Head of HR

Walkers; Greater London; On-site; GBP 125,000 - 150,000

Job description

We are a leading international law and professional services firm providing legal, corporate and fiduciary services to global corporations, financial institutions, capital market participants and investment fund managers. With a global presence spanning the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, we advise on the laws of Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Guernsey, Ireland and Jersey.

We treat everyone as the intelligent professional they are. Our approach is to trust and empower our people to deliver consistently, and enable them to succeed. Diversity is our secret weapon – it’s the sheer breadth of Walkers people that makes us who we are – gathered from across the globe and fluent in languages, jurisdictions and cultures that help us to mirror our clients and keep our own thinking in tune with the world in which we operate.

Working as a member of the global Human Resources team, the Head of HR will provide tailored generalist HR support and advice to allocated business lines in London. With support from HR Leadership where required, the role holder will translate business strategy and workforce planning into HR initiatives, ensuring that Walkers follows a best practice approach to people management and is compliant with all relevant legislation.

Duties, Responsibilities & Person Specification

• Providing active and ongoing support and advice to management and employees.
• Recruitment – collaborate with the Resourcing team, who manage the recruitment process, to ensure hiring strategies align with business needs. Attend interviews as required to support decision-making and provide HR insights. Oversee the onboarding process.
• Employee Relations and Performance Management – Act as trusted advisor on employee relations issues. Managing absence, disciplinaries and grievance; advise and support senior managers, coaching them and advising on all people issues.
• Performance Management - coaching managers on performance management issues and processes. Help to foster a high-performance culture through engagement initiatives and leadership development.
• Learning & Development - providing guidance on development and training for managers and their teams in partnership with the Head of Learning and Development. Designing and implementing plans across all areas with the HR Director and assist with delivery of training.
• Benefits – work with external providers and provide the HR Director with updates and recommendations where appropriate with regards to private medical, life assurance and pension, including leading the annual renewal process.
• Reward - advise and support employees on company benefits, benchmarking salary and benefits across the legal sector. Working closely with the Managing Partner, and other stakeholders, assist with the annual compensation process, including the calculations, liaising with payroll.
• HR budget – lead and manage the annual HR budget process, collaborating with Finance.
• Policy & procedures - implementation of new HR policies, procedures and processes; be proactive in ensuring all company policies and procedures are up to date in line with current employment law; ensure line managers are up to date with changes to any policies.
• Projects - collaborate and assist on projects in your office or on a global basis where required.
• Drive the implementation of HR initiatives in your office.
• Manage and develop the HR Manager and Administrator.

Education, Skills & Experience

• Educated to a minimum of degree level.
• Technically strong HR generalist with proven experience working in a legal / professional or financial services environment, ideally in a business operating across multiple jurisdictions.
• Proven ability to identify, scope and implement commercial and pragmatic HR solutions in response to business needs.
• Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate effectively and sensitively with colleagues at all levels of the organisation.
• Strong organisational skills, including planning and time management to enable effective prioritisation of multiple activities.
• Working knowledge of UK Employment Law essential.