About Ashurst:

Ashurst is a leading progressive global law firm with a rich history spanning more than 200 years. We are proud of our history and are future-focused, having expanded into new technologies through our NewLaw division, Ashurst Advance, and our consulting arm. Our in-depth understanding of our clients and commitment to providing excellent standards of service have seen us become a trusted adviser to local and global corporates, financial institutions and governments in all areas of commercial law. To find out more please visit www.ashurst.com

Department/Role overview:

Practice Resource Management and Work Allocation has been introduced to enable our practices to be more agile in the ever evolving markets in which we work. Practice Resource Management aligns work to lawyers, taking into account their experience, their development needs and their capacity. Put simply, Practice Resource Management helps ensure we are providing the right people on the right projects at the right time, across all of our services.

This is an exciting time for Practice Resource Management as Ashurst expands the scope and coverage of the function. Working closely with the business, Practice Resource Management is a key initiative to develop and implement our business and people strategy.

We are looking to recruit a Practice Resource Consultant to support our Investment Funds and Global Markets UK and EMEA/US practice groups however you will be required to support other practice groups from time-to-time.

These practices are complex, fast paced and high energy. The high volumes of resourcing requests require an organised and thoughtful response that delivers fast turnaround on a daily basis.

As a Practice Resource Consultant, you'll play an important role in implementing and supporting the delivery of Practice Resource Management services, helping to provide operational excellence. You'll work with the business to support the firm's strategy around agility and mobility of our people and will support the firm's people agenda, reporting directly to the Senior Practice Resource Managers and closely supporting the Division and Practice Group Leadership teams.

You'll be responsible for the staffing of Trainees, Lawyers, Senior Associates and Counsel, on a daily basis. You will also have the opportunity to support the Practice Management strategy across the firm's Global Network. You will have an important role in talent management and liaising with the People & Culture and leadership teams to discuss individual performance and development. You will also be involved in a range of projects that are designed to improve the efficiency and agility of the firm.

Ashurst is committed to providing equal opportunity to all. This includes providing a workplace that supports the well-being of our people. In this role, the Practice Resource Consultant is critical to ensuring work and opportunities are shared equally so that the wellbeing and professional development of our teams is managed thoughtfully, fairly and without bias.

Main responsibilities:

• Demonstrate good knowledge of the business and be proactive in relation to the supply and demand challenges of the business - i.e. busy periods, recurring business, etc.
• Ensuring that business needs are delivered in an efficient manner at all times by optimising the allocation of work and deployment of staff to maximise profitability in conjunction with personal development plans and individuals' wellbeing.
• Working with Partners to ensure clients' needs are delivered in an efficient manner at all times by optimising headcount, managing/overseeing joiners, leavers and secondments, smoothing utilisation and being aware of the impact on employee engagement.
• Supporting Practice Heads to ensure that resourcing is appropriate to deliver revenue and profit targets. This includes maintaining a forward looking view on resourcing, using available levers to 'bulk-up' or 'slim-down' resourcing. This includes the use of secondments, mobility, freelancers etc.
• Being accessible to all, allowing for constant communication and an accurate view of activity and capacity across the group.
• Understanding individual career development needs and supporting access to opportunities which will support personal development.
• Ensuring that work is allocated in a manner which is consistent with best practices.
• Supporting with the adoption of the firm's new resource management system ART (Ashurst Resourcing Tool), to include the training of fee earners, accountability over usage of the system, supporting with any queries and system admin.
• Supporting the maturity of ART use throughout the firm as the took is used to support other P&C functions, BD, pricing, pro bono etc.
• Using ART to ensure accurate forecasting of individual activity against actual time recording, flagging any discrepancies to individuals and escalating where required.
• Supporting the business to deliver the manpower and resourcing plan, having a deep understanding of the BU growth plans and headcount required to support these.
• Engaging with the BU Group Leaders and support with people issues and recruitment.
• Being prepared to challenge the BU protocols if impacting resourcing - i.e. completion of timesheets, accuracy of codes etc.
• Considering work allocation in the context of a multi-practice, multi-jurisdiction firm and help share work across these different groups.
• Keeping the wellbeing of the associates and wider team at the forefront of your mind when making resourcing decisions. Knowing how to spot the signs of someone who may be struggling with their workload and ensuring that they are working to the Mindful Business Charter policies in place for that department (training to be given).
• Producing accurate and commercially focused Management Information (MI) for your practice group as well as providing support to SPRM's on any reporting required for their practice groups, identifying trends/key risks/conflicts etc.
• Working in close partnership with other key functions - i.e. Finance/People & Culture/Business Development etc.
• Engaging in work allocation projects aligned to the resource management vision.
• Sharing knowledge/best practice and networking with your colleagues.
• Working with the Senior Practice Resource Management team to provide support on reporting for the London practices.
• Providing cover to PRM colleagues as required.

Risk and Control: Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with our regulatory requirements and internal policies.

Essential skills and experience:

• Prior experience in a resource management, manpower/workforce planning or similar role - ideally within a large professional or corporate environment.

OR

• Experience of working in another role within a medium - large size law firm, either in an operational role or as a Lawyer looking for a change of career direction.
• Outstanding stakeholder engagement skills at all levels, the ability to build relationships quickly and flex approach to be credible to a variety of audiences.
• Strong influencing skills at all levels.
• Ability to work with tight deadlines in a fast moving environment.
• Excellent organisational skills.
• Experience of conflict resolution, with the ability to manage complex conflicts between numerous parties.
• Commercial and risk focussed with good operational business acumen.
• Good problem solver and decision maker.
• Effective team player with an ability to develop personal networks through strong interpersonal skills.
• Trusted advisor who can provide balanced, pragmatic advice around manpower planning and resource management to the business.
• Proactive with a positive, flexible, assertive attitude.
• Strong IT skills - experience of working with resource management/manpower planning software would be advantageous.

Background checks:

In order to comply with regulatory and client requirements, Ashurst will undertake appropriate vetting of staff. When applicants accept a job offer, Ashurst, alongside a specialist provider, will undertake professional verification and background checks. These checks are only undertaken with consent, and in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations.