptional IT skills (Teams, Office 365 – Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Excel, Workday).
• Ideally experienced in a Professional Services environment, but not essential.
• Ideally CIPD professional qualification, but not essential.

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.