Talent Associate American Lifestyle Brand Fixed term contract London, GB Employee Relations Emp[...]

About the Company

Our client is an American Lifestyle Brand with HQ's in UK and Italy, looking for a Talent Associate or HR Associate on a one-year fixed-term contract. Ideally, this person can start beginning of November. WFH policy is 3 days a week in the central London office.

About the Role

This Role is Tailor-Made for You Because:

• You’re passionate about people and building a career where you can make a real impact on the frontline employee experience.
• You enjoy supporting the in-person day-to-day needs of our employees, partnering with them and their leaders to answer questions, providing clarity around policies, procedures and proactively identifying and solving problems, with the desire to create a workplace that is safe, supportive, and high-performing.
• As the first point of contact for the Talent team, you are able to effectively intake questions and concerns presented by the employees and their leaders; solutioning and/or escalating as appropriate.
• You also have a solid understanding of critical Talent functions and ability to lead on areas such as leave of absence administration and initial payroll and benefits inquiries.
• You thrive in a hands-on environment, are eager to learn and grow in understanding and owning administrative responsibilities within an operational setting and are energized by helping both employees and leaders succeed.
• You’re also resourceful and collaborative with a sharp eye for detail and a keen sense of judgement that enables you to effectively assess and resolve situations or escalate appropriately.
• You have an interest in fashion, culture, women’s empowerment and are eager to bring your experience to the luxury retail industry.

Responsibilities

A Day in the Life: The typical day is... atypical, as no two days are the same. As an Associate, Talent, you may:

• Serve as the first point of contact for employee inquiries, providing day-to-day in-person Talent/HR support to employees and supervisors on topics such as attendance, time off, payroll, and/or benefits concerns, etc.
• Escalate employee relations and performance concerns for additional review and support in a timely manner. Support the development of simple corrective actions (primarily for attendance).
• Assist with onboarding and orientation processes for new hires, ensuring a smooth and welcoming experience.
• Maintain accurate employee records and ensure compliance with HR policies, processes, and labor laws.
• Ensure accurate payroll processing liaising with leaders and payroll to resolve issues in a timely manner and minimizing negative impact to employee pay.
• Update Workday ensuring accurate entries in line with operational best practices; ensuring a solid understanding of upstream and downstream impacts of changes.
• Support the administration of Talent/HR programs, policy communication, and training coordination.
• Support the Talent Acquisition process by posting jobs, notifying associates of new postings, scheduling interviews, collecting feedback forms, etc. as requested.
• Assist with annual process follow-up and compliance – ensuring evaluations are completed, preparing for calibration, compliance trainings.
• Process employee terminations, providing exit information and conducting exit interviews as requested.
• Schedule, coordinate and facilitate interviews ensuring the best possible candidate experience.
• Communicate and provide updates to candidates (internal & external), Hiring Managers and various business partners.
• Post open positions to various locations including: career website (internal & external), LinkedIn, etc.
• Support and maintain applicant tracking system: create accounts for new hires, review accuracy of open positions, open / close positions for retail locations.
• Track the progress of candidates throughout the hiring process via applicant tracking system and other reports as necessary.
• Source candidates using LinkedIn.
• Prepare offer letters and contracts as directed.
• Ensure pre-hire forms (employment application & background check, as necessary) are completed and reviewed.
• Process new hires in HRIS system to ensure accurate on-boarding.
• Track leaves of absences, including medical, parental, worker's compensation, and other leave types in partnership with Benefits team.
• Ensure regular communication with employees and their leaders regarding leave status and return-to-work plans.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of experience in an HR/Talent, employee support, or administrative role.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience.
• Experience working in retail environment is a plus.
• Foundational understanding of HR principles and employment law.

Required Skills

• Strong interpersonal and communication (written and verbal) skills - approachable, empathetic, and professional.
• Strong judgement with a focus on fairness and consistency.
• Proactive self-starter with ability to problem-solve effectively, leveraging critical thinking skills.
• High level of integrity and discretion when handling confidential information.
• Ability to prioritize and navigate competing priorities in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office; experience with HRIS i.e Workday systems is a plus.
• Additional Language i.e French is a bonus, but not essential.