Recruiting Specialist

Herbert Smith Freehills; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 95,000; Full time

Job summary

Herbert Smith Freehills in New York seeks a Recruiting Specialist to lead full-cycle recruiting across business services, with focus on law student and lateral attorney recruitment. You will manage searches, build relationships with firm leaders, and represent the firm with candidates in a hybrid NY office.

You will collaborate with the Recruiting Manager on market research, salary benchmarking, and process improvements, ensuring an exceptional candidate experience and compliant hiring practices

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Three or more years of recruiting experience, preferably within a law firm or professional services environment.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and recruiting technologies. Experience with Workday strongly preferred.
• Knowledge of legal recruiting practices and employment regulations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong client service mindset and ability to build trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Manage full-cycle recruiting for assigned requisitions, including job posting, sourcing, resume review, interview coordination, and offer preparation.
• Review active applications and proactively source passive candidates through LinkedIn and other channels, making recommendations on experience, capability and fit.
• Liaise with candidates and hiring managers to ensure a strong candidate experience and clear communication.
• Conduct market research, including competitor role analysis, salary benchmarking, and candidate pool assessment, to help manage stakeholder expectations.
• Collaborate across firm departments to develop efficient recruiting procedures and communications.
• Maintain accurate recruiting data and candidate records in Workday and Flo Recruit.
• Apply strong knowledge of recruiting best practices and regulatory requirements to support compliant hiring processes.

Skills

Full-cycle recruiting

Candidate experience

Sourcing

Relationship management

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Workday

MS Office

Job description

The Opportunity

We are looking for a highly motivated, organized and collaborative Recruiting Specialist to join our US recruiting team. This is a broad and substantive role: your primary focus will be business services hiring across all functional areas of the firm, complemented by meaningful involvement in law student recruitment and lateral attorney recruitment.

From day one, you will manage real searches, build genuine relationships with firm leadership, practice group heads, and department managers and serve as a true ambassador for the HSF Kramer brand with every candidate you meet. You will be supported by an experienced recruiting team and given the tools, guidance and autonomy to grow.

We are looking for someone who brings strong judgment, genuine curiosity and a service orientation to their work — someone who takes ownership of the candidate experience as much as the outcome of the search. This position is based in the New York office and follows a hybrid work schedule.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Manage full-cycle recruiting for assigned requisitions, including job posting, sourcing, resume review, interview coordination, and offer preparation.

• Review active application and proactively source passive candidates through LinkedIn and other channels, making recommendations on experience, capability and fit.

• Serve as a professional representative of the firm and liaison to candidates and hiring managers, ensuring a strong candidate experience, clear communication, and responsive follow-through.

• Work with the Recruiting Manager to conduct market research, including competitor role analysis, salary benchmarking, and candidate pool assessment, to help manage stakeholder expectations around timing and search difficulty.

• Collaborate across firm departments to develop efficient recruiting procedures and communications that streamline processes and support departmental needs.

• Maintain accurate recruiting data and candidate records in the firm’s recruiting systems (including Workday and Flo Recruit).

• Apply strong knowledge of recruiting best practices, valid selection methods, and regulatory requirements to support compliant and effective hiring processes.

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

• Bachelor's degree required.

• Three or more years of recruiting experience, preferably within a law firm or professional services environment.

• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and recruiting technologies. Experience with Workday strongly preferred.

• Knowledge of legal recruiting practices and employment regulations.

• Excellent written and verbal communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills.

• Strong client service mindset and ability to build trusted relationships with internal and external stakeholders at all levels of the organization.

• Strong organizational skills and ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

• Exceptional judgment, professionalism, and discretion when handling confidential information.

• Flexibility to work additional hours during peak recruiting periods.

• Willingness to occasionally travel to law schools, conferences, and other firm offices as needed.

COMPENSATION

Exact compensation may vary based on skills and experience. The anticipated salary range for this role is $78,000–$95,000 per year.

Team

People

Working Pattern

Full time

Location

New York

Contract type

Permanent Contract

We are committed to attracting people from all backgrounds and creating a respectful and inclusive culture where everyone thrives. We see this as essential to our success, including our ability to innovate and achieve sustained high performance. This is a key part of our Values—Human, Bold, and Outstanding.

HerbertSmithFreehillsKramerisanequalopportunityemployer.Thefirmiscommittedtocreatingandmaintainingaworkplaceinwhichallemployeeshaveanopportunitytoparticipateandcontributetothesuccessofthebusinessandarevaluedfortheirskills,experience,anduniqueperspectives.Thefirmdoesnotdiscriminateonthebasisofrace,color,creed,religion,sex,nationalorigin,veteranstatus,mentalorphysicalhandicapordisability,age,citizenshipstatus,alienage,ancestry,maritalstatus,sexualorientation,genderidentity,orexpressionoranyothercriteriaprohibitedunderapplicablefederal,stateorlocallaw.