Office Manager Recruitment for Bracewell LLP

Background

Bracewell LLP is a leading international law and government relations firm, advising clients across the energy, finance, infrastructure and technology sectors. With offices spanning the United States, Europe and the Middle East, Bracewell is recognised for commercially focused legal advice to many of the world's most prominent organisations.

After several unsuccessful recruitment campaigns using multiple recruitment agencies, Bracewell was introduced to Maxwell Stephens. Recognising our specialist expertise in recruiting workplace, facilities and office management professionals, the firm appointed us exclusively to recruit an Office Manager for its London office.

The Challenge

The Office Manager would play a central role in the smooth day-to-day operation of Bracewell's London office, combining leadership of administrative teams with responsibility for workplace operations, Facilities Management and supplier oversight. Working closely with senior leadership, Finance and Human Resources, the successful candidate would keep the office operating efficiently while maintaining a high standard of experience for partners, lawyers, employees and clients.

Key responsibilities included:

• Leading the office administration and front-of-house teams.
• Managing staff performance, appraisals and workload allocation.
• Supporting recruitment, onboarding and training of administrative employees.
• Coordinating daily office operations and workplace services.
• Managing planned and reactive building maintenance.
• Liaising with landlords, building management and external contractors.
• Procuring and managing suppliers to ensure quality and value.
• Supporting Facilities budgets and operational expenditure.
• Maintaining high workplace standards across the office.
• Driving continuous improvement in office operations and customer service.

The role demanded a highly organised professional capable of balancing operational management with people leadership within an international law firm. Office Manager roles in law firms are frequently under-briefed: the title suggests administration, but the job as it operates in a smaller London office spans facilities, landlord liaison, HR coordination and team management, and a search that targets only one of those strands produces candidates who struggle with the rest.

Our Approach

Having recognised that previous campaigns had failed to identify the right calibre of candidate, Maxwell Stephens adopted a targeted executive search strategy. Working closely with Bracewell's leadership team, we built a detailed understanding of the firm's culture, expectations and operational requirements before approaching carefully selected professionals from comparable legal and professional services environments.

Our search focused on candidates with experience in:

• Office Management within professional services.
• Facilities and Workplace Management.
• Team leadership and people management.
• HR coordination and staff development.
• Contractor and supplier management.
• Budget management and operational planning.
• Customer service and stakeholder engagement.
• Workplace operations and office administration.

Given the relatively small size of the London office, cultural fit was as important as technical competence. We therefore prioritised candidates who demonstrated strong organisational skills, professionalism, adaptability and a hands-on leadership style.

The Outcome

Following a comprehensive executive search and assessment process, Maxwell Stephens identified and placed an Office Manager with extensive experience across workplace operations, Facilities Management and team leadership, together with the professionalism and commercial awareness required to work within an international law firm.

The role covered office operations and administration, facilities and workplace standards, contractor and supplier management, and team leadership.

The appointment showed Maxwell Stephens' ability to deliver strong candidates where previous recruitment campaigns had been unsuccessful, reinforcing our position as specialist recruiters for the legal and professional services sectors.

Why This Placement Worked

Many organisations come to Maxwell Stephens after unsuccessful recruitment campaigns because they need more than CVs: they need specialist market knowledge and a working understanding of what workplace leadership involves. By focusing on quality, cultural fit and structured assessment, we helped Bracewell secure an Office Manager suited to the firm.

Client Testimonial

Maxwell Stephens did a great job! They were incredibly patient and proved my assertion that we needed to look for a different type of agency to fill this position. By some margin the candidates that came from Maxwell Stephens were of better calibre and more suitable for the position and our organisation. They understood very well what we were looking for and provided people who fit that mould.

Vlad Panaite
Director of Finance and Operations, Bracewell LLP

If you are recruiting an Office Manager or workplace lead for a professional services firm, particularly after a campaign that has not produced the right person, get in touch with our team to discuss your brief.