HR Assistant - 12 month FTC (Secondment Cover)

Howden Group; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking an HR Assistant for a 12-month fixed-term contract. This role offers a unique opportunity to support a dynamic HR function, providing first-class HR services to a fast-growing business. The ideal candidate will thrive in a complex environment, delivering operational HR support while fostering strong relationships with stakeholders. Join a culture that values independence and people, where your contributions can drive meaningful change. If you're ready to advance your HR career in a supportive and innovative setting, this position is perfect for you.

Qualifications

• Experience in HR roles within fast-paced environments is essential.
• Strong organizational and communication skills are a must.

Responsibilities

• Provide HR support across the employee lifecycle and manage operational queries.
• Collaborate with recruitment to enhance candidate experience.

Skills

Relationship Building

Influencing Skills

Generalist HR Experience

Organizational Skills

Communication Skills

Problem Solving

Resilience

Tools

Workday

Job description

HR Assistant - 12 month FTC (Secondment Cover)

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locations Milton Keynes - The Avebury
time type Full time
posted on Posted Yesterday
job requisition id R0011867

Who are we?

Howden is a collective – a group of talented and passionate people all around the world. 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 18,000 employees spanning over 100 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.

About the Role

Here at Howden Group Holdings, we are transforming the way we deliver HR services to our business and this is an exciting time to join our evolving HR function as we look to drive commercially aligned and strategic HR support to our stakeholders.

This is an exciting opportunity to deliver first class HR Services support to our UK businesses, providing first line HR support to a fast-growing and transformational business. This is a varied role as you will provide HR support on all operational elements from general queries, parental leave, on-boarding, leavers through to references.

You will role model HR best practice; establish credibility and trust with stakeholders at all levels; support innovation through advising, informing, challenging and facilitating discussions with the business and HRBP’s in equal measure on a wide range of issues – all in the context of a rapidly evolving and growing business.

We are looking for a motivated, team player with a positive attitude, looking to progress their HR career, working closely with the HR Business Partners, to support transactional and operational changes within the business. The successful candidate will be suited to a fast paced, complex and entrepreneurial environment and have the ability to work with a degree of ambiguity that comes with growth and transformational change.

Role responsibilities

• Provide a business area focused client experience through the accurate and timely administration of all processes within the employee lifecycle.
• Initiates processes on behalf of the business, including job changes, contingent worker, international and leaver requests.
• Works closely with colleagues within HRES to drive consistency across the business, improve processes and gain efficiencies.
• Works with the Recruitment team to ensure the applicant through to new starter process is managed efficiently and provides a great candidate experience.
• Runs and analyses data to provide valuable business insight, including but not limited to absence management, performance objective, milestone and headcount reports.
• Validates data, ensures job details are correct, such as roles, teams and cost centres.
• Works within GDPR guidelines, managing people data requests and the confidentiality of data.
• Supports the business with any Workday training needs, promoting self service capability.
• Welcomes new starters to the business and proactively supports induction and introduction sessions.
• Completes exit interviews with leavers, managing insights and feedback as required.
• Supports the annual compensation review process, restructures, acquisitions and other HR related business activity and projects.
• Responsible for follow up actions and ongoing enquiries, ensuring processes are completed to a high standard and in time for payroll cutoff.

Key requirements

• Strong relationship building and influencing skills.
• Delivery focused and able to demonstrate putting client experience first.
• Generalist HR experience and knowledge, in a fast paced, complex or transformational business.
• Works well under pressure, managing conflicting demands and meeting deadlines.
• Ability to work well independently with confidence.
• Strong organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Problem solver with resilience, initiative and ability to challenge the status quo.
• Smart pragmatic and positive approach, able to build trust and offer proactive solutions.
• Workday and HR Shared Services experience desirable.

What do we offer in return?

A career that you define.

What you might not expect is a job where everyone has a voice, where volunteering in the community is part of the day job, and where everyone is encouraged to play a part towards our sustainability goals. We want people who want to make a difference - not just in the workplace, but in the industry and in the wider community.

Our culture: People First

Our core values dictate how we live and work. We are a group with independence and people at its heart and we are a home for talent with a unique culture: the biggest small company in the world.

The focus on being a People First business has always been at the very heart of the Group; our vision was to create an independent business with a unique culture and one that would survive and thrive as a business controlled by the people working for it. And finding the most talented and entrepreneurial people to join the Group has been and will continue to be key.

Diversity & Inclusion

At Howden Group Holdings we consider our people our chief competitive advantage and as such we treat colleagues, candidates, clients, and business partners with equality, fairness and respect, regardless of their age, disability, race, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, marital status or family circumstances.

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.

If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.