Senior HR - Policy in City of London

Our client is a quantitative investment firm with locations globally. They’re building a world-class People function from the ground up—and looking for smart, adaptable team players who want to shape the future of HR at a high-performance organization. The VP – Senior HR Generalist is the most senior People partner on the ground in the UK. You will operate with a high degree of autonomy, serving as a trusted advisor to senior investment, business, and functional leaders, and owning UK HR fundamentals end-to-end. You will be expected to exercise sound judgment in complex, high-stakes situations and to partner thoughtfully across the firm. It is an exceptional opportunity for an experienced HR professional to shape people strategy and operations while supporting a critical organizational transition. This role is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, loves problem solving, and wants to apply their HR expertise while working with brilliant colleagues. You'll roll up your sleeves on day-to-day execution while also shaping our thinking and strategy about how a people function should enable organizational success.

Responsibilities of the Sr HR Generalist:

• Strategic & Operational Partnership: Serve as a trusted advisor to senior leaders on people-related matters, including performance management, organizational effectiveness, employee risk, and culture. Help shape the identity and strategy of the People function – ensuring People efforts enable a thriving, future-ready workforce. Own strategic goals and OKRs related to HR operations, employee relations, and labor law compliance, including forming and executing goals and plans, tracking and communicating progress, and adjusting as needed.
• HR Operations & Employee Experience: Design and own frontline HR support systems and practices for employees outside the U.S., ensuring global continuity wherever possible. This includes owning the employee handbook & policies outside the U.S., ensuring alignment with legal requirements, firm values, and business needs, as well as leading periodic reviews and updates. Deliver support to employees - eg responding to policy questions, troubleshooting benefits and payroll issues, escalating complex matters appropriately, and ensuring employees feel heard and supported. Lead exit preparations, advise on exit packages and adherence to regulations, prepare exit conversation scripts, lead exit conversations and interviews. Systematize data collection on exits; analyze, implement changes based on feedback. Manage, analyze, and advise on benefits administration, compliance, and payroll coordination. Identify and implement improvements to enhance efficiency and employee experience.
• UK Employment Law, Compliance & Risk Management: Lead the People team’s role in complex employee relations situations, advising and partnering with legal counsel and leadership as appropriate on conduct issues, performance concerns, grievances, contentious matters, redundancies, exits, sensitive interpersonal situations, and other matters in line with UK law and ACAS guidance. Coach managers through difficult conversations where appropriate, ensuring consistency, fairness, and risk mitigation. Exercise excellent judgment about when to coach and when to escalate. Manage employee emergencies in the office. Maintain appropriate documentation and decision rationale for high-risk cases. Own the People team’s role in labor law compliance end-to-end outside the United States, partnering closely with legal counsel to draft, maintain, and update policies, practices, and processes to ensure they are legally sound and up to date, particularly regarding ACAS, TUPE, immigration / right-to-work, SMCR, GDPR, etc. Advise leaders on people-related risk in a regulated, high-performance environment.
• Talent, Culture & Engagement: Support the design and execution of talent development, performance management, and employee engagement systems, processes, and programs.
• Spinout Readiness & Special Projects: Support spinout transition activities such as auditing employee data, coordinating with Legal on contracts, ensuring benefits and payroll readiness, and assisting with employee communications. Lead improvement initiatives, identifying opportunities to eliminate friction points, leverage automation and AI tools, and create scalable systems to support organizational growth. Build self-service resources and documentation, creating wikis, FAQs, guides, and templates that empower employees to find answers independently while reducing repetitive inquiries to the People team. Flex into emerging priorities as the People function evolves, demonstrating adaptability and initiative to take on additional responsibilities in strategically important areas.