Associate HR Business Partner

Abbott; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Abbott in South Africa is seeking an experienced Associate HR Business Partner to provide end-to-end HR partnership across multiple units. You will align people strategies with business goals while fostering a compliant workplace culture.

You will serve as a trusted advisor to leaders and employees, driving employee relations, performance management, organizational development, and governance initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, industrial psychology, business administration, labour relations, or a related field.
• 5–8 years of progressive Human Resources experience.
• Strong employee relations and labour law experience.
• Experience supporting multiple business units and stakeholders.
• Exposure to performance management and organizational development.
• Experience working with HRIS platforms such as Workday.
• Strong understanding of SA labour legislation including LRA, BCEA, EEA, Skills Development Act, POPIA.

Responsibilities

• Partner with managers and employees on a wide range of HR and employee relations matters.
• Conduct investigations into disciplinary, grievance, misconduct, and harassment cases.
• Facilitate disciplinary, incapacity, and dispute resolution processes.
• Coach leaders on performance management, development planning, and talent initiatives.
• Support succession planning and organizational development activities.
• Provide guidance on compensation, benefits, remuneration practices, and salary review processes.
• Ensure compliance with labour legislation, company policies, and HR governance requirements.
• Support Employment Equity, Skills Development, and regulatory reporting processes.
• Drive employee engagement, wellbeing, culture-building, and change management initiatives.
• Maintain accurate employee records and leverage HR systems such as Workday to support business decision-making.

Skills

Employee relations

Labor law

Stakeholder management

Performance management

Organizational development

Coaching

Change management

HRIS

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Tools

Workday

Job description

Abbott is a global healthcare leader that helps people live more fully at all stages of life. Our portfolio of life-changing technologies spans the spectrum of healthcare, with leading businesses and products in diagnostics, medical devices, nutritionals and branded generic medicines. Our 115,000 colleagues serve people in more than 160 countries.
At Abbott, you can do work that matters, grow, and learn, care for yourself and family, be your true self and live a full life. You will have access to :

• Career development with an international company where you can grow the career you dream of.
• A company recognized as a great place to work in dozens of countries around the world and named one of the most admired companies in the world by Fortune.
• A company that is recognized as one of the best big companies to work for, as well as a best place to work for diversity, working mothers, female executives, and scientists.

In Abbott's Corporate Functions Division
We enable our businesses to thrive by providing strategic support and expertise across people, operations, and organizational effectiveness. Our HR team partners closely with leaders to build high-performing, inclusive workplaces that drive business success.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced Associate HR Business Partner to join our team in South Africa. This role is responsible for providing end-to-end HR partnership and guidance across multiple business units, ensuring people strategies align with business objectives while fostering a positive and compliant workplace culture.
You will serve as a trusted advisor to leaders and employees, driving employee relations, performance management, organizational development, compliance, and employee engagement initiatives.

What You'll Work On

• Partner with managers and employees on a wide range of HR and employee relations matters.
• Conduct investigations into disciplinary, grievance, misconduct, and harassment cases.
• Facilitate disciplinary, incapacity, and dispute resolution processes.
• Coach leaders on performance management, development planning, and talent initiatives.
• Support succession planning and organizational development activities.
• Provide guidance on compensation, benefits, remuneration practices, and salary review processes.
• Ensure compliance with labour legislation, company policies, and HR governance requirements.
• Support Employment Equity, Skills Development, and regulatory reporting processes.
• Drive employee engagement, wellbeing, culture-building, and change management initiatives.
• Maintain accurate employee records and leverage HR systems such as Workday to support business decision-making.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, Industrial Psychology, Business Administration, Labour Relations, or a related field.
• 5 to 8 years of progressive Human Resources experience.
• Strong employee relations and labour law experience.
• Experience supporting multiple business units and stakeholders.
• Exposure to performance management and organizational development.
• Experience working with HRIS platforms such as Workday.
• Strong understanding of South African labour legislation, including : Labour Relations Act (LRA) Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) Employment Equity Act (EEA) Skills Development Act POPIA requirements

Preferred

• Professional HR certification such as SABPP, IPM, SHRM, CIPD, or equivalent.

What You'll Bring

• Strong business acumen and sound HR judgement.
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Strong communication and coaching capabilities.
• Experience in employee relations and dispute resolution.
• Ability to balance operational delivery with strategic HR partnership.
• High levels of integrity, confidentiality, adaptability, and resilience.
• A passion for creating engaging, inclusive, and high-performing workplace cultures.