Talent Acquisition Senior / Advisor (Lateral Legal UK)

Linklaters Italy; Greater London; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 100,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private Medical Insurance

Pension Plan

Fitness centre on site

Health assessments

Job summary

Linklaters is seeking an experienced Talent Acquisition professional to lead direct sourcing, attract and assess candidates for key hiring needs across the firm. You will partner with HR managers and business leaders to deliver a seamless candidate experience within a fast-paced environment.

You will champion Linklaters’ inclusion initiatives and culture, while leveraging Workday and AI tools to optimize recruitment. The role also involves analytics, campaigns, and cross-office support as needed.

Qualifications

• Advisor-level experience in recruitment and talent sourcing within professional services.
• Proven ability to identify and engage top talent using direct sourcing techniques and market intelligence.
• Strong communication, emotional intelligence, and relationship-building across stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Direct sourcing, attraction and assessment of suitable candidates for identified hiring needs.
• Promote Linklaters’ inclusion initiatives and culture to candidates and stakeholders.
• Become a superuser of Workday and AI tools for recruitment processes; ensure compliance and best practices.
• Support recruitment for other groups and offices; analyze recruitment data and campaigns.

Skills

Direct sourcing

Talent acquisition

Stakeholder management

Diversity & inclusion

Candidate assessment

Job description

About Linklaters

About us Linklaters is a global law firm, providing legal services in 20 countries and through 30 offices. Linklaters is a people business. Being best in class in the eyes of our clients means that our people must be exceptional. We look not only for brilliant minds, but for people who will thrive in our environment: people who love working collaboratively and demonstrate the innovative, efficient, agile, entrepreneurial, and responsible mind-set we aim to bring to every interaction. Ours is an environment of outperformance. We achieve this not with targets and incentives, but by fostering a positive, supportive, fair, and open atmosphere. We respect and value difference but insist on inclusivity. We celebrate all aspects of diversity and challenge any form of bias. This is vital to our ability to work as one team, with a common goal.

This is the place where talent meets opportunity and where passion meets purpose. At Linklaters, the work we do means carving a path through unexplored territory, working on complex legal matters, across jurisdictions and borders and providing outstanding service and confidence to our clients. Having the vision to see things differently and the determination to deliver excellence, every time. That's what makes us who we are. You can see your true potential connecting with dynamic colleagues all over the world, united by purpose and shared values and working together as one inclusive, collaborative team. With second to none training and support, this is the place where you meet your future.

Talent Acquisition and Talent Management

The Talent Acquisition and Talent Management team sits within the broader People function and is responsible for attracting, developing and retaining the firm's talent at every stage of the career journey, from early careers entrants through to senior leaders. The team takes a joined-up approach to talent, ensuring that attraction, development and succession strategies are integrated and aligned with the firm's long-term strategic ambitions. The team works in close partnership with HR Managers, Centres of Excellence and business leaders.

Lateral Legal Talent Team

The Lateral Legal talent team is a dynamic team that collaborates with Linklaters’ London fee-earning practice groups, and the firm's in-house legal teams, to recruit the very best talent in the market. We provide valued expertise to practice hiring partners and HR business partners by: Market mapping using online tools, refined with detailed research to seek out and persuade inactive candidates to apply; Building trusted relationships with candidates to bring them into the candidate pool, retaining them through to joining; Using knowledge of London and other UK regional and international markets to both search for candidates and share context for stakeholders and hiring partners; Building strong relationships with the firm’s preferred supplier agencies both to drive value and gain knowledge and expertise of the market and deep candidate background; Driving transformational change of the talent acquisition methodology to eliminate bias and enable diversity-confident hiring.

Your role

Working closely with the talent manager and the broader talent acquisition and people functions, the principle role focus will be the direct sourcing, attraction and assessment of suitable candidates for identified hiring needs and skill sets, whilst carefully balancing stakeholder relationships and ensuring applicants receive the highest quality candidate experience, providing them with a seamless interview and onboarding process.

Your role is critical to ensuring recruitment best practice and diversity awareness and involves actively promoting Linklaters’ inclusion initiatives, networks, benefits and culture.

Being part of a regulated entity, you will also play a key role in ensuring Linklaters’ regulatory obligations, recruitment best practice and due processes are strictly adhered to, including by internal stakeholders and third-party providers.

This opportunity also involves conducting screenings and/or HR interviews with prospective candidates, providing you and Linklaters with a unique opportunity to understand candidate motivations, influence candidate and stakeholder outcomes, and promote Linklaters’ culture. You will also be expected to become a superuser of Workday (our applicant tracking system) and any AI tools available to the recruitment function, promoting their use to stakeholders where required for internal compliance and recruitment best practice.

From time to time, the role will also involve supporting recruitment for other groups, local offices and functions, reporting and analysis of recruitment data, managing of internal and online recruitment campaigns including the creation of fresh online content, regular review and updates to our role description templates, attending relevant recruitment network events and other ad hoc duties.

Your experience & skills

You currently operate confidently at advisor level and have a strong background in recruitment and talent sourcing within professional services. You demonstrate a proven ability to identify and engage exceptional talent through sophisticated direct sourcing techniques, combining market intelligence, research and relationship-building to access candidate pools beyond traditional recruitment channels. You bring sound judgement and commercial awareness to recruitment decisions, balancing business priorities, market realities and risk considerations while providing pragmatic advice to stakeholders. You communicate confidently and demonstrate high emotional intelligence, adapting your approach to different stakeholders, candidates and working styles. You are able to influence constructively, build credibility quickly and support robust hiring decisions through thoughtful challenge and effective communication. You are equally committed to delivering an exceptional candidate experience that reflects the firm's values and enhances its reputation in the market. Detail-oriented and highly organised, you effectively manage competing priorities and expectations whilst delivering work to a high standard and within agreed timeframes. You balance operational excellence with discretion and professionalism, navigating complex, sensitive or confidential situations whilst maintaining a consistently high-quality service. You are a collaborative and relationship-oriented professional who works effectively across teams, functions and levels of seniority. You build strong partnerships with colleagues, stakeholders and business leaders, contributing positively to team objectives, and are equally comfortable working independently, taking ownership of priorities and delivering results in a fast-paced environment.

Benefits

• Health & Wellbeing Private Medical Insurance
• Free in-house fitness centre and subsidised health club memberships
• Free onsite GP service and periodic health assessments
• Finance Pension and flexible savings options
• Income protection and life assurance
• Mortgage advice and will-writing services.
• Family & Lifestyle Electric car and cycle to work schemes.
• Emergency family care
• Additional holiday/birthday leave.
• Maternity/paternity/shared parental leave.
• Travel insurance and season ticket loan
• Option to join sports and social clubs, as well as our employee networks groups (such as our Gender Equality, With Pride, or Social Mobility Networks)

Technical Skills

This list of duties and responsibilities above is not exhaustive. It is intended to describe the general content of, and requirements for, the performance of this job. As such, the role may also include the undertaking of additional tasks as required.

In the event that we make an offer to you, and where local legislation permits, we will conduct pre-engagement screening checks that may include but are not limited to your professional and academic qualifications, your eligibility to work in the relevant jurisdiction, any criminal records, your financial stability and references from previous employers. Your offer will be subject to the successful completion of these checks which will be initiated following your consent.

As a responsible business, it is important that we represent the diversity of our people, our clients and our communities. We know that diversity makes us a better law firm and helps us attract the best talent, drive innovation with diversity of thought, and deliver the best experience to everyone who comes into contact with us. We recruit on the basis of merit, irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender identity, race or ethnicity, marital status, religion, sex, sexual orientation or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate. Selection decisions, and the reasons for those decisions, are recorded at each stage of the selection process. Selection criteria and, where appropriate, technical skills tests are in place to measure an individual’s ability for the safe and effective performance of a job. Those involved in recruitment and selection decisions and processes are also provided with guidance on diversity issues. If you require reasonable adjustments to be made during the selection process, please talk to a member of the recruitment team so that any required adjustments can be made in advance. Specific experience requirements advertised on a role do not intend to preclude applications from candidates who may have more or less experience. Our intention is only to indicate a guideline as to the necessary skills for the role as described.