Human Resources Business Partner – Professional

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is one of the world’s leading international law firms. Established in 1884, the Firm has approximately 2,000 lawyers and is headquartered in New York, with offices in Beijing, Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dallas, Hong Kong, Houston, London, Los Angeles, Luxembourg, Palo Alto, San Francisco, São Paulo, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C. The Firm provides coordinated legal advice and transactional capabilities to clients around the globe.

The Human Resources Business Partner serves as a strategic advisor and trusted partner to leaders across professional staff departments at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. Based in New York, this role supports the full employee life cycle for assigned client groups, partnering with department leadership, managers, employees, and HR colleagues to develop and execute people strategies that align with the Firm’s business objectives, culture, and commitment to excellence.

Reporting to the Associate Director, HR Business Partner, the HR Business Partner will provide proactive, practical, and thoughtful HR guidance across a broad range of areas, including employee relations, performance management, compensation planning, talent development, engagement, organizational design, onboarding, offboarding, and change management. The HR Business Partner will develop a deep understanding of the Firm’s professional staff functions and business priorities, use data and insights to identify trends and opportunities, and collaborate closely with HR Centers of Excellence to deliver consistent, high-quality HR programs and solutions.

Serve as a strategic HR partner to leaders and managers across assigned professional staff departments, providing guidance on people-related priorities, organizational needs, and employee matters. Build strong, trusted relationships with department leaders, managers, employees, and HR colleagues to understand business objectives and deliver responsive, effective HR support. Partner with leaders to develop and implement people strategies that support employee engagement, retention, performance, professional development, and organizational effectiveness.

Advise managers on employee relations matters, performance concerns, conflict resolution, policy interpretation, coaching, corrective action, separations, and other sensitive workplace issues. Assess complex people-risk scenarios, apply sound judgment, and partner with Employee Relations, HR Compliance, legal, and other stakeholders as appropriate. Support the annual performance management process, including feedback collection, manager coaching, performance calibration, documentation, and follow-up actions. Partner with Talent Management and Compensation teams on annual compensation planning and offer development for new hires.

Collaborate with Talent Acquisition to understand staffing needs, support hiring strategies, and help ensure a strong hiring manager and candidate experience. Support onboarding and integration for new hires within assigned departments and partner with managers to promote effective engagement. Use HR data, reporting, and workforce insights to identify trends, inform recommendations, and support leaders in making thoughtful people decisions. Lead or support change management, organizational design, and other cross-functional projects impacting assigned client groups.

Partner with HR Centers of Excellence and other firm service areas to implement programs, policies, processes, and initiatives consistently and effectively. Help foster a positive, inclusive, high-performing workplace culture aligned with the Firm’s values and standards of professionalism. Maintain current knowledge of HR best practices, employment law developments, and…