Head of Employee Relations - EMEAPAC; FTC

Reporting to the Director of Partner Performance & Business Partnering, the Head of Employee Relations will drive the Employee Relations vision and strategy across the region. They will provide strategic, proactive and commercial advice on all employee relations matters and will support, where appropriate, Partner ER matters. This role has one ER Manager reporting into it.

• Work closely with the Director of Partner Performance & Business Partnering, General Counsel and Risk and our senior leadership team to develop, drive and communicate the strategy for the ER function across the EMEAPAC region.
• Drive best practice approaches to ER issues across the firm. Further develop and the refine the suite of ER templates and tools (e.g., PIPs, redundancies, investigations, terminations, etc.) that support the business partnering and advisor teams across the region.
• Proactively and regularly review employee handbooks, policies and contractual documents, update and make changes that ensure our approach supports our strategy and culture and is in line with market and employment law changes.
• Maintain a deep and up-to-date understanding of key industry trends and employment law changes - incorporate them into day-to-day ER operations and proactively brief the Business Partnering teams and business where relevant. Leading the People & Culture's teams initiatives in response to the Employment Rights Act (2025).
• In collaboration with key stakeholders, build clear processes and structures in respect of handling Partner ER matters including investigations and complaints in a sensitive and appropriate way.
• Build strong and sustainable relationships across the firm; be a trusted advisor.
• Proactively support with coaching and developing our leaders in relation to avoiding/reducing ER risks and issues and being an inclusive leader.
• Monitor and advise on regional ER cases. Enabling and upskilling local people and culture teams through classroom training or 121 coaching. Build regional knowledge base and understanding across teams.
• Further build and lead the Centre of Excellence ('CoE') for ER across the firm, providing strategic advice on regional P&C policies, ER matters, investigations and processes.
• Where appropriate and in conjunction with Learning & Development, General Counsel and Risk and Compliance, design and/or deliver training programmes or e-learning that supports strategy, builds awareness and reduces risks and issues.
• Provide strategic and commercial advice to the EMEAPAC Business Partnering Team, regional Heads and local offices including on policies, ER matters, cases, exit negotiations, investigations and processes with minimal input from external legal counsel.
• Conduct and review ER processes such as investigations and/or support, coach and advise others in conducting investigations as required. Advise and support with any complex exercises such as re-orgs and TUPE.
• Drive a data led approach; monitor core ER metrics and ensure we effectively track ER activity, analyse trends and spot issues - escalating as appropriate. Suggest, design and implement targeted interventions to close gaps and minimise risks.
• Work closely with our General Counsel team to ensure we fulfil our legal / regulatory requirements (i.e. SRA) and appropriately report matters for EPLI purposes.
• Work alongside and build exceptionally strong relations with the firm's external counsel in all locations; whilst driving a commercial approach. Manage and track the external legal budget, and seek to minimise costs and limit to more complex cases.
• Lead, drive and initiate appropriate ER related initiatives and participate in wider P&C projects, providing a people ER/Risk lens. Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people's health and overall wellbeing.
  
  Find more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here.
  Relevant ER experience, including experience…