US Senior Manager, Recruitment

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

The HR team is based in various locations globally across Kennedys' 5 regions; APAC, EMEA, US, LATAM and UK.  The areas of HR that we have responsibility for are Business Partnering, Learning and Development, Recruitment, Responsible Business, Policies and Operations, Reward and HR Systems. 

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.

The US Senior Manager, Recruitment role is a hands-on leader to execute recruitment efforts that support the continued growth of our US business.  The Senior Manager will be responsible to support all search efforts by organizing and analyzing recruiting data, highlighting legal market trends, and supporting the firm's strategic growth initiatives, with a specific focus on targeted growth markets and practice areas.  This role requires a proactive leader who is equally comfortable developing recruitment strategies, leading a recruitment team of 5 and rolling up their sleeves to directly identify, engage, and secure top talent while building the firm's brand across the US region.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and execute comprehensive US recruitment strategies aligned with business goals and workforce planning.
• Take an active, hands-on role in sourcing and identifying qualified candidates / groups of businesses for critical positions across the US region, particularly during periods of high growth or priority hiring. Work with the global recruitment team, and wider US leadership team to develop and deliver a consistent and effective recruitment service; engage effectively with practice group leaders on specific growth efforts.
• Lead initiatives to improve data structure and organization within recruiting systems to track, analyze, and identify trends that support decision-making through data-driven insights.
• Lead, mentor, and manage a team of recruiters, setting clear goals and ensuring high performance.
• Partner closely with US leadership team, practice group leaders, hiring managers and senior Business Services leadership to understand talent needs and build effective pipelines, including lateral and partner hires.
• Oversee full-cycle recruitment for a variety of roles including Partner, attorney, trainee and Business Services roles.
• Lead on-campus recruitment of trainees with a strategic approach to building the Kennedys brand amongst this population.
• Implement best practices for sourcing, screening, interviewing, and candidate engagement.
• Approve employment offers and prepare employment offer letters; track non-standard offer terms.
• Oversee the development, review, and upkeep of all job descriptions, ensuring they are current and stored in an organized, centralized database for easy access and reference.
• Ensure compliance with US employment laws, EEO/AA guidelines, and diverse hiring initiatives.
• Utilize data and recruitment metrics to measure effectiveness, and optimize the hiring process.
• Drive employer branding efforts and candidate experience improvements.
• Manage relationships with external recruitment agencies and leverage relationships to drive effective hiring practices.
• Lead diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) recruitment initiatives to build a diverse workforce.
• Stay updated on US labor market trends, recruitment technologies, and industry best practices.
• Manage recruitment budgets and vendor contracts efficiently.
• Responsibility for drafting and issuing of employment documentation including offer letters.

Required experience

• 8+ years of progressive experience in recruitment, with at least 4 years in a leadership/managerial role focused on US hiring including lateral attorney and business services recruitment and at least 2 years in an executive recruiting role at a search firm is highly preferred.
• Experience of executive level recruitment is an advantage.
• Strong project management skills and able to evidence ability to drive change and transformation.
• Excellent written and oral communication, with excellent attention to detail.
• Deep knowledge of US recruitment practices, employment laws, and compliance requirements.
• Proven ability to manage and develop high-performing recruitment teams.
• Experience recruiting across multiple disciplines and levels, including executive searches, in a legal or law firm environment.
• Strong analytical skills with experience using recruitment metrics and HRIS/ATS systems (e.g., Workday, Greenhouse, Lever).
• Excellent interpersonal, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Works collaboratively with a consultative approach, and a strong ability to influence and guide senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated success driving diversity hiring programs and inclusive recruitment strategies.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
• Relevant certifications (e.g., SHRM-SCP, AIRS, LinkedIn Recruiter Certification) are desirable.
• Excellent business acumen, commercial awareness and administrative skills
• Able to manage competing/conflicting priorities effectively to achieve objectives
• Bachelor's degree is desirable.

General Duties  

• Maintain the high standard of service offered to the firm's internal clients and to assist in creating and developing the professional reputation of the function
• Understand and live by Kennedys values – approachable, straightforward, supportive and distinctive
• Be subject to varying degrees of supervision on a day-to-day basis
• Create and maintain professional and positive relationships with partners and employees
• Work in line with the firm's Contribution Areas which are specific to your role and level
• Maintain trust and confidentiality at all times
• Act as a Trusted Advisor by building relationships across all business services teams to ensure a consistent approach and service
• Undertake any specific training as and when required
• Operate safely and considerately in the workplace.

The annualized salary range for this role is $160,000-$195,000. However, this is contingent upon level of experience, location and other job-related factors permitted by law.

FLSA Status: Exempt

This is a developing role, and the job description is not exhaustive and may vary in line with changes in the team's objectives and firm policy.

About Kennedys

Kennedys is a global law firm with expertise in dispute resolution and advisory services. With over 2,750 people worldwide across 48 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.

The Firm recognises the value of investing in our people's development and believes our culture and values contribute to the quality of our work and of our client relationships. With a culture of on-the-job and experiential learning, peer to peer learning, mentoring, resources and tools that enable you to drive your career, we can support your development in your current and future roles.  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.