Senior Human Resources Business Partner

The successful candidate will report to the Human Resources Director and collaborate closely with the HR Business Partnering team and Centres of Expertise (CoE), as well as the wider HR function, to deliver impactful and efficient people priorities and processes across the fee earning departments they are aligned to. Working in partnership with colleagues, you will share responsibility for implementing the people strategy, driven by data-informed decisions that contribute to the overall success of the business. Your responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

HR and Talent Strategy

• Partner with key stakeholders and collaborate with L&D to deliver the firm's people and talent strategy aligned to the departmental business plans for the areas you advise.
• Partner with key stakeholders, including your fellow business partners, to embed the firm's people priorities across the firm, shaping the talent agenda and working together with Reward on key talent processes (e.g. fee earner salary and bonus reviews).
• Act as a trusted advisor to the Partners, providing proactive HR support, coaching and direction on people issues.
• Lead function change initiatives, if required.
• Actively contribute to the people and talent strategy formation by representing client groups, collaborating with relevant HR colleagues and bringing market knowledge of leading practice HR, to shape and deliver HR projects linked to the people and talent strategy.

Organisation Design

• Understand and articulate the HR strategic priorities. Use external views and internal knowledge to assess current state and identify optimisation opportunities for structural change.
• Develop, design and conduct impact analysis and create implementation plan for changes to structure, roles and workforce transition in collaboration with the business partnering team.

Employee Relations

• Act as a trusted advisor to the Partners on the more complex employee relations issues in collaboration with the business partnering team where relevant, anticipating risk and likely consequences, and identifying early interventions including conflict resolution.
• Offer confidential guidance and coaching, where appropriate, with the goal of resolving situations informally whenever possible.
• Contribute to the development of employee related policies and ensure they are fair and communicated and implemented consistently across the firm.

Talent Management

• Embed the firm's talent management priorities and processes in close partnership with the business partnering team, L&D, Recruitment and Reward.
• Work with the Partners and the Finance team to plan and anticipate demand and capacity needs, future skills, attrition, including analysing data, identifying trends and finding creative solutions in order to develop the talent pipeline and ensure optimal organisation structure.
• Deliver talent pipeline reviews in collaboration with the business partnering team, to identify critical talent segments for the future, including collation and analysis of key themes, gaps and actions into learning needs and business development plan.
• Work across CoEs (e.g., Recruitment, Reward and Wellbeing, L&D) and the business partnering team to coordinate and implement initiatives.

Performance Management

• Support the Partners and leadership team through performance reviews and positively challenge them to influence objective and fair performance and reward outcomes that are consistently applied across the firm, which align to the firm's performance & reward strategy and the firm's values.
• Work with L&D and the Partners to identify development needs of the fee earners you support and objectives to be achieved and provide ongoing support and solutions to ensure continued development.
• Work with key stakeholders to develop top talent in alignment with business strategy and support raising their profiles within and outside of their function, including potential opportunities that may be available.
• In collaboration with the fee earning business partnering team use outputs of the talent pipeline reviews, employee listening, people data and analytics, succession planning, etc. to identify career development opportunities and plan for key roles, high performers and diverse talent.

Reward

• Partner with Reward and the fee earner business partnering team to execute the year-end compensation processes, including input on moderation as and when required.

Recruitment

• Collaborate with the Recruitment team to integrate long-term strategic aims into the business planning process, to develop more agility in responding to business cycles.
• Partner with Recruitment on the recruitment and overall on-boarding experience.
• Liaise with the Recruitment team to overcome challenges in the hiring process, working with them to identify solutions.

Data

• Use exit themes and other employee data insights to design, implement, and embed solutions in collaboration with key stakeholders with the aim of driving meaningful change to attract, retain, and engage talent.
• Use and present data to influence and drive strategy or initiatives.

Inclusion

• Partner with the D&I Manager/Advisor and the wider Responsible Business Team to embed inclusion into the culture, decision making and strategic priorities for the business function in order to deliver against our inclusion targets to recruit, develop and retain our diverse talent.
• Proactively build knowledge and understanding of the key D&I strategy.
• Wellbeing and Employee Experience
• Partner with key stakeholders as well as the Senior Reward and Wellbeing Manager to ensure that wellbeing and people experience considerations are at the heart of all discussions and decisions for the areas you are aligned to.
• Proactively build knowledge and understanding of the wellbeing strategy, enablers and priorities.
• Frequently engage in a wide range of employee listening methods to identify key themes for the function and inform timely solutions to protect and enhance people's wellbeing.

Why this team?

You will bring proven experience in partnering with and influencing and negotiating with senior stakeholders and their teams, working collaboratively and positively to establish shared expectations and deliverables. Your approach will focus on achieving measurable, value-added outcomes for the business. Ideally, you will have operated as a Senior HR Business Partner within a professional services environment. You will be a trusted advisor to key stakeholders and the HR leadership team to drive people priorities and deliver business-as-usual services. You will lead, manage and develop your team comprising an Advisor and an Assistant, while working collaboratively with colleagues, including the Business Services business partnering team.

In line with our values, we will provide you with the support you need to grow professionally and personally to reach your full potential. You will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and develop your skills and knowledge, ranging from formal training, informal coaching and mentoring to technical, skills-based training and on the job learning.

What is the environment?

You'll be in an environment of happiness, collaboration and flexibility. We take our work seriously and being happy and having fun is an integral part of that. We work both in and out of the office in Marylebone depending on what's best for our clients, our team, our business and our professional growth.

Are we right for you?

The HR team is collaborative, positive, and results-driven, with a strong focus on delivering meaningful impact across the business. We're on an exciting journey of transformation, and the ideal candidate will be able to operate confidently at both strategic and operational levels, helping shape the future while ensuring excellence in day-to-day delivery.

Other skills required:

• Proven ability to build strong team and stakeholder relationships with positive personal impact and credibility to influence key decision makers.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality at all times
• Experience of managing, coaching and developing juniors
• Resilient and focussed outlook
• Solid employee relations experience
• Change management: experience leading cultural change initiatives
• Communication: excellent oral and written communication skills, including experience facilitating challenging conversations and an ability to interact and influence people at all levels
• Project management: strong skills in planning, delivering and evaluating multiple initiatives
• Data analysis: experience of an HRIS and MS Office (specifically Word, Excel and PowerPoint), good attention to detail, accurate and thorough
• Relevant employment law and regulatory knowledge
• Demonstrate strong commercial awareness
• Team player with a collaborative style within the HR Team and across Business Services.
• Calm and professional under pressure
• You will ideally have formal HR qualifications e.g. CIPD level 7 or equivalent.
• Forsters LLP is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring an inclusive and accessible hiring experience for everyone.
• We strive to attract and encourage applications from all candidates regardless of their gender, age, race, nationality, marital status, disability, sex, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.
• If you require any support or adjustments in the application or hiring process, please let us know.