HR Advisor

Howden Group; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

Howden Group is seeking an HR Advisor/Operations professional to support the Specialty business across the employee lifecycle. You will act as the first point of contact for managers and colleagues, ensuring consistent application of HR policies and processes.

You will handle employee relations, support organisational change, manage data in Workday, and collaborate with recruitment and payroll to ensure smooth HR operations. CIPD qualification is desirable.

Qualifications

• Experience working in an HR Advisory or HR Operations role within a fast-paced, complex organisation.
• Proven experience managing employee relations cases and advising managers on people matters.
• Experience supporting organisational change, growth or transformation initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of HR policies, processes and employment legislation.
• Experience using HR systems, ideally Workday, to manage employee data and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse data and provide insights to support business decision-making.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders across a matrix organisation.
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and deliver accurate work in a high-volume environment.
• CIPD qualification is desirable.
• Experience working within HR in a corporate or professional services environment is desirable.
• Strong written and verbal English.
• Good numeracy skills.

Responsibilities

• Act as the first point of contact for HR generalist and advisory queries, providing guidance on absence, performance, conduct and probation matters.
• Support managers with day-to-day people matters, building capability and ensuring consistent application of HR policies and best practice.
• Manage employee relations cases from initial query through to resolution, escalating more complex matters where required.
• Maintain HR documentation, templates and trackers, ensuring accuracy, completeness and appropriate record keeping.
• Support HR Business Partners on organisational changes, projects and business initiatives, including acquisitions and growth activity.
• Deliver onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring a smooth and consistent experience for colleagues.
• Conduct exit interviews, capture feedback and identify trends to inform improvements and retention strategies.
• Produce and analyse HR data and reports (e.g. absence, performance, headcount), providing insights to support decision-making.
• Manage and update employee data within Workday, ensuring accuracy across job changes, organisational structures and contingent workforce records.
• Work closely with recruitment, payroll and HR systems teams to ensure efficient processing of requisitions, employee changes and pay-related queries.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, driving greater efficiency, automation and consistency across HR operations.
• Support training activity, including induction programmes and system-related learning.

Skills

HR advisory

HR operations

Employee relations

Data analytics

Stakeholder management

Workday

Education

CIPD qualification

Tools

Workday

Job description

Who are we?

Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries. People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It's what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities - work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering - you'll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.

The role

This role sits within the HR function supporting the Specialty business, providing day-to-day HR advisory and operational support across the employee lifecycle. You will act as a key point of contact for managers and colleagues, ensuring consistent application of HR policies and processes, while supporting business growth, change activity and continuous improvement across HR operations.

What you'll be doing

• Act as the first point of contact for HR generalist and advisory queries, providing guidance on absence, performance, conduct and probation matters.
• Support managers with day-to-day people matters, building capability and ensuring consistent application of HR policies and best practice.
• Manage employee relations cases from initial query through to resolution, escalating more complex matters where required.
• Maintain HR documentation, templates and trackers, ensuring accuracy, completeness and appropriate record keeping.
• Support HR Business Partners on organisational changes, projects and business initiatives, including acquisitions and growth activity.
• Deliver onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring a smooth and consistent experience for colleagues.
• Conduct exit interviews, capture feedback and identify trends to inform improvements and retention strategies.
• Produce and analyse HR data and reports (e.g. absence, performance, headcount), providing insights to support decision-making.
• Manage and update employee data within Workday, ensuring accuracy across job changes, organisational structures and contingent workforce records.
• Work closely with recruitment, payroll and HR systems teams to ensure efficient processing of requisitions, employee changes and pay-related queries.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, driving greater efficiency, automation and consistency across HR operations.
• Support training activity, including induction programmes and system-related learning.

Who we're looking for

• Experience working in an HR Advisory or HR Operations role within a fast-paced, complex organisation.
• Proven experience managing employee relations cases and advising managers on people matters.
• Experience supporting organisational change, growth or transformation initiatives.
• Strong working knowledge of HR policies, processes and employment legislation.
• Experience using HR systems, ideally Workday, to manage employee data and reporting.
• Demonstrated ability to analyse data and provide insights to support business decision-making.
• Experience working with multiple stakeholders across a matrix organisation.
• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and deliver accurate work in a high-volume environment.
• CIPD qualification is desirable.
• Experience working within HR in a corporate or professional services environment is desirable.
• Strong written and verbal English, with the ability to communicate information clearly.
• Good numeracy skills, with confidence working with data and HR metrics.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity - there is no one Howden type. Instead, we're looking for individuals who share the same values as us: Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond Reasonable adjustments we’re committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations.

Specialty

Permanent Howden began in 1994, as just three people and a dog. Now there are 23,000 of us, and we're a leading global insurance group, managing $37bn of premiums for our clients. Our largest shareholder group is us - the people who work in the business - supported by three long-term, minority growth-equity partners who share our vision to build a business to last, one that will never be sold. The owner's mindset is something that's embedded in our culture; the people readily take ownership of their decisions, their actions, and their outputs. They're invested in every sense. And we all know that by working together to drive the business forward, everyone will benefit from the extraordinary results we can achieve.