HR Advisor

Mayer Brown is a leading global law firm with offices in 26 key business centres across the Americas, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. With approximately 200 lawyers in each of the world’s three largest financial centres — New York, London and Hong Kong — we are uniquely positioned to advise leading companies and financial institutions on their most complex legal needs. We have deep experience in high-stakes litigation and complex transactions across industry sectors, including our signature strength, the global financial services industry.

We are a collegial, collaborative and diverse firm where highly motivated individuals with an unwavering commitment to excellence receive the opportunity, support and development they need to grow, thrive and realise their greatest potential. We also encourage all our people to use their skills to support the wider community through our pro bono and community volunteering programmes.  At Mayer Brown the principles of mutual respect, dignity and understanding are central to the way we work and help to provide an environment where diversity and inclusion are embraced.

The HR Advisor will provide a proactive HR service to support the effective management and development of our people.  The main objectives of this role include managing employee relations issues, the co-ordination of operational HR processes, lateral recruitment and assisting with the delivery of key HR projects to contribute to the HR team's objectives. In addition, the role provides cover for other members of the team during periods of absence.  Candidates with more experience will be considered as Senior HR Advisor.

Employee Relations

• Manage employee relations matters, including performance management, flexible working requests, maternity/paternity arrangements, disciplinary and grievances, workplace conflicts, probation, counselling, absence management, welfare and other staffing issues, seeking advice from the supervisor and the Firm's internal employment lawyers as appropriate
• Assist with the annual performance, compensation review processes and organisational change including redundancy processes and other employment terminations

 Lateral Recruitment

• Manage the recruitment process from start to finish for allocated roles such as developing job descriptions, advising advertising means (direct sourcing where possible), screening applications, interviewing, negotiating and managing the offer process, process relevant paperwork, etc. and maintain job description database; assist with seeking hiring approvals
• Prepare and manage job postings for external job boards (LinkedIn/JobDB); monitor applications/correspondence in the general recruitment inbox; maintain records of placements and candidates on the recruitment system
• Liaise with interviewers, candidates and recruiters for scheduling of interviews; ensure all interview arrangements are in place
• Conduct written tests and other assessments with candidates; prepare summary of the test results
• Compile recruitment related reports on a monthly basis

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Coordinate offer letters and associated new joiner onboarding paperwork, including pre-employment checks and induction materials
• Ensure timely execution of offer paperwork and associated onboarding documents and communication to candidates
• Conduct first day induction for new joiners; contribute to the development of the induction program
• Facilitate offboarding process and arrange for the smooth departure logistics for leavers
• Conduct 'settling in' meetings and exit interviews

General

• Keep up to date with pay and benefit trends and market rates to ensure we remain competitive on recruitment, retain and motivate high calibre individuals
• Keep abreast of changes in employment law and current trends in HR best practice
• Asist with the review of HR policies and procedures
• Deal with ad hoc queries and act as a point of contact for a range of enquiries
• Undertake projects and any ad hoc responsibilities as required
• Support the Firm's diversity and wellbeing initiatives
• Assume responsibility for own personal development

• Bachelor degree preferably in Human Resources, Business, or equivalent
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant HR experience in a HR Generalist role, including recruitment experience, within the legal profession or professional services
• Ability to develop strong working relationships with internal clients; demonstrate strong interpersonal skills to build confidence, trust and respect amongst partners and staff
• A thorough understanding of current employment law and how to apply this in the workplace
• Ability to use initiative and provide pro-active and pragmatic solutions to problems
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both English and Cantonese; Mandarin desirable
• Excellent organisational skills and ability to prioritise and juggle multiple tasks simultaneously