Senior HR Business Partner

About The Role

We're seeking an experienced and commercially minded Senior HR Business Partner to join our growing HR team in a newly created role. Working closely with Partners and senior stakeholders, you'll be a trusted adviser on strategic people matters, helping to drive organisational performance, develop future talent and support the delivery of the firm's long-term ambitions.

This is an opportunity to move beyond traditional HR partnering. You'll play a key role in shaping workforce plans, leading complex people initiatives, influencing business decisions through data and insight, and driving meaningful change across the firm. You'll be confident building credibility at a senior level, constructively challenging where needed, and balancing strategic thinking with practical delivery

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnering

• Partner with senior leaders to understand business objectives, workforce requirements and people risks.
• Develop and deliver people plans aligned to commercial and operational priorities.
• Use people data and insight to influence decision-making and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Coach and support leaders to strengthen their people management capabilities.
• Identify emerging workforce risks and make proactive recommendations.  

Talent, Workforce Planning & Succession

• Lead workforce planning discussions to ensure capability aligns with current and future demand.
• Facilitate talent and succession planning activities across designated business areas.
• Support fair and evidence-based promotion, progression and performance decisions.
• Work alongside Talent Acquisition, Early Careers and Learning & Development teams to strengthen talent pipelines.
• Use workforce data to identify trends and recommend retention and development strategies.

Employee Relations & Change

• Lead complex and sensitive employee relations matters.
• Provide pragmatic advice on employment law, policy and people risk.
• Support restructures, organisational change initiatives and integration activities.
• Analyse people trends and recommend preventative solutions to improve outcomes and reduce risk.  

Leadership & Wider Contribution

• Coach and support HR colleagues, sharing expertise and best practice.
• Lead cross-firm HR projects and improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to the development of HR policies, processes and service standards.
• Deputise for the Head of HR when required.

About You

You'll be an experienced HR Business Partner who is comfortable operating at a strategic level whilst remaining hands-on when needed.

You'll likely bring:

• Significant HR Business Partnering experience within a complex organisation.
• Experience supporting senior leaders, partners, directors or executive stakeholders.
• A strong track record of managing complex employee relations matters.
• Experience of workforce planning, talent management and succession planning.
• Exposure to organisational change, restructures or transformation programmes.
• Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance business, employee and risk considerations.
• Confidence using data and management information to influence decisions.
• Excellent stakeholder management and relationship-building skills.  

We're particularly interested in speaking with people who:

• Enjoy building credibility with senior stakeholders.
• Can challenge constructively and influence with confidence.
• Are naturally curious and solutions-focused.
• Thrive in a fast-paced professional services environment.
• Want to contribute beyond their client group and help shape the future direction of HR.

Qualifications & Knowledge

• CIPD Level 7, Chartered Membership or equivalent senior-level HR experience.
• Strong, up-to-date knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Knowledge of people analytics, HR systems and workforce reporting.
• Understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion principles and their practical application.

About Us

Benefits of working with us as a Senior HRBP include: 

• 28 days annual leave (plus public holidays)
• Bonus scheme
• Life Assurance
• Scottish Widows Pension Scheme
• Private healthcare
• 1/3 gym membership contribution
• Electric vehicle scheme
• Happy People/Perks at Work benefits portal
  
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Flu vaccinations

Is HCR the smart move for you?

HCR suits people who love a challenge and want to work in an environment where careers thrive on the back of hard work and personal merit. Our people enjoy feeling part of something bigger than themselves, and whilst our clients drive our development, it is our people who bring their energy, enthusiasm, and entrepreneurial mindsets together to solve problems and help our clients succeed.

Why HCR people love their jobs

Our people tell us they enjoy working on good quality, interesting matters from a wide variety of our clients, because they get the experience they want to develop their careers. We will give you responsibility early, the mandate to make things happen and we’ll back your good ideas. Our “Passion for People” lives and breathes every day throughout the firm as our peoples’ energy and sense of fun create a warm environment in which to thrive.

What career progression will HCR offer you?

HCR’s growth constantly creates opportunities for people who want to go places and make a difference, your career plan can become part of our growth plan. At HCR you can expect to work with friendly, energetic, ambitious people, who love getting stuck into a client problem, and enjoy celebrating a good outcome. Our people value the sense of community provided by the individual personality of each office and the collegiate approach across all our service and sector teams.

What does HCR believe, achieve and stand for?

As a Times Best Law firm, among the UK Top 60, we provide the full range of services that you would expect to organisations, business leaders and individuals. However, in our mission to give everyone the opportunity to experience a different kind of legal service we take an entrepreneurial approach. We’re flexible and responsive to the needs of our clients, delivering the best outcomes for them. We have more than 800 lawyers and support staff, including more than 150 partners, and have been awarded the Law Society’s Lexcel quality mark in recognition of our compliance and client care standards.

With ten offices in England and Wales our well-established presence stretches from west to east, ensuring clients can access a full-service legal offering no matter where they’re located. We’ve expanded significantly in Birmingham, Cardiff and the Thames Valley, and our merger with Hewitsons resulted in a full service regional hub being established in the heart of the Waterside innovation area centre of Northampton. Our London and Cambridge continue to grow apace.

With solid connections in the communities we work in, and a track record of delivering legal advice to businesses and individuals throughout the areas we base ourselves in, our clients continue to value our approach to providing legal advice, in the way they need, when they need it.

As HCR is an equal opportunities employer, we don’t just accept differences, we celebrate them. We want to attract a diverse and ambitious workforce that reflects all backgrounds and skills to create a workplace that is supportive and inclusive, recognises and nurtures talent, and which works together to achieve the best outcome for our clients. We are privileged to be an armed forces-friendly organisation.

A note for recruitment agencies – The HCR Resourcing Team is responsible for recruitment across the firm, and where possible will use direct hiring methods. We do work with a Preferred Supplier List, and where appropriate, we will release vacancies to those agencies who we deem most appropriate to support us. Only those agencies will be invited to submit candidates via our recruitment portal. Any speculative or unsolicited CVs sent to any employee or Partner of HCR will not be considered an introduction, and no fees will be applicable. Furthermore, we retain the right to pursue these candidates without query of ownership