Senior HR Officer – Banking - London / West End - Job Ref: 26038

The Senior HR Officer will play a key role within the HR Operations team, delivering high-quality HR support and guidance to employees and managers throughout the employee lifecycle. The postholder will help ensure the consistent application of people policies and procedures while maintaining compliance with all regulatory and statutory requirements. Working as part of a small team, the role requires a proactive, hands-on, and adaptable approach to delivering an excellent people service.

Responsibilities:

• Support the day-to-day HR operations, ensuring accuracy and compliance across all employee records.
• Act as a first point of contact for HR queries, providing timely and pragmatic advice on HR policies, procedures, and best practice.
• Provide expert advice to line managers on employee management matters, including disciplinary and performance.
• Administer employee benefits (e.g. pension scheme, medical insurance, etc.), ensuring enrolments, changes and renewals are actioned in a timely and accurate manner, and liaise with external benefit providers and brokers to ensure smooth service delivery and accurate billing.
• Support in the preparation and validation of monthly payroll process, ensuring all changes are accurate, approved and processed within appropriate timeframes.
• Support employee relations casework (e.g. disciplinary, grievance, absence management), escalating complex issues to the HR Operations Manager/HR Business Partner as appropriate.
• Support regular and ad-hoc audits of HR records and processes to ensure compliance with internal, statutory and regulatory requirements.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and induction processes to ensure a smooth candidate and new joiner experience, aligned with internal policies and processes.
• Maintain and develop the HRIS, ensuring data integrity, reporting accuracy, and compliance with GDPR and regulatory requirements.
• Prepare regular people metrics and MI reports for management meetings and ad-hoc requests.
• Support cyclical HR activities such as annual performance reviews, pay reviews, and benefits renewals.
• Contribute to the ongoing review and improvement of HR processes and the employee lifecycle.
• Support the HR Operations Manager in delivering strategic HR initiatives.
• Lead or contribute to HR projects focused on process improvement, policy development, and employee experience/culture enhancement.
• Support the People Team with Group-led initiatives, liaising with Group and other entities as needed.
• Act as a role model within the People Team, providing day-to-day guidance and support to the HR Administrator, sharing knowledge, best practice and advice.
• Support change management activities including restructures, role design, and consultation processes.
• Work collaboratively across the People Team, supporting broader HR operations and contributing to team development.
• Maintain up-to-date knowledge of employment law, regulation, and market trends affecting the banking sector.
• Champion a culture of fairness, inclusion, and wellbeing across the bank.

Person’s Description / Skills:

• Highly organised and dependable under pressure.
• Demonstrates integrity and discretion when handling sensitive and confidential information.
• Establishes and develops positive relationships with colleagues.
• Ability to work in an environment with manual processes, whilst identifying areas for improvement and enhanced efficiency.
• Excellent written and verbal skills and the ability to communicate with stakeholders at all levels.
• Analytical skills and experience of reviewing and analysing information, and a confident user of HRIS.
• Development of an employee-oriented company culture that emphasises quality, continuous improvement and high performance along with honesty and integrity alongside the core values.
• Solid understanding of UK employment law, HR processes and data protection principles.

Experience Requirements:

• Proven experience in a HR Officer or HR Advisor role within financial services or a similarly regulated environment.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice.
• Benefits and/or payroll administration experience would be beneficial.
• Experience managing HR processes throughout the employee lifecycle.
• Proficient in HR systems and confident handling HR data and metrics.