We are delighted to be working in partnership with Shoosmiths to recruit a new Director of People. This role will be responsible for continuing the transformational journey of Shoosmiths’ people function into a high-performing, commercially focused, operationally excellent business enabler. The Director of People ensures the people strategy directly underpins the firm’s ambition to be a top tier law firm by 2030 servicing client excellence internationally. This role will work collaboratively with the other Business Services functions to ensure Shoosmiths operates with a mindset of being a client-centred, business-led, financially excellent, future-enabled law firm.
As a key member of the senior leadership team, the Director of People will drive strong return on investment from all People initiatives, embed a culture of supportive high performance, streamline and standardise processes, and ensure our talent strategy, systems and operations support profitability and long-term growth.
This role reports to the COO and partners closely with the CEO, Divisional Heads, People Directorate leadership, and Business Services leaders as well as working with the firm’s Chair to support the partner processes and remuneration process and drive the firm’s culture.
The role requires a senior HR leader with experience in professional services partnerships, capable of driving operational transformation, modernising HR technology and embedding high‑performance, data‑driven cultures. The ideal candidate will have strong commercial acumen, a proven ability to link people strategy to business performance, and deep expertise in modern talent, performance and workforce planning models. Success in the role also depends on influencing senior stakeholders and guiding leaders effectively through change. This role would suit someone looking to step up into their first number one position.