Head of People and Culture

This is a newly created leadership role and a unique opportunity to shape the future of our people strategy, culture and organisational development.

As the firm continues to grow and evolve, we are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Head of People & Culture to lead the development of a modern, high-performing people function that supports our strategic objectives while strengthening the culture and values that make our firm distinctive.

Working closely with the Management Committee, Strategy Board, Heads of Department and Business Services leaders, the successful candidate will be responsible for developing and delivering a people strategy that attracts, develops and retains exceptional talent, enhances leadership capability and creates an engaging and inclusive environment in which our people can thrive.

This role combines strategic leadership with operational responsibility and requires an individual who is equally comfortable shaping long-term initiatives, influencing senior stakeholders and delivering practical solutions to day-to-day people challenges.

The Head of People & Culture will be a key member of the Business Services leadership team and will play an important role in supporting the firm’s continued growth and success.

Responsibilities

Duties to include but not limited to:

Strategic leadership

• Develop and deliver a people and culture strategy aligned with the firm’s objectives.
• Advise the Management Committee and Strategy Board on workforce planning, organisational design and succession planning.
• Use data and insight to inform strategic decision-making and future talent needs.
• Foster a culture that supports collaboration, inclusion, wellbeing and high performance.

Business partnering

• Build trusted relationships with partners, department heads and managers.
• Provide advice and coaching on leadership, performance management and partner/employee development.
• Support business growth, organisational change and transformation initiatives.
• Promote consistent people management practices across the firm.

Talent, development and engagement

• Lead recruitment strategies across legal and business services teams.
• Oversee graduate recruitment, trainee development and the firm’s transition to the SQE framework.
• Develop talent management, succession planning and leadership development programmes.
• Work closely with the Head of Business Development & Marketing to develop and embed a compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP) aligned with the firm’s culture, values and wider brand strategy
• Enhance employee engagement, internal communication and wellbeing initiatives.
• Strengthen the firm’s employer brand and employee value proposition.

Reward, performance and employee relations

• Lead performance review, promotion and salary review processes.
• Review and develop reward and benefits strategies.
• Provide expert guidance on employee relations matters.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation, regulatory requirements and best practice.

People operations diversity and inclusion

• Develop and maintain effective HR policies, systems and processes.
• Drive continuous improvement across the people function.
• Lead the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
• Deliver meaningful people reporting and metrics to support business decision-making.

Skills and experience Essential

• Significant senior HR leadership experience, ideally within a law firm, professional services or partnership environment.
• Demonstrable experience developing and implementing successful people strategies.
• Strong understanding of talent management, leadership development and organisational change.
• Excellent knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations.
• Proven ability to influence senior stakeholders and build strong relationships across an organisation.
• Commercially minded, with strong business awareness and judgement.
• Experience implementing HR systems and people analytics frameworks.
• Chartered FCIPD status.

Personal attributes

The successful candidate will be:

• A credible and influential adviser.
• Commercial, pragmatic and solutions focused.
• An excellent communicator with strong relationship building skills.
• Comfortable operating strategically while remaining hands on when required.
• Passionate about developing people and creating a positive workplace culture.

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