Job description

We are looking to recruit a Resource Manager to support teams across our Banking practice in London. The Resource Manager will report directly to the Senior Resource Manager for London Banking.

The Resource Manager plays an important role in delivering work allocation and helping provide operational excellence. The Resource Manager assists the firm in being more agile, providing the right people on the right matters at the right time and delivering on our DE&I and Health and Wellbeing strategies. They are responsible for the day-to-day deployment of lawyers to matters, balancing the needs of the business with the needs of the individual and assisting in smoothing out busyness and addressing low busyness. They have an important role in talent management and liaising with the HR and leadership teams, to discuss individual performance and development. They are involved in a range of projects designed to improve the efficiency and agility of the firm.

In addition to managing work allocation for the associates in the London Banking groups, which they support directly, it will be the resource manager’s role, working closely with partners and other colleagues in international offices to facilitate sharing excess capacity in one location for the benefit of another. The Resource Manager will also contribute positively to the implementation of the firm’s Advanced Delivery Resourcing Hub. The overriding objective of these initiatives will be to identify swiftly areas of excess capacity and demand to promote the most efficient utilisation of fee earner resources across the global practice whilst taking account of differences in skill sets and to ensure we fully utilise our different support offerings.

Banking Practice
A&O has a top-tier Global Banking practice. With over 1,000 lawyers worldwide, we have one of the largest and most international teams of banking and finance lawyers of any global law firm. Few practices can match our top tier position across the full range of financial products. With such a deep team and global reach, international and industry-leading ‘first-of-a-kind’ transactions are our hallmark. We have been instrumental in nearly all the major developments in the modern financial markets.

Renowned for our intellectual rigour, our banking and finance lawyers draw on deep product expertise and regularly work alongside our regulatory, litigation, restructuring and other specialists – particularly important in light of recent market conditions – to develop innovative solutions for our clients, often incorporating complex financing techniques that lead the industry.

Role and responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of the resource management process across the group confirming a six steps implementation process, which includes conducting one-to-one consultations with all partners and associates
• Support on the implementation and adoption of a brand new Resource Management tool
• Building and proactively maintaining the associated tools required to run the work allocation process
• Deployment of resource to matters balancing commercial and individual needs - optimising work allocation to alleviate high/low utilisation, increase mobility and agility and meet individual preferences and development goals. Updating capacity information and monitoring utilisation for all fee earners in the region on a weekly basis and maintaining ad-hoc updates. Highlighting potential under/over utilisation to the practice group
• Championing the use of alternative resources including utilising support at other offices or our Advance Delivery & Solutions offerings such as the Legal Services Centre, Peerpoint, the PMO and Legal Technology
• Maintaining information on staff movements between offices, monitoring of joiners, leavers, maternity etc. and holiday tracking
• Act as a trusted advisor to the lawyers by understanding client requirements and the wider needs of the business, in order to facilitate effective resourcing decisions
• Challenge requests and deal with potential resource escalations, making decisions on conflicting demands as required
• Data analysis and reporting of forecasted capacity, utilisation, resource availability, and skill sets
• Leading resource management projects and initiatives
• Creating a skills matrix for each new joiner and updating every 6 months
• Liaising with the Belfast office weekly to have an understanding of capacity, as well as building relationships across the network to allow sharing of capacity across global offices
• Attend and regularly present at team and partner meetings to provide updates on work allocation
• Visit other offices as appropriate, to allow relationship building and aid forward planning

Key requirements
The ideal candidate will have proven experience within a work allocation/resource management role or similar with experience of working in another law firm. Candidates from professional services or large corporate environment might  be considered. You could also be a lawyer, legal professional or business support professional in a law firm looking for a change of career.

Knowledge and Skills

• Understand the team needs and priorities for resourcing
• Understand the financial implications of the resourcing decisions made
• Leads large scale or complex resource allocations liaising with international offices and Advanced Delivery teams as appropriate
• Commercial and risk focussed with good operational business acumen - the ability to exercise good judgment, knowing when to flag issues and when to deal with them independently
• Anticipates resourcing issues and provides solutions ahead of time
• Ability to influence resource management through presentation of information that is timely and informative
• The ability to work under pressure and deliver quality outputs, to tight deadlines, and to communicate competing demands effectively
• Excellent project management and organisational skills and the ability to prioritise and manage both the workload of themselves and the team within which they operate

Stakeholder Management

• Excellent relationship management and communication skills
• Become a trusted advisor and point of contact on resourcing matters
• Influencing key stakeholders on resource selection and strategic solutions to achieve maximum utilisation and effective skills mix on matters
• Be able to build strong working relationships with both the partner group and lawyers in order to understand their requirements by being well integrated within the offices
• Be able to consult with a wide range of stakeholders at different levels to understand their needs and wants
• Respond with empathy and understanding to enhance relationships
• Be resilient to deal with challenges from people within the business, with good interpersonal and strong influencing skills
• Experience of conflict resolution, with the ability to manage complex conflicts between numerous parties, drawing on robust negotiation skills to resolve them
• Be able to actively manage expectations and escalate issues where necessary

Technical Expertise

• Strong IT skills – experience of working with resource management tool would be advantageous
• Advanced Excel skills – experience of working with large volumes of data in Excel and being able to manipulate this
• Ability to use all technology and established tools effectively
• Producing, using and analysing management information to make resourcing decisions and recommendations to senior stakeholders

Additional information - External

Allen & Overy is a leading global law firm operating in over thirty countries. We work on some of the most challenging and important deals and have built a reputation for delivering exceptional legal solutions that help our clients grow, innovate and thrive. The legal industry is changing, and we're committed to leading that change, putting our people first, embracing new ways of thinking and integrating technology into our everyday work. Our business teams work hand-in-hand with our lawyers, Consultants and other specialist teams, and are ambitious, driven and leaders in their field.

With us, you will constantly be learning and growing. We invest in you by offering exceptional professional and personal development – providing training, mentoring and practical support. We offer rewarding careers that are built around your strengths and designed to ensure you can achieve your personal and professional goals, recognising that those may look different for everyone.

We have a powerful commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. We’re determined to play our part in advancing a workplace where progress is made by harnessing our differences – whatever defines you, we ask you to bring your whole self to work.

What truly defines a career at Allen & Overy? We recruit the best and ask for the best of you. We provide challenge, support and a place for you to belong. And together we excel, working on meaningful projects of global significance.