HR Business Partner 12-month FTC

Macfarlanes; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

Macfarlanes LLP is seeking an HR Business Partner to join the Human Resources department on a 12-month fixed‑term contract. The role involves partnering with senior stakeholders, shaping people strategies, and driving talent initiatives in a leading law firm.

The successful candidate will bring HRBP or HR Manager experience within professional services, strong influencing skills, and a strategic, commercially minded approach to organisational development.

Qualifications

• Experience working as an HRBP or HR Manager in a professional services environment.
• Strong influencing skills and confidence in negotiations.
• Strategic HR and organisational development with a track record of delivering change.
• Commercial mindset with ability to add value beyond advice.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted relationships with partners and practice areas to support business priorities.
• Collaborate with partners to implement people strategies aligned to business needs.
• Coach for development, feedback delivery, and career conversations.
• Utilise HR expertise to drive wellbeing, organisation design, engagement and people analytics.
• Use data to highlight trends and build diverse talent pipelines.
• Support HR Advisory and Recruitment teams with fair processes.

Skills

HRBP experience

Influencing skills

Strategic HR

Change management

Commercial mindset

Job description

We are recruiting an HR Business Partner to join our Human Resources department on a 12-month fixed-term contract.

About Macfarlanes

Macfarlanes is a pre-eminent law firm that serves a global client base in Private Capital, Private Wealth, M&A and Disputes. Personal connection, an entrepreneurial spirit and a commitment to excellence are at the heart of our firm. These values drive our ability to deliver exceptional outcomes for our clients.

We are big enough to undertake the most complex and demanding mandates yet small enough to know each other well and to be agile, adapting to the needs of our clients. We seek to strengthen the firm by recruiting talented people from all backgrounds who want to build long-lasting and impactful careers with us. Our culture is challenging and supportive, creating an environment where individuals can thrive.

What this means for you

Joining Macfarlanes means being part of a collaborative, approachable team who want you to succeed. You’ll be encouraged to get involved and recognised for your contribution.

We take your development seriously. Our learning and development programmes are second to none and are designed to help you strengthen your skills.

Above all, you’ll be part of a firm where we all work together as part of a cohesive and supportive team, value your efforts and help you to thrive.

The team

Macfarlanes’ HR department consists of 45 employees which fall into several different teams; Advisory, Resource Management, Operations, Recruitment, Early Careers, Learning & Performance, and Inclusion & CSR.

The Advisory team comprises a Head of HR, three Senior HRBPs, two HR Managers and one HR Adviser.

The HRBP will play an essential part in working with senior stakeholders to ensure that the people agenda is at the forefront of what we do. The successful candidate will need to build trust with the practice area heads and support them with their business priorities.

The role

The individual will be required to carry out a broad range of good quality work. Key duties will include:

• building trusted relationships with partners so that you are seen as the go to HR person in the practice areas and business units you support;
• working closely with partners to assist them to implement people strategies that best support their business;
• coaching to help the business perform to its best e.g. helping development partners deliver feedback and have career conversations;
• using experience, skills and knowledge of HR to make an impact in areas such as wellbeing, change management, organisation design, employee engagement and people analytics;
• using data to highlight trends emerging in the practice;
• assisting in building strong, diverse talent pipelines;
• working across the HR Advisory team, and wider HR team, to share knowledge and good practice. Supporting firm processes like performance and salary review and trainee solicitor recruitment; and
• working collaboratively with the recruitment team to ensure fair and consistent processes are in place to enable us to hire the best talent available.

This job description encompasses the main duties of the role and is by no means exhaustive. It is anticipated that duties may vary from time to time according to the needs of the practice area.

The candidate

The successful candidate will ideally possess:

• experience working as an HRBP or HR Manager within a law or professional services environment;
• strong influencing skills and confidence in situations that require negotiation;
• strategic HR and organisational development skills with a track record of delivering change; and
• a commercial approach with the ability to add value beyond giving professional advice.

Application screening

Any offer of employment with us is subject to our pre-employment checks which are conducted by a third-party screening provider. These checks will be initiated with your consent, and your CV will be sent to the provider by us. The screening will include but is not limited to your employment references, professional and academic qualifications including grades and any criminal records. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks.

Our commitment to inclusion

Inclusion is one of our key priorities and it is a goal we are actively working towards. We believe that an inclusive, forward-thinking culture is intrinsically important and enables us to provide innovative solutions to our clients.

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, bringing different perspectives and experiences, making Macfarlanes an exciting and stimulating place to work. We seek to recruit the best candidates, regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity, social or economic background, religion, disability, sexual orientation or any other characteristic.

As part of this commitment, we will ask you certain diversity data questions. We would really appreciate you and/or your recruiter completing these questions when submitting an application to Macfarlanes as this data enables us to measure our progress and identify any actions needed to continue to support an inclusive culture. This data is anonymised to maintain the privacy of applicants. If you have any questions relating to how this data is used, please contact a member of the Recruitment team.

Should you require any adjustments during the application and/or interview process, please do not hesitate to inform your recruiter or a member of the Recruitment team. Please note, the job description is available in other accessible formats (for example, large print).

We are a Disability Confident Employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who best meet the essential criteria for the role.