Kennedys is seeking a Responsible Business Assistant to join our growing Responsible Business team, which sits within the HR department.  Our team delivers the firm's wellbeing, social impact, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) programmes.  We also work closely with the Environmental Sustainability and Sustainable Procurement teams, and collaborate to deliver the firm's overarching responsible business strategy.  We are looking for someone who has an interest in developing a career in Responsible Business and can bring excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.

Our responsible business initiatives span the entire firm, which means you will have access to other departments and will be working with colleagues across all our regions globally. The successful RB Assistant will have ample opportunities to be involved a variety of projects, which could include supporting our social impact and wellbeing teams to deliver events and campaigns, or delivering operational and reporting activities that bring together all responsible business areas.

Team

Kennedys HR team supports the firm around the world with all people related matters.

We are a global team with HR presence in Chelmsford, Manchester and London for the UK, Dublin and Belfast for EMEA, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia for APAC, Basking Ridge for US and London/LATAM for LATAM. The areas of HR that we have responsibility for are Business Partnering, Learning and Development, Recruitment, Responsible Business (Social Impact, Wellbeing and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion), Policies and Operations, Reward and HR Systems. The HR function is also responsible for the Secretarial function in the UK.

You will be working in a fast-paced, demanding, and global environment as we strive to make a difference for our people, clients and communities where we work.

Key responsibilities 

• Assist in the planning, coordination and execution of global initiatives, communications campaigns, employee network activities and events, which could include employee wellbeing, volunteering, fundraising, or DE&I activities.
• Conduct research to support the global delivery of activities
• Collate data and KPIs that track the firm's progress against its RB goals, and keep up to date records of activities
• Maintain and update the firm's intranet pages, and prepare content to feed into responsible business communications and reporting
• Manage the process to respond to client requests for information, including drafting and collating responses and liaising with teams across the firm to ensure questionnaires are returned in a timely manner
• Coordinate and support the completion of benchmarking and award submissions
• Respond to volunteer and network queries and provide signposting and support where required
• Build and maintain relationships with key internal and external stakeholders
• Arrange meetings and events, including requirements for catering, room set-up and AV
• Process invoices and keep budgets up to date
• Take meeting minutes and support the team in maintaining up to date action plans
• Provide general administrative support and all other duties as assigned or required.

Required experience 

• Experience of working in an office environment, preferably in a professional services or corporate environment
• A genuine interest in responsible business
• Attention to detail and demonstrated project management skills
• Excellent organisational and written communication skills
• A team player who is able to work in a highly collaborative, fast-paced environment with different teams within a global law firm setting
• Ability to deal with highly confidential and sensitive data
• Knowledge of the MS suite of products.

Please let us know if you require any additional support or adjustments to be made in order to submit your application to Kennedys. 

*where a level of experience is indicated, this is a guideline only and represents the amount of time we would usually expect a candidate to accumulate the requisite level of experience. This does not preclude applications from candidates with more or less experience.

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,500 people worldwide across 45 offices in the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia Pacific and America we have some of the most respected legal minds in their field.

Our lawyers handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, and provide a range of specialist legal services, for many industry sectors but we have particular expertise in litigation and dispute resolution, especially in defending insurance and liability claims.

We're a fresh-thinking firm, and we're not afraid to bring challenging new perspectives to the table way beyond the traditional realm of legal services. We empower our clients with a diverse range of ideas, tools and technology to make their lives easier, as well as delivering exceptional results, every time.

What do we have to offer?

We welcome high-performing lawyers, business services professionals, secretaries, graduates and apprentices to join our rapidly expanding global firm. Whatever your role at Kennedys, you'll be involved in exciting and stimulating work, where your input will make a difference.

Our culture and values form a big part of who we are and we take them seriously. We make a difference by being approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive. Our values are at the core of who we are and what make us a great firm to work with and for.

At Kennedys, we develop careers in an innovative global environment. Life at Kennedys is exciting, fast paced and varied and we believe that supporting individual growth and development puts us in the best position to attract and retain talented individuals. Regardless of role or level, everyone has access to virtual learning to help you develop your skills, wherever you are in the world. A variety of other opportunities are available including secondments to clients and our global offices.

We strive to celebrate diversity, empower our people and ensure everyone can bring their authentic selves to work.  We've created a culture based on client service, professional excellence, hard work and trust, where diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) is a key priority.  We recognise that many of our people want to work for an employer that is aligned to their values, which is why we are building an inclusive culture, decarbonising our operations and supporting our people to thrive at work.  Our people are the key to driving this change and helping us to make a difference to our clients, our people and the communities in which we live and work.

Kennedys is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. We expect all employees to be aware of and comply with all relevant policies and procedures within their jurisdiction, including those relating to Information Security, Data Protection and Quality Management, refer any breach promptly to Risk & Compliance and to complete all mandatory training when requested.