Role summary/purpose of job
This role will focus on delivering the Freshfields community impact strategy of providing access to opportunity through several established programmes in the UK including Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme and Freshfields Aspiring Professionals. There will be an emphasis on project managing these programmes in a sustainable way whilst implementing continuous improvement to maximise benefits for the community and the firm.
Location Overview: Manchester
The Freshfields Global Centre provides both business and legal services to the firm. Our services are delivered in a way which supports the global nature of our firm and our clients, enables our fee earners to deliver exceptional service to our clients and to do that in a way which is efficient and effective.
Function Overview
Responsible business (sometimes known as CSR, citizenship or sustainability) lies at the heart of the firm and its strategy for success. Our responsible business strategy focuses on (i) the way we work (ii) how we engage with clients around RB and (ii) how we make a positive difference to the communities we touch, focusing our efforts on providing access to justice and access to opportunity.
The Responsible Business team is responsible for developing and delivering our strategy in respect of the external-facing aspects of responsible business, developing and delivering our environmental strategy and working closely with our HR teams to ensure a responsible working environment for our people.
Key responsibilities and deliverables
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Management of our key UK community impact projects including:
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Freshfields Stephen Lawrence Scholarship Scheme
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Freshfields Aspiring Professionals Programme
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Freshfields mediation game
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London and Manchester charities of the year
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London and Manchester team challenges
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Work with the Community Impact Senior Manager (and other key stakeholders) to plan out activity across all the key programmes and produce calendar breakdowns, ensuring that sufficient resource is allocated
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Day-to-day management of the UK community impact team, working with the Responsible Business Executive and Responsible Business interns to allocate resource as needed to programmes and tasks.
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To coach individual team members and lead a high performing team.
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Identify and implement process improvements to help make programmes more sustainable whilst maximising benefits to the firm and the community
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Introduce and/or embrace technology solutions. This includes working with an existing Salesforce portal
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Monitor UK spending against budget
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Manage day-to-day relationships with UK charity partners including the Social Mobility Foundation
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Work with the Community Impact Senior Manager (and other key stakeholders) to ensure that an effective communications strategy is in place to ensure that leadership, colleagues and clients are aware of the opportunities available and are engaged with community impact
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Implement and manage measurement mechanisms and collect and collate comprehensive programme measurement including impact data for all UK programmes to ensure we have the required data for the annual B4SI submission
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Be the initial point of contact for our UK-based community impact communications and enquiries
Key Requirements
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Experience in a Responsible Business or related role (e.g HR) with an interest in community impact and social mobility
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Experience of successfully managing multiple workstreams
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Technology savvy with High level of PC/database skills, proficiency in MS Office (including Excel) and a willingness to pro-actively investigate and embrace new technology
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A team player with excellent people skills who is able to engage and influence at all levels in the business
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Able to influence and engage with external stakeholders such as community partners
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Able to communicate with confidence both verbally and in writing
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Shows integrity and is able to maintain client confidentiality
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Regular travel may be required to the London office.
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Experience in gathering and presenting community impact data according to standards such as B4SI, Global Reporting Initiative and UN Global Compact
Freshfields Overview
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is a major international law firm, providing business law advice of the highest quality. We want to be the law firm that clients turn to for legal advice where it most matters, wherever in the world that may be. The Firm has over 2,400 lawyers in 28 offices around the world, providing a comprehensive service to national and multinational corporations, financial institutions and governments.
Our people make our firm - we are a people business and want to create a welcoming and supportive environment where all can flourish. We see diversity as a strength which creates fresh perspectives and generates new ideas. We enjoy our work and are determined to do an outstanding job. We deliver best when working in teams. Our culture is a product of the combined mindsets and behaviours of our people which is through the Being Freshfields principles, outlined below:
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we show respect to everyone
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we are there for one another
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we are open with each other
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we are positive role models
We think and work globally - we don’t just say we are one firm; we act like one firm right across the world. We work wherever our clients need us. This is how we define ourselves, not by reference to where we have offices. Cross-border work isn’t just what we do, it is what we excel at. We understand what it really takes to work across different legal systems and commercial environments and to bridge language and cultural gaps.
We aim to add value in everything we do - we are passionate about helping our clients succeed. We use our experience and creativity to help clients make judgements and achieve their goals. In everything we do, we seek to make a real difference to the communities in which we operate.
Freshfields is committed to promoting equality and diversity and to developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds make important and positive contributions to our business and how we service our clients.
Inclusion
Freshfields is an equal opportunities employer and all applications received by the firm will be considered by the firm on the basis of their merit alone and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified individuals regardless of background. All offers of employment will be conditional on the candidate having/securing the right to work in the UK and providing the firm with evidence of that right (as required by the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006) prior to employment commencing.
Freshfields is a Ban the Box employer. We ask applicants to disclose criminal convictions only when a conditional job offer is made. A conviction does not automatically lead to withdrawal of the offer: we make decisions on a case by case basis and take a number of factors into account (eg the role you are applying for and the circumstances of the offence). You would have the opportunity to discuss the matter with us before we make a decision.