Lateral Partner Recruiting Manager

Ropes & Gray•Boston, MA

20h•Hybrid

About The Position

Ropes & Gray is a preeminent global law firm. The firm has been ranked in the top three on The American Lawyer's prestigious A-List for eight consecutive years and #1 on Law.com's UK A-List twice in the past three years - rankings that honor the "best of the best" law firms.The firm has approximately 2,500 lawyers and professionals serving clients in major centers of business, finance, technology, and government in Boston, Chicago, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Milan, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Shanghai, Silicon Valley, Singapore, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.The firm has consistently been recognized for its leading practices in many areas, including asset management, private equity, M&A, finance, real estate, tax, antitrust, life sciences, health care, intellectual property, litigation & enforcement, privacy & cybersecurity, and business restructuring.Ropes & Gray is an equal opportunity employer. Reporting to the Director of Global Lateral Partner Recruiting, the Lateral Partner Recruiting Manager (“Manager”) will be responsible for managing aspects of the development, implementation and administration of firm wide policies, programs and procedures relating to the recruitment, evaluation, hiring and onboarding of senior lawyers. The incumbent in this role will collaborate with and support Director of Global Lateral Partner Recruiting, the Policy Committee (“PC”), practice group leaders, specialty group leaders, office managing partners and other firm leaders in all aspects of the firm’s lateral partner and counsel recruitment efforts.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree required; JD preferred;
Minimum of eight (8) years of progressive experience in recruiting, operations or human resources, preferably in a law firm or professional services firm, OR experience practicing law, preferably in a multi-office setting with strong involvement in the firm’s recruiting function;
Previous experience managing an operational function required;
Demonstrated experience working across teams and leading projects/ processes;
Experience and interest in leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools and emerging technologies to enhance processes and data analysis.
Demonstrate ability to build credibility and trusted relationships through clear communication, sound judgment, and a strategic approach to influencing decision-making at the highest levels of the organization.
Understanding of general legal recruiting processes and knowledge of mid-to-large sized law firms, particularly peer firms with global presences, and the legal industry as a whole preferred;
Proficiency in the use of computer programs including Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel) and database programs (e.g., LawCruit);
Excellent oral, written and interpersonal skills.
Possess flexibility to enable prompt and positive response to shifting demands and opportunities.
Demonstrate great attention to detail; be well organized, resourceful and highly effective and efficient at marshaling multiple resources to get things done across a variety of constituencies.
Possess ability to interact effectively with all levels of firm personnel.
Must be team-oriented and willing and able to share information, goals, opportunities, successes and failures with the appropriate parties.
Able to work independently, under the direction of others, and as a part of a team.
Able to recognize confidential information and to maintain strictly the confidentiality of such information.
Able to work effectively in a culturally and educationally diverse environment.
Be proactive in learning and able to adapt to new systems and processes.
Able to perform under stressful conditions in a calm, thoughtful and professional manner.

Nice To Haves

Understanding of general legal recruiting processes and knowledge of mid-to-large sized law firms, particularly peer firms with global presences, and the legal industry as a whole preferred;

Responsibilities

Work with the Director of Global Lateral Partner Recruiting, firm leadership, practice group leaders and office managing partners on strategy development and implementation of hiring priorities.
Manage partner and counsel lateral hiring across all offices coordinating complex processes across multiple teams and stakeholders
In collaboration with the Director, guide firm leaders on recruiting best practices and strategies with respect to particular candidates and market developments (e.g., hiring trends, the movement of key talent to competitors and scarce or hot skills), with a particular focus on peer firms and direct competitors.
Provide data-driven counsel to ensure successful hiring of top talent
Collaborate with the recruiting team to establish and maintain relationships with key legal search firms, ensuring consistent messaging regarding the firm and its recruiting needs.
In partnership with the Director, develop and implement proactive search strategies to meet recruiting needs across all offices, including sourcing of candidates.
Update firm leadership on search and candidate status by maintaining and update lateral partner pipeline reports.
Conduct market research, create candidate target lists and work with practice group leaders/working groups to source and recruit candidates.
In collaboration with the Marketing Communications department, develop marketing and media profile-raising campaigns and internal messaging to attract prospects and educate recruiters and external market.
Ensure execution of all elements of the recruiting process, including due diligence, conflict disclosure, and business justification materials.
Act as a liaison to lateral partner and counsel candidates throughout the recruitment and onboarding process.
Manage screening and full round interview process for lateral partner and counsel candidates in designated practices across all offices, including ensuring development of appropriate slates of interviewers for approved full round interviews.
Ensure preparation of background materials for interviewers, as well as collection of evaluative materials.
Facilitate preparation of materials for Policy Committee review following full rounds of interviews.
Work effectively with adjacent business support groups and their services in support of recruiting and onboarding process.
In close conjunction with Practice Development and Attorney Talent, develop and ensure implementation of onboarding and integration strategy for each lateral partner and counsel.
Facilitate implementation of integration processes, including development of integration plan by Practice Development and periodic check-ins.
In partnership with the broader Lateral Hiring team, ensure collection and analysis of recruiting data and results.
Manage special projects and performs other work-related duties as assigned.