Senior HR Business Partner, Middle East and Turkiye

Role Overview

Senior HR Business Partner, Middle East and Turkiye at Clifford Chance. You will partner with Partners and stakeholders to develop and deliver people priorities aligned to the firm's people and talent strategy and the Global Product Group (GPG) strategy.

Company Overview

Clifford Chance is a global law firm operating across jurisdictions, cultures, and languages. The firm combines deep legal expertise and commercial intelligence to grow, transform, protect, and defend clients' businesses. The culture is collaborative and inclusive, where diverse perspectives are recognised and valued and where performing to your highest ability unlocks equal access to opportunities to learn, thrive and grow.

Role Purpose

You will serve as a trusted advisor to Partners and senior stakeholders in the Middle East and Turkiye region, developing and delivering strategic HR initiatives that align with the firm's global people and talent strategy. You will manage and develop the local HR team while working closely with global HR functions, Centres of Expertise, and service delivery teams to drive high-impact people priorities and processes.

Key Responsibilities

People and Talent Strategy

• Partner with key stakeholders to develop and deliver the people and talent strategy aligned to the GPGs and global People and Talent strategy.
• Partner with key stakeholders to embed the firm's people priorities across the GPGs, shaping the talent agenda including succession planning and working on key talent processes.
• Actively contribute to people strategy formation by representing product groups, collaborating with relevant HR colleagues in the Middle East and Turkiye and globally, and bringing market knowledge of leading practice HR to shape and deliver HR projects linked to the strategy.
• Be a trusted advisor to key stakeholders, providing HR support, coaching and direction on HR related and people issues.
• Manage, lead, and develop HR team members in implementing the people strategy with due regard to all applicable policies.
• Monitor the quality and timely delivery of all activities and support the professional development of the team.
• Lead and participate in strategic projects aligned to People and Talent strategy as and when required.
• Support the Early Talent team to deliver key programs where required and be an ambassador for these schemes in the market.

Financial Management, Risk, Data and Analytics

• Work with key stakeholders to determine headcount forecasting and budget changes aligning to business plan and strategy.
• Understand and interpret business and commercial metrics and combine this with relevant interpretation of people data, analytics and reporting to support and optimise effective decision making.
• Use broader data from other sources of employee listening from across the firm, such as people survey, exit data, and inclusion focus groups, to give a broader perspective and insight on inclusion and wellbeing across the GPGs.

Employee Relations

• Be a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders on employee relations issues, anticipating risk and likely consequences, and identify early interventions.
• Provide confidential employee counselling, guidance and coaching with the aim of resolving situations informally when possible.
• Provide input to help shape employee related policies to ensure all employee related policies are implemented fairly and consistently.
• Provide guidance and support in relation to employee relations for Partners and stakeholders.

Performance Management

• Support Partners and stakeholders through the performance and reward frameworks and positively challenge them to influence objective and fair performance and reward outcomes that are consistently applied across the market and align to the firm's performance and reward strategy.
• Support leaders with specific performance management as needed, such as poor performance and probations.

Talent Management

• Work with key stakeholders to develop a resourcing plan that anticipates demand and capacity needs, future skills, and attrition, including analysing data, identifying trends and finding creative solutions to develop the talent pipeline and ensure optimal organisation structure.
• Use exit themes and other forms of employee data points such as engagement to develop, drive and embed solutions with key stakeholders that will drive change to attract, retain and motivate talent.
• Lead on talent and potential programs to identify critical talent segments for the future, including collation and analysis of key themes, gaps and actions including development.
• In conjunction with the relevant Centre of Expertise, develop, design, conduct impact analysis and create and deliver implementation plan for changes to structure, roles and workforce transition.

Career Development

• Use outputs of talent reviews, employee listening, people data and analytics, succession planning, etc. to identify career development opportunities and plan for key roles, high performers and diverse talent.
• Work with key stakeholders to develop top talent in alignment with business strategy and support raising their profiles within and outside their function and GPGs, including potential opportunities that may be available in other areas including different locations.
• Work with key stakeholders to identify development needs of employees and objectives to be achieved and provide ongoing support and solutions to ensure continued development.
• Advise on appropriate development program through the Clifford Chance Academy to deliver alongside the Learning and Leadership team.
• Where required, manage the trainees and early talent career development.

Reward and Benefits

• Partner with Reward Centre of Expertise to understand salary survey benchmark data combining market knowledge to advise on the reward and benefits strategy.
• Execute the year end compensation processes in conjunction with the Reward Centre of Expertise.
• Provide market insights on employee benefits and use this and other data sources to suggest how to enhance and improve the employee offering.

Inclusion, Wellbeing and People Experience

• Proactively build knowledge and understanding of the key inclusion pillars and strategy.
• Proactively build knowledge and understanding of the wellbeing strategy, enablers and priorities.
• Frequently engage in a wide range of employee listening methods to identify key themes and inform timely solutions to protect and enhance people's wellbeing.
• Proactively participate in initiatives led by the wider HR team and be an ambassador of a high performing, inclusive and healthy people experience.

Qualifications & Experience

• You will be an experienced Senior HR Business Partner, ideally having worked in a professional services organisation.
• You will have significant HR experience across all areas, and you will now be looking for a role that combines working at both an operational and strategic level.
• You will have a proven track record of developing and implementing HR initiatives that have demonstrably contributed to achieving business objectives and enhanced overall business performance, ideally with specific knowledge in reward and learning.
• You will have experience of partnering with and influencing management teams and working collaboratively with key stakeholders to create joint expectations and deliverables, striving for positive results and engaging others in the journey.
• You will demonstrate strong commercial awareness and the ability to review and analyse data and assess risk.
• You will have knowledge of relevant labour laws and best practice, including DIFC, ADGM, UAE onshore, and KSA.
• You will have knowledge of a Partnership environment and the common law legal system.
• You will ideally have formal HR qualifications such as a Masters' Degree or industry qualification.
• Experience of working in a matrixed and global environment is strongly desirable.

Skills & Competencies

• Flexible and effective communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines effectively.

Additional Information

Hybrid Working

This role follows the 'balanced' hybrid working approach and as long as business needs allow, you will be supported to work in a hybrid way in line with the hybrid working policy.

Equal Opportunities

At Clifford Chance, inclusion is good for the team and their families, the firm and society. The firm is committed to treating all employees and applicants fairly and equally regardless of their gender, gender identity and expression, marital or civil partnership status, race, colour, national or ethnic origin, social or economic background, disability, religious belief, sexual orientation, or age. This applies to recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of employment including pay, promotion, training, transfer and every other aspect of employment. The firm has a variety of flourishing employee networks where colleagues can share experiences and advocate for change. The goal is to deliver an equality of opportunity, an equality of aspiration and an equality of experience to everyone who works in the firm.

Learning and Development

From your first day, you will have varied opportunities to continuously grow and develop your skills and knowledge through formal training, informal coaching and mentoring, skills-based and technical training, and on the job learning.