We are seeking to hire an experienced Resource Manager to provide our Disputes teams with work allocation and resource management support with the aim to move to a more structured resource management approach, to better support diversity and inclusion, to enable the management of people, and their performance and development in an increasingly flexible environment, and to encourage greater collaboration across teams and locations. A possibility for a Senior role for the right candidate.

CMS is a Future Facing firm. With 79 offices in 45 countries and 5,000+ lawyers worldwide, we combine deep sector understanding with a global overview, giving us the ability not only to see what's coming, but to shape it.

CMS is well equipped to help our clients face the future with confidence. We are driven by technology and readily embrace the possibilities it opens up for developing new and better ways of delivering legal services. Our bold approach to a changing future ensures that we nurture our employees and recruit top talent.

The Resource Manager will:
- Be the business services lead for allocating work throughout the different Disputes teams and will make sure there is a fair and equal access to work for fee earners with work allocation based on skills rather than personal relationships which limits unconscious bias.
- Improve career development of our people, giving them access to a wider variety of work which matches their development needs and aspirations, resulting in higher levels of engagement and a higher level of retention.
- Be more readily able to identify training needs/ performance issues and coordinate with Partners/HR/PSLs/L&D to manage this more proactively. This also applies to the identification and management of wellbeing issues.
- Even utilisation across teams / locations resulting in more efficient use of resource and enabling greater cross working across locations/ teams.
- Provides access to improved management information to support decision making in relation to people management at team and practice group level.
- Allows resource management to proactively support the allocation of resources against client rates to optimise profitability.
- Support on the implementation of a new resource management tool and implement any changes required to the structure, process and approach alongside this third-party tool.

Key responsibilities
- Working with the Practice Group Leads (PGLs), Team leads (TLs) and other Partners: Developing an excellent working and trusted relationship with our partners to gain a deep understanding on their practice, pressure points and resourcing needs and keeping this knowledge up-to date.
- Working with Fee earners: Developing an excellent working relationship with the fee earners (counsel, associates, trainees and paralegals) to understand pressure points, capacity, skill sets and skill gaps and assisting with matching the fee earners preferences (where possible) to work that becomes available.
- Working within the Practice Management Team and with other Business Support Services: Work closely with the other resource managers in the firm to develop a global, best practice approach to work allocation practices by sharing guidance and experience.
- Analysis and Reporting: Carry out weekly and monthly work allocation analysis to report on trends, recommendations to smooth utilisation or improve processes where needed and to flag any areas of concern to be addressed.

An ideal candidate will have/will be:
- Prior experience in work allocation or resource management within a legal, professional services or corporate environment is highly advantageous.
- Qualified lawyer or other professional educated to degree level, or relevant experience within the legal/professional services sector.
- Strong commercial acumen and business awareness.
- Outstanding communication and negotiation skills.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and able to build relationships at all levels.
- Strong project management skills.
- Client service focus.
- Strong judgment.
- Proactive, resourceful, takes initiative.
- Excellent written and oral communication.
- Persistence and resilience.
- Able to drive change and transformation, comfortable with ambiguity.
- Persuasive and able to influence senior decision makers.
- Discreet and confidential, able to deal with situations sensitively.
- Experience working with resource management software would be advantageous.
- Competent in Excel.

At CMS, a next-generation mindset is woven into all we do. We're diverse, supportive and inclusive, embracing our corporate social responsibility and creating a culture of sustainability in which every one of our people, whatever their background, can maximise their potential and thrive.

For further information about CMS' diversity initiatives and programmes, please click here to view the diversity pages on our website.

Please apply online or contact a member of the Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions. For information regarding our competitive range of benefits please visit our Rewards & Benefits page on our website.

Please note that CMS have a preferred agency panel in place. Only applications submitted via the portal at the point of instruction will be accepted.

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