Recruitment and Early Careers Manager

Porter Dodson LLP; England; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible Working

25 days holiday, plus Bank Holidays

Private Healthcare

Pension Scheme(s)

Life Assurance

Eye Tests

Flu Jabs

Gym Membership Discounts

Legal Support

Charity involvement

Job summary

Porter Dodson LLP is seeking a Recruitment and Early Careers Manager on a 12-month fixed-term contract to lead the firm’s recruitment and early careers programmes. The role combines remote working with monthly attendance at regional offices for meetings and events, reporting to Carly Dyer and collaborating with partners and HR colleagues.

The role focuses on delivering a high-quality candidate experience, developing talent strategies, and overseeing the full trainee lifecycle, including

Qualifications

• Experience in recruitment, ideally within professional services or law firms.
• Exposure to early careers programmes and internship/trainee recruitment.
• Proven ability to manage stakeholders across different levels of seniority.
• Strong sourcing skills and candidate relationship management.
• Proficient in using recruitment systems (ATS).
• Excellent communication and organisational skills.
• Attention to detail and proactive problem-solving.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment processes across the firm’s functions.
• Develop and manage early careers programmes, including internships, trainee pathways and apprenticeships.
• Build relationships with internal stakeholders and external partners.
• Maintain and optimise the applicant tracking system and recruitment data reporting.
• Coordinate sourcing activities (LinkedIn, market mapping, talent pools, events).
• Oversee external recruitment partners and PSL management.

Skills

Recruitment

Early Careers

Stakeholder management

Sourcing

Communication

Organisational skills

Attention to detail

Tools

Pinpoint

Job description

Recruitment and Early Careers Manager

Department: Central Team

Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time

Location: Remote

Reporting To: Carly Dyer

Description

We are seeking an experienced and proactive Recruitment & Early Careers Manager to join our HR team on a 12-month fixed-term contract to cover maternity leave. This is an exciting opportunity to lead our recruitment and early careers programmes, ensuring we continue to attract, recruit and develop exceptional talent across the firm. You'll work closely with partners, hiring managers and the wider HR team to deliver an outstanding candidate experience while supporting our long-term talent strategy. The role offers the flexibility to work remotely, with monthly attendance at one of our regional offices for various recruitment and early careers meetings and events and key stakeholder engagement.

Key Responsibilities

Recruitment

• Deliver a quality and consistent recruitment experience to all the firms functions throughout all aspects of the hiring process from sourcing to onboarding.
• Build & maintain relationships with internal stakeholders at all levels, providing advice and support during the recruitment process.
• Contribute to the development of the firm’s talent attraction strategy.
• Develop and maintain the firm’s applicant tracking system.
• Carry out direct sourcing through various avenues (e.g., LinkedIn, market mapping, utilisation of talent pipeline, networking, adverts etc.).
• Manage the recruitment PSL, and nurture relationships with external recruitment partners.

Early Careers

• Responsible for the full trainee lifecycle, from attraction, recruitment and assessment, through to onboarding, seat rotation, qualification and admission.
• Oversee arrangements for law fairs, open days, and other external recruitment events.
• Develop relationships with university/college/school careers services.
• Support the Head of HR with the design and implementation of the recruitment process for legal and non-legal apprentices.

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

This role would best suit someone with exposure to legal recruitment and ideally an early careers background, with demonstrable knowledge of the routes to legal qualification (LPC/SQE/CILEX) and various apprenticeship routes and requirements. You will also have:

• Familiarity with recruitment applicant tracking systems, preferably Pinpoint.
• The ability to track and analyse recruitment data for reporting purposes.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• A flexible and proactive approach.
• Excellent organisational skills with the ability to prioritise your workload.
• A keen eye for detail and accuracy.

Benefits

In addition to a competitive salary, you will also get:

• Flexible Working
• 25 days holiday, plus Bank Holidays
• Extra Day of Holiday for your Birthday
• Private Healthcare
• Pension Scheme(s)
• Life Assurance
• Eye Tests
• Flu Jabs
• Corporate Gym Membership Discounts
• Legal Support
• Opportunities to get involved with charity fundraising, sports teams and office socials