Associate, People & Culture Practice | London | Odgers Berndtson Executive Search

About the role

Our Associate position is a critical role which sees you working alongside Aine Hurley, Head of People and Culture Practice, to deliver on high-profile HR appointments. You will be responsible for the delivery of the executive search process, which includes pitch preparation and delivery, leading the research strategy, managing researchers on the project, and all written documentation such as client reports, market intelligence reports, and candidate interview analysis. You will either lead or support candidate interviews, client updates, client management, and candidate care - project managing the entire search process. This is a critical client-facing role on the journey to becoming a consultant in your own right. We are committed to investing in our talent, so if you are looking for career development and a business that will invest in you, we would welcome a conversation.

About you

• You will ideally bring experience working in either executive search, the recruitment industry, or professional services or management consultancy in a consulting or advisory capacity.
• It is essential that you have a passion for the people leadership function within business and want to help influence its growth, change, and development by appointing dynamic and diverse leadership.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship management skills, an ability to work with different people, and a commitment to inclusion and diversity.
• Well-developed client-handling and project-management skills.
• A commercial mindset and entrepreneurial drive that will play an important part in the growth of the People and Culture Practice.
• Well-developed writing skills and documentation management (reports, presentations).
• The ability and confidence to engage with senior stakeholders and the HR community.
• Ability to deliver excellence in client assignments and become a trusted advisor to senior leaders.
• Analytical mindset and the ability to provide insightful advice to clients and internally.
• The ability to proactively manage a project end-to-end, utilising good time management skills, persistence, and patience.
• You should have a high level of self-starting energy as well as a strong willingness to collaborate with colleagues.
• Ability to work at pace, manage a demanding workload, and often competing priorities.
• An ability to work autonomously in a flat, non-hierarchical company structure with a culture of unity and collaboration.
• Intellectually curious with a broad outlook, bringing creative thinking and common sense and an unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• Excellent computer literacy and enthusiasm for technology and AI to continuously improve our processes and offering.

About us

Odgers Berndtson is one of the world’s leading Global Executive Search firms. Our reputation for excellence and integrity has been established over 50 years, and we are a partnership driven by the client, candidate, and employee experience. We function as trusted advisors to our clients and candidates and engage with a diverse range of leaders for the most influential roles across a wide variety of industries. The service we deliver is creative, insightful, and most importantly, in partnership; we pride ourselves on maintaining personal relationships.

At Odgers Berndtson, we are proud of our progressive, diverse, meritocratic, and collaborative culture where you will find support, training, and career development working with colleagues striving for excellence in all they do. We are UK headquartered with colleagues across 33 countries specialising in over 50 sectors and functions.

Hybrid Working

Our Hybrid working policy is based on the principles of empowerment, mutual trust, and flexibility, recognising that we work best when we make choices about when, where, and how we work. At the same time, we are reminded that time together is so important. We are a client-service business in which our relationships and our culture provide a significant advantage. Our offices remain critical to how we work; they are a place for collaboration, learning, and support and an anchor for the culture of which we are so proud. We operate a hybrid working model which would typically see you spending a minimum of 3 days working from the office and the rest remotely. Your work pattern will be reliant on business demands, and we would expect you to manage your time accordingly.

Odgers Berndtson is committed to continually improving the diversity of our workforce through the attraction, retention, and development of a diverse range of talented people. We want people to be comfortable bringing their whole selves to work and recognise that inclusion brings further opportunities for innovation and creativity. We welcome all new employees to get involved by joining one of our Allies groups or simply being part of one of our many initiatives to help us promote Inclusion in our business. Our Inclusion & Diversity agenda is driven by our I&D Council and our Allies Programmes, and we celebrate our diversity each year with our ‘Unlimited Festival’. As an equal opportunities employer, Odgers Berndtson is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective employees and does not condone discrimination of any kind. We strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join our business, and we will support any requirements for reasonable adjustments.

Sustainability

Modern businesses have a duty to be environmentally responsible and operate sustainably. We believe this represents not only sound commercial sense but also recognises our ethical responsibility to minimise the impact of our activities on the environment and to leave a positive legacy for future generations. We have committed to, and set, science-based decarbonisation targets, and have received verification of these goals from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). These targets will hold us accountable to our sustainability strategy while enabling us to measure our progress. This is complemented by us continuing to provide sustainability insight to our clients and cultivating a track record within sustainable businesses and in placing sustainability leaders.

Corporate Social Responsibility

We take Charity seriously – but like to have fun too. Our CSR team are always thinking up new events and activities to get involved in and raise funds for our chosen charity, British Heart Foundation. We also have a variety of social clubs and learning opportunities to suit everyone such as the Brunch and Learn Session, Odgers choir, the book club, or one of the many sports clubs.

Whats on offer?

• A competitive base salary, supplemented by our benefits package and discretionary bonus.
• 25 days Annual leave + 3 gift days for the Christmas closure + bank holidays.
• Private Medical Insurance with Bupa and cash plan with Simply Health.
• Group Company Pension.
• Season Ticket Loan & Cycle to work scheme.
• Give As You Earn.
• Group Income Protection.
• Group Life Assurance.
• Employee Assistance Programme.
• Charity Day.
• Wellbeing Programmes, support and speakers.
• On-boarding, induction training and ongoing professional development.
• Corporate member discounts and benefits available through Bupa and Simply Health including Gyms Discounts.

Applications

We are committed to ensuring everyone can access our website and application processes. This includes people with sight loss, hearing, mobility, and cognitive impairments. Should you require access to these documents in alternative formats, need to apply in a different format, or need any reasonable adjustments made for any interview, please contact our Talent Team at careers@odgersberndtson.com. If you have any comments and/or suggestions about improving access to our application processes, please don’t hesitate to contact us at careers@odgersberndtson.com.

Eligibility

You must be eligible to live and work in the UK.