Secretarial Hub Leader - Real Estate - #1675186

Department: Real Estate - Residential Development

Location: Bristol

Description

To ensure the legal support team meet the demands of the firm and its clients. This role will be responsible for the successful delivery of a high-quality, client-focused legal support service, through the operational day-to-day management of Practice Assistants (PAs), Legal Support Assistants (LSAs) and Administrative Assistants (AAs); and will be the main point of contact for the allocated Hub services. They will work closely with all members of the team focusing on understanding the business and practice needs and work with the SMs and lawyers to deliver appropriately excellent client focussed support services.

Key Responsibilities

People Management

• Manage individual performance of allocated support resources including regular progress meetings and annual appraisals
• Ensure the smooth induction of new starters and supporting SMs in ensuring awareness and understanding of HR, department and client specific policies, procedures and information
• Act as a coach to develop the team to the highest standards
• Identify appropriate training to support personal development through feedback, performance management and continued assessment of training needs
• Pastoral care and wellbeing for the legal support team
  
  

Management of Support Services

• Manage legal support teams with a focus on service delivery and excellence; resolve issues relating to workflow, resource availability, working relationships, service delivery and HR matters
• Manage resource allocation following planned /unplanned absences to ensure service levels are maintained with a fair distribution of workload and cover
• Work closely with the SM to support wider group. Ensure full understanding of the groups aims and objectives
• Develop relationships and proactively manage services and ensure successful team management and workflow allocations
• Responsible for ensuring the prioritisation of work appropriately, balancing fee earning work and capacity, liaising with SMs on peaks and troughs of activity
  Ensure all PAs, LSAs and AAs work proactively and collectively for the benefit of the business across their team and other teams as appropriate
• Identify head count issues to SMs and work to create effective solutions and work-sharing
• Participate in the recruitment and selection process for team members
• Keep abreast of issues, anticipate changes in demand/regulatory changes and effect timely interventions to address the changes, working with SMs and Service Line Heads to introduce these into the service
• Proactively and flexibly work with the other HLs and SMs to improve the quality and efficiency of legal support services provided to the business, ensuring consistency of approach
• Participate in legal support team meetings
• Maintain appropriate statistics to fit the requirements of monitoring
• Approval of overtime following agreement of Practice Manager
• Develop and manage the current services being provided as well as considering future changes in line with technology changes and the changing needs of our clients/the business, and liaise with SMs on suggested adjustments
• Liaise with SMs to co-ordinate desk allocations, moves and changes in conjunction with IT and Business Operations
• Ensuring high standards of service are consistently maintained and developed
  
  

Quality of Service

• Drive the delivery of exceptional client service, quality and consistency across team members and ensure processes are developed positively, with best practice shared across the hub and other hub colleagues
• Ensure full compliance by the legal teams of our policies and procedures (e.g. Compliance, ISO, Finance), engaging with central teams where appropriate
• Actively support and be a champion for department/firm initiatives, engaging with central teams where appropriate and driving implementation of changes
• Participate in department projects, adopting common project methodologies from initiation to completion and ensuring business requirements, objectives and anticipated benefits are understood and achieved
• Any other duties as required, commensurate with the level of the post
  
  

Firm wide:

• Understands DAC Beachcroft is an international firm. Works with awareness of this structure to operate as one team/brand.
• Actively operates in the best interests of the firm at all times internally and externally.
• Operates in a regulated environment, effectively managing risk and compliance issues including data security.
• Works in partnership with others to manage and mitigate commercial risk.
  
  

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Management traits and excellent communication skills
• Demonstrable suitability to work in a management role and an ability to communicate effectively at all levels
• Ability to build and maintain excellent working relationships with all staff levels
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to quickly establish credible relationships at all levels
• Ability to balance conflicting priorities, be alert to potential problems and challenge working practices
• Customer /client service focused
• Ability to work within and manage effective working processes to ensure excellent service delivery
• Resilient with the ability to manage or escalate difficult situations effectively and stay calm under pressure
• Proactive and collaborative
• Confidential and discreet but able to redirect information when appropriate to ensure areas of concern are resolved efficiently and effectively
• Ability to lead, motivate and develop people
• Excellent attention to detail and the highest quality standards
• Good influencing skills
• Acts as a role model