Type
Permanent - Full Time

Location
Tokyo

Job Role
Human Resources

Withers
Job title: Human Resources Manager
Reports to: Office Managing Director (Tokyo) and the Head of HR - (APAC)
Location: Tokyo, Japan
About Us
Tokyo is the largest metropolitan economy in the world and ranks as one of the top headquarters for Fortune Global 500 companies.

In Japan we provide legal services through Withers Bengoshi Houjin and Withers Gaikokuhou Jimu Bengoshi Houjin. They are separate but affiliated entities to Withers and assist the firm's clients with Japanese and cross-border legal matters. We have expert teams of lawyers offering advice on real estate, corporate M&A and tax and have more than 20 years of experience assisting the firm's clients with structuring Japanese and cross-border investment in the Asia-Pacific region.

Working with both domestic and international clients, the teams work in close collaboration with colleagues across Withers' global office network to provide integrated, real-time advice to meet the complex and diverse needs of our clients.

Tokyo also boasts one of the largest number of US$ millionaire residents, and our lawyers have the expertise to provide private client advice, with Withers being the go-to firm for a number of private banks.

The role
The Human Resources Manager will perform a central role in ensuring the people and administrative functions are managed across the Tokyo office. They will work directly with the Tokyo Office Managing Director, the Head of HR (APAC) and the Tokyo Office Manager, in helping support and manage the day-to-day people requirements in the office including providing advice and deliver at a local level of firm-wide initiatives, policies and procedures.

The Human Resource Manager is a 'people-person' and is skilled in managing the day-to-day activities and HR requirements in Tokyo. It is a highly varied role, requiring the incumbent to have strong decision making, influencing and excellent communication skills. This position suits an experienced manager with strong people, communication and problem-solving skills, all developed within an international law firm environment.

Areas Of Focus And Responsibilities
HR Management
Requirements
The Human Resources Manager will manage the day-to-day people requirements for the Tokyo office. This includes, but is not limited to:

Generalist

• Primary liaison for general partner and staff employment related queries
• Oversee the Tokyo office's Work Rules and Part Time Work Rules; provide input to these procedural documents, ensure they remain up to date, implement the Rules and continually monitor to ensure they are in line with the Firm's own policies & procedures document(s)
• Manage new joiner processes, including (but not limited to):
• on-boarding processes (inductions, seating arrangements, enrolling with benefit providers, etc)
• mid-probation and end of probationary periods
• Manage off-boarding processes, including (but not limited to):
• Preparation of final letters
• Conducting exit interviews
• Instructing payroll
• Organizing the return of equipment, etc
• Updating the HRIS with joiners, leavers, movements, etc
• Monitoring of annual leave and managing absences (eg. parental leave)
• Coordinating annual performance appraisal process and mid-year conversations
• Contribute to the annual HR budget setting and oversee/authorise expenditure
• Work with the global HR team on any HR related initiatives and projects

Secretarial coordination

• Work with the relevant partners, the legal secretaries and the Office Managing Director, ensure the Tokyo office maintains a high level of secretarial support to each of the teams, by:

• arrange necessary secretarial cover during periods of absence

• identifying opportunities for training, workflow efficiencies and support structures
• for office-wide projects, collaborate and assign tasks to the secretaries and other business support staff located in the Tokyo office (where applicable) to ensure projects are completed efficiently and effectively

Regulatory and compliance

• Immigration
• Manage work/visa permits for new hires
• Work visa extensions and terminations
• Keep abreast of any changes with the Immigration department with regards to the hire of foreign employees
• Manage foreign lawyer registrations as appropriate for the Tokyo office
• Managing annual Practising Certificate renewals and ensure all fee-earners are compliant with relevant Law Society and Bar Associations

Compensation And Benefits

• Support the annual salary review process for the Tokyo office
• Managing local benefit providers (partner health insurance policy and procedures)
• Arranging annual health checks (where applicable)

Payroll

• Liaising with our external payroll vendor to submit the monthly payroll report
• Collecting payroll information for joiners and leavers
• Processing overtime forms monthly
• Processing partner pay
• Coordinating consultant invoices and processing for payment
• Calculating labour insurance with the payroll vendor
• Collecting information for annual payroll reporting, as required.

Recruitment

• End-to-end recruitment for all fee-earner, secretarial and support roles for the Tokyo office
• Preparation of job descriptions, placing adverts, briefing agencies
• Shortlisting of candidates and arrangement of interviews
• Supporting hiring partners/managers to conduct interviews and assess candidates
• Preparation of offer letters (and associated documentation) and managing acceptance processes (reference checks, documents completed, etc)
• Using the Firm's recruitment portal, manage roles and candidate applications online. Also work alongside the central recruitment team to provide recruitment data/status and online advertising (eg. LinkedIn)
• Establish relationships with relevant recruitment agencies to ensure the firm remains top of mind for outstanding candidates

Learning & Development

• Identify any development needs for fee-earners and support staff
• Assist in the arrangement of internal training events – global, regional, local
• Tracking of CPD (Japanese equivalent) for fee-earners (on Firm's online training platform)

Ad Hoc Responsibilities

• Work with the Tokyo Office Manager in making sure the office is functioning properly and providing a "welcoming" work environment
• Working with colleagues within the Tokyo office, help to plan and manage the office's social activities and initiatives
• Provide back-up support to the Tokyo Office Manager during periods of absence and/or periods of heavy workload, including supporting on processes that may fall outside the general scope of the HR role
• Collaborate with the APAC HR Managers with regards to projects, knowledge share, Divisional resourcing and other opportunities to work together as a regional team
• Contribute to global HR related projects as required

Attributes, Skills And Experience

• Minimum of 5-7 years of generalist Human Resource experience within an international law firm or within a professional services environment
• Sound general knowledge of Japanese employment law and regulations, including requirements regarding Japanese Work Rules and immigration
• Excellent written & verbal communication (both English and Japanese are essential)
• Highly proficient in using Word, Excel, PowerPoint and HRIS (SelectHR)
• Well organised and able to multitask with a willingness to work hard and succeed as a team
• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, an ability to encourage a collaborative work environment, cultural sensitivity
• Proven ability to inspire integrity and trust
• Able to exhibit and give examples of having an intellectual curiosity and a drive to learn and grow
• Robust with the ability work to tight deadlines under pressure
• Ability to communicate effectively with management, lawyers and support staff

The Essentials

• Reporting to the Office Managing Director and the Head of HR (APAC). The incumbent will also have key lines of responsibility to the partners in the Tokyo office.
• Will be responsible for generalist HR management in the Tokyo office as well as support to regional and global projects and initiatives.
• Business hours: Monday to Friday, 9:00am to 5:30pm however given the nature and scope of the role, flexibility in availability is required (eg to carry out office moves, upgrades, candidate interviews and the like).
• 20 annual leave days per annum + an annual "Wither's Day".

About Withers
A law firm focused on people, performance, and collaboration.

For the past 125 years, we have supported some of the world's most remarkable people and organizations at defining moments in their lives.

As the global private client firm, we are trusted advisors to families, founders, fiduciaries and businesses – and more than this, to governments, charities and financial institutions.

We structure, grow and preserve capital. We protect reputations and relationships, ideas and innovations. We secure our clients' legacies across generations.

We are united in our commitment to integrity, quality and collaboration. We have a culture of high performance and deliver excellent service consistently across the firm. We provide tailored solutions built on trust and partner with our clients to achieve their goals.

Many of our clients are shaping the future, and creating solutions to tackle many of the world's problems. It makes for a fascinating and challenging practice.

Our role is to get to know each individual client, find out where they want to be, and help them to get there – whether they are building a business, buying a home or protecting and defending their interests.

To meet their unique needs we are exceptionally collaborative, working together across teams and time zones. And we are agile – focusing on strategy rather than rigid ideas and traditional hierarchy.

We are delighted that we have been awarded Mansfield Certification Plus in relation to our recruitment and leadership progression efforts in the US and UK. This certification is an encouraging milestone as we continue to champion diversity within our organization and in the wider legal sector.

Join us to be part of a team that is always looking to the future. Where initiative, big ideas and bold moves are always encouraged. Where you can truly be yourself.

Information for Recruitment Agencies
Withers endeavours to recruit and fill vacancies directly. However, when we do need to engage with agencies, Withers operates a preferred supplier list and will not be accepting unsolicited applications from non-PSL agencies for this role.

Equal Opportunities Employment Statement
It is the policy of Withers to provide equal opportunities for all employees in relation to recruitment, training and promotion. Decisions in these areas will be made only by reference to the requirements of the job and shall not be influenced by any consideration of ethnic origin, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation or disabilty.