Head of Practice Work and Road Claims Qld

Head of Practice | Work and Road Claims (Queensland)

Slater + Gordon Lawyers are a leading personal injury law firm where every member of our team shares the same passion for our clients, we are people caring for people.

Our commitment to our people includes offering genuine work-life balance, with a hybrid work environment allowing them to split their time between home and the office. We recognise and reward high performance and have outstanding employee benefits including an extra week of annual leave, 18 weeks paid parental leave, extra-long service leave, and various learning and professional development opportunities.

What are we looking for?

The National Work and Road Practice group is now seeking a Head of Practice (HOP) for Queensland. Reporting to Rachael James, General Manager (GM) of the National Work and Road team, this role will be an integral part of her wider leadership group. Ideally this role will be placed in Brisbane with travel across our Queensland offices from time to time. We are open to flexible work arrangements with a blend across both home and office, and ideally this will be a permanent full-time opportunity.

As a senior leader you will be responsible for the following:
**Overview**
- Role model, promote and ensure team behaviours align with firm values
- Directly lead senior practitioners (and indirectly others) to achieve an engaged and high-performing team, that meets or exceeds financial, operational, client, growth/business development, people and other targets as agreed each year.
- Take ownership of a designated strategic initiative(s) on a national basis and work closely with your General Manager and other relevant stakeholders to execute and achieve outcomes.

**People Leadership**
- _ Role model_:

- enterprise leadership and be an active contributor in firm-wide leadership forums and initiatives.
- positive and effective leadership with your direct reports
- Mentor, coach and support managers and others in the practice group to develop leadership and technical capability and manage underperformance
- Provide clear leadership on initiatives and deliver activities that focus on retention, developmental growth and improved engagement
- Deliver effective communication when cascading firm updates and messages throughout your practice group
- Oversee the successful delivery of the firms engagement initiative
- _Support GM_:

- With succession planning and development of key people within your remit.
- to develop effective recruitment strategies, including building external talent pipelines and networks and promoting internal opportunities.

**Mastering Legal Expertise, Client Experience & Supervision**
- Demonstrate a high level of expert and specialist knowledge within your defined practice area.
- Identify gaps and work with others to deliver effective training and development
- Ensure understanding of working methods, firm governance and compliance is adhered to
- Ensure adequate support and management is available to deal with direct reports to deliver and manage client expectations
- Provide clear leadership on initiatives, actions and activities that improve client satisfaction and deliver exceptional client care.

**Running our Business**
- Effectively manage the operation of your practice group, including budget delivery, revenue forecasts, file management strategies,
- Oversee labour costs and effective workforce planning
- Reporting on and forecast ongoing staff performance
- Support General Manager with budget, target and KPI setting each year
- Work collaboratively with peers to identify process efficiencies and practice management improvements
- Support GM with change management initiatives when required

**Growing our Business**
- Support ongoing business development plans
- Liaise with internal stakeholders regarding trends/opportunities or competitor activity to support an effective marketing strategy.
- Develop strong and trusted relationships with both internal and external key stakeholders, including regulators, law societies, the Courts, insurers/defendants, government, counsel, medical and allied health professionals.

**Other**
- All other duties as directed.

What will you bring?

Key to your success in this role, you will have the following skills and attributes:

- Tertiary and post graduate qualifications in Law
- Proven and extensive post admission experience (ideally in plaintiff personal injury law)
- Accredited specialisation (desirable)
- Experience in a similar position in a professional services organisation
- Prior experience leading and motivating legal professionals and teams
- Demonstrated experience in leading teams to achieve and exceed business development, financial and operational targets
- Exception client care and ability to build strong relationships
- Strong commercial acumen
- Ability to self-management and manage others
- Superior communication skills
- Collaborative and inclusive approach to work methods

What next?