HR Business Partner (12 month Fixed Term Maternity Contract)

at  Potter Clarkson

We have an exciting new opportunity for a HR Business Partner to join the team at our Nottingham office on a 12-month fixed term maternity contract.
Potter Clarkson LLP is one of the leading pan-European Intellectual Property law firms, with seven offices across the UK, Denmark, Sweden and Germany.
We offer clients a full IP service to support them in achieving their commercial objectives. We pride ourselves in the exceptional level of client care offered by our approachable and engaged team.
We have over 90 patent and trade mark professionals and 10 IP solicitors, who are expertly assisted by over 130 support staff and state of the art IT infrastructure.
The firm is consistently ranked in the top tier of major legal guides, such as Legal 500 and MIP. We also hold three independent ISO accreditations which evidence our high level of environmental awareness, service provision and information security.
We are committed to promoting a healthy work-life balance, and supporting the wellbeing of all our people. We offer a wealth of health and wellbeing benefits and resources including healthcare, attractive flexible working options, sports and social groups, virtual mindfulness sessions, a virtual wellbeing hub, mental health first aiders, and a busy social calendar.

REQUIREMENTS

• CIPD qualified to level 7, or equivalent experience;
• Previous demonstrable HR generalist experience in a senior role;
• A current working knowledge of employment legislation;
• Experience of advising managers and employees on a variety of HR issues;
• Knowledge of best practice principles in recruitment and selection;
• Experience of developing HR policies and procedures;
• Experience of leading on HR projects and change management;
• Ability to manage and prioritise own workload;
• Good interpersonal and communication skills;
• Strong IT skills with good working knowledge of MS Office products;
• Previous experience within the legal or professional services sectors would be desirable.

THE ROLE

This successful candidate will provide direct support to the Head of HR Operations on all senior HR matters and projects to ensure the successful delivery of the team’s objectives. To lead on internal process improvements and projects across the HR team.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Providing high quality HR advice and guidance to the HR team and managers, on a variety of subjects, including complex employee relations matters;
• Supporting with the annual employee survey, and communicating results to the business;
• Leading on the co-ordination of all HR projects. Ensuring that timelines are met with support from the Head of HR Operations. Ensuring the Project Manager is up to date on progress;
• Lead on continuous internal process improvements, including working closely with stakeholders to understand the needs of the business;
• Support with the management of absence across the business, including but not limited to supporting with absence meetings, liaising with Occupational Health providers, putting in place reasonable adjustments and attendance improvement plans;
• Work with the HR Assistant to write the IP careers online profile on an annual basis;
• Supporting with the recruitment of Senior roles within the Firm;
• Supporting the Head of HR Operations in ensuring the Firm’s and department’s strategic goals and commercial requirements are achieved;
• Undertaking regular calls with Operations Managers and Heads of Departments to ensure any matters can be dealt with in a timely and effective way;
• Work with the Head of HR Operations to produce a regular newsletter communicating key updates to the business;
• Support the Head of HR Operations with presenting on departmental information sessions to the business;
• Supporting the Senior HR Advisor with flexible working requests and other requests for leave such as Maternity, Paternity, Parental, Shared Parental etc. where necessary;
• Working closely with the Learning and Development team to ensure any development needs of the business are addressed;
• Conducting exit interviews where appropriate, and reporting trends to the Operational Management Team;
• Managing escalated mailbox queries from across the business;
• Keeping up to date with developments in Employment Legislation and ensuring policies and processes are reflective of current legislation;
• Supporting with annual salary reviews, promotions and bonus processes where appropriate;
• Supporting with relocating team members to other offices;
• Working with the Senior HR Advisor to ensure all contract templates are fit for purposes;
• Supporting the Head of HR Operations with senior ER matters;
• Working with the Senior HR Advisor in supporting the EDI Partner with all actions arising from the Inclusivity Group and attending Inclusivity Group meetings.