Herbert Smith Freehills: Early Careers Manager (Sydney)

• Full time
• Permanent contact

About Herbert Smith Freehills

As one of the world’s leading law firms, we advise many of the largest and most ambitious organisations across all major regions of the globe. With over 5,000 people, including 3,100 lawyers and over 2,000 business services professionals, operating from our global network of offices across Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and North America, Herbert Smith Freehills is at the heart of the new global business landscape providing premium quality, full-service legal advice.

We recognise that the success of our business and our clients relies on the skills, knowledge and ideas of all our people. Our environment is one in which high performance is expected, in return, we will provide you with rewards and opportunities tailored to your personal and professional goals.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a passionate Early Careers Manager to join our national Early Careers team, based in our Sydney CBD office.

We’ve been ranked #1 Graduate Employer in the legal sector by Prosple and nominated as finalist for AAGE’s Outstanding Internship Program award. This role will be pivotal in continuing that success by attracting, selecting and developing early career talent throughout the Sydney office.

You'll be the driving force behind our Sydney early careers strategy, collaborating closely with Graduate Recruitment Partners and the Senior Manager, Early Careers. You'll also be the face of HSF externally, enhancing our employment brand with students, universities, and key external suppliers.

As Early Careers Manager, your role will include but not limited to:

• Oversee the entire graduate lifecycle, from campus recruitment to their admission as lawyers and through their 18-month graduate program.
• Lead attraction and engagement strategies for early career talent, including campus activities for the Sydney clerk and graduate intake.
• Manage the end-to-end vacation clerkship recruitment process with a focus on exceptional candidate experience and continuous improvement, including overseeing the 8-week Vacation Clerk program.
• Manage graduate resourcing for the Sydney office, including managing graduate numbers, rotation allocations process, and permanent placements process in line with business needs.
• Act as HR Business Partner to graduates, including monitoring graduate performance, and graduate engagement & support activities.
• Collaborate with the Diversity & Inclusion and Responsible Business teams to ensure that we attract a diverse applicant pool that reflects those studying Law and to minimize adverse impacts in the recruitment process.
• Lead and manage team members across multiple offices, providing guidance, mentorship, and support. Lead on national HSF Early Careers and vacation clerk projects.

To excel in this role, you should have:

• Proven experience in managing the entire graduate recruitment lifecycle.
• Experience with leading firms in the legal or professional services sector would be helpful, but we would welcome experience from other industries.
• Ability to build networks and rapport with people at all levels of the organisation.
• A strong internal client service focus, with stellar client relationship management and influencing skills.
• Experience working collaboratively and communicating effectively, both verbally and in writing.
• Adaptability to ambiguity and changing circumstances, comfortably operating autonomously on an agreed plan.

The team:

Our competitive advantage is our people and our culture. Our Human Resources team works closely with leaders and people across the business to recruit exceptional people, nurture their development and guide their careers. As a member of our HR team, you will be working in a supportive and collaborative regional and global team of professionals that deliver HR business partnering, resource management, graduate and lateral recruitment, HR operations and compliance, global mobility, reward and remuneration, organisational development and diversity and inclusion.

Herbert Smith Freehills is ranked as the 20th Top Graduate Employer across all sectors (AAGE) and Number 1 ‘Attraction Firm’, Lawyers Weekly Legal Firm of Choice 2022-23.

What you can expect from us:

• We’re a world leading international law firm with a global team of over 5,000 professionals. As the market leader in Australia, we are committed to high performance, collaboration, diversity, and digital innovation. We are client-centred, commercially driven, and renowned for our solution-focused expertise. We will align your growth with our ambitions.
• We make your personal and professional growth our business. And as part of the team, our ambition is yours too. Wherever you are in your career: grow and help the firm grow with you.
• We will provide opportunities to learn on the job as well as a mix of learning opportunities tailored to you. Daily experiences, supportive challenges, team collaboration, mentors, and structured learning opportunities help you to expand your knowledge and reach your goals.
• We value your wellbeing, both at home and work and we place a strong emphasis on mental health. If you need support, you’ll have it and we’ll empower you to harness your personal strengths, navigate uncertainty, embrace opportunities, and effectively manage things within your control.
• For more benefits on offer such as our 26 weeks paid parental leave, holistic wellbeing fund or home office allowance please click here.
• Join us to be part of a human, bold and outstanding team at Australia’s market leading law firm.