Head of People & Culture - Asia

Practice Group / Department:

We're Norton Rose Fulbright - a global law firm with over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide. We provide the world’s preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. At Norton Rose Fulbright, our strategy and our culture are closely entwined. We know that our expansion will mean little unless it is underpinned by truly global collaboration and we understand that pioneering work only takes place when our people have room to move and think beyond boundaries. As well as the relevant skills and experience, we're looking for people who are innovative, commercial and value the work that they do. 

The Team

Norton Rose Fulbright in Asia operates out of offices in Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Japan and Thailand. The region employs more than 300 people, including 48 Partners. The Head of People and Culture – Asia will be based in our Singapore office and is responsible for all HR related activity in the region including leading the regional HR team.

The Role

Reporting to the Director of P&C Business Partnering for EMEA (based in the UK), the Head of P&C – Asia leads the P&C strategy and operations across multiple international offices within Asia. Collaborating closely with COOs and Office Heads, this role manages locally based P&C teams in each country to ensure alignment with EMEA P&C strategies and initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

• Work with local Office Heads and COOs to develop and execute the P&C priorities for the region, aligned to the firm’s and P&C objectives.
• Work with the wider EMEA Heads of region and EMEA Practice Group Business partners, to ensure the P&C strategic objectives are consistently implemented across regional practice groups.
• Lead and develop the P&C teams in each country, ensuring a high standard of service and adherence to local laws and regulations.
• Work in partnership with and effectively collaborate with teams across the P&C departments including Centre’s of Excellence (CoEs) and Shared Service Centre to achieve business goals in an efficient and streamlined way.
• Serve as a trusted business partner and coach to Partners and senior leaders.
• Business Partner with teams in each location to address P&C needs and challenges.
• Keep the EMEA P&C Business Partners up to date on all strategic matters relating to their Practice Group, giving them the opportunity to ensure that actions remain in line with EMEA-wide priorities.
• Build key stakeholder relationships and understand the business impact of people decisions.
• Provide insightful challenges where required and deliver P&C plans that enhance productivity, support high performance and enable people and business growth.
• Focus on building and delivering future-focused people plans that support the creation of diverse and sustainable talent pipelines.
• Working in close collaboration with the Head of Employee Relations (EMEA), Oversee employee relations, local P&C administrative operations and employee engagement across the region.
• Be able to offer forward-thinking, commercial, creative, and pragmatic solutions to employee relations issues.
• Collaborate with EMEA CoEs on a variety of projects and people initiatives.
• Regional lead for all transformation programs.
• Oversee the development and implementation of local P&C policies and procedures, in line with EMEA strategic policy principles, to ensure consistency and compliance.
• Drive the culture and engagement agenda for the region; articulate the business case for engagement, advise and coach business leaders on driving organisational values and culture and ultimately raising engagement.
• In conjunction with CoEs support the attraction & retention of the best people for our organisation. Scout, coach, and effectively manage talent in an integrated way, anticipating future business needs.
• Innovate – have a continuous improvement mind-set and put forward ideas for new and better ways of working and supporting our clients.
• Focus on continuing professional development by seeking opportunities to engage with learning and development resources to ensure up to date knowledge and skill.
• Be a change ambassador, build a culture of innovation through boldly challenging the status quo and providing future focused solutions, partnering in an agile way.
• Proactively suggest and lead projects that support the wider P&C strategic priorities. Be delivery focused, with a real emphasis on execution of projects within budget and on time.
• Horizon scanning - Stays up to date on external market patterns and practices and emerging trends in people and culture to build creative and cost effective solutions for clients.

Skills and Experience Required

• Strong academic background and relevant professional qualifications.
• Extensive experience in HR leadership roles, preferably within an international law firm or professional services firm.
• Strong understanding of local employment laws and regulations across multiple jurisdictions.
• Proven ability to build and manage high-performing HR teams.
• Commercially astute.
• Proactive.
• Demonstrable experience of delivering change.
• Effective consulting skills.
• Strong stakeholder management and relationship building skills.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Able to persuade and influence at all levels.
• Ability to inspire confidence and respect at all levels.
• Flexible in thinking and approach.
• Exceptional project management skills and delivers results.
• First class communication skills, both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to inspire confidence and respect at all levels.

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To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realize their full career potential. 
Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people’s health and overall wellbeing. Find more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know here.