People and Operations Assistant

We are growing and looking for a proactive and resourceful People and Operations Assistant to help power the engine behind our people, culture and operational practices at Howlett Brown. If you’re someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, loves tackling new challenges, is passionate about growth, and know you could excel in this role, then we look forward to meeting you.

As a People and Operations Assistant, you will support the People and Operations Department in ensuring smooth business operations and people practices. You will support everything from recruitment, talent development and onboarding, to client invoicing, internal events and training, office management and coordination, and employee engagement initiatives. This role involves administrative tasks, compliance practices, and supporting key operational processes to enhance workplace efficiency and employee and client experience.

Our clients range from start-ups, significant not-for-profit organisations to global enterprise clients across various industries such as Tech, Software, Professional Services, Hair & Beauty, Charities, Retail, Food, Real Estate, Music, Publishing, News & Media, Advertising, Life Sciences, Pharma, Unions, Engineering, Logistics, Environmental, Healthcare and Fitness.

This role is a unique opportunity for the successful individual to join a dynamic business with an impressive growth trajectory.

About the Role: The successful candidate will be able to perform the activities set out below.

• Manage calendars, schedule meetings, and coordinate internal communications between teams.
• Assist with the onboarding process of new joiners ensuring a positive new joiner experience, creating and designing induction itineraries and packs, meet and greets, policy/procedure induction sessions, meeting compliance, employment and regulatory standards.
• Set up, coordinate, execute and ensure staff compliance of the annual and bi-annual mandatory training programmes.
• Assist in coordination of core people cycles such as talent development, annual leave and absence tracking.
• Assist in managing people management systems such as Sage HR.
• Assist with the recruitment process, application and candidate screening, coordination and interview management and support.
• Assist People & Operations Manager with offboarding of staff, ensuring practice and compliance standards are completed and recorded.
• Assist People & Operations Manager with motivating team members whilst demonstrating an awareness of workplace culture, trends and practices.
• Coordinating internal team events and team building activities, collaborating with the Head of People & Operations.

• Conducting diligence and compliance, client onboarding and due diligence processes at Howlett Brown.
• Help coordinate travel arrangements and logistics for business-related activities and meetings.
• Assisting with the client and vendor billing process from end to end including building relationships with client and vendor finance teams, chasing for payments, including reviewing Howlett Brown time recording, narratives and activity mapping.
• Assist with the VAT returns process which includes coordinating with suppliers where needed to ensure that compliance deadlines are met and obtaining VAT receipts and invoices.
• Assist with Howlett Brown’s health and safety practices by conducting checks and ensuring compliance, as well as anticipating health and safety needs, resolving areas of concern that require attention promptly.
• Day to day office management, ensuring that office standards of safety, cleanliness, compliance and coordinating with external service providers to Howlett Brown standards.
• Liaise and coordinate on IT and systems queries with staff.
• Assist with management of assigning licenses and onboarding of new products and licenses.
• Collaborating and supporting external and client facing events for Howlett Brown.
• Ensuring a record of Howlett Brown’s terms and practices as well as addressing standards and expectations of suppliers with guidance and support of the People and Operations Manager and the Head of People & Operations.
• Support the management and oversight of the Howlett Brown rate table building knowledge and responsibility over time.
• Monitor office supply levels and manage inventory, ordering materials when necessary and ensuring timely restocking.
• Oversee the maintenance of office equipment and coordinate with external vendors for repairs or upgrades as needed.
• Assist with tracking and reporting on key operational metrics and KPIs to ensure business objectives are met.
• Help manage, drive and track operational projects, ensuring tasks (including own tasks) are completed as per deadlines.
• Assist in identifying inefficiencies and recommend improvements to streamline office operations.
• Help manage the creation and documentation of internal processes to ensure consistency across the organisation.
• Support the roll out and training of new operational tools, software, or systems across teams.

• Strong administrative and organisational skills.
• Deadline-driven and able to manage multiple tasks efficiently.
• Ability to work off your own initiative.
• High standards for all tasks with strong attention to detail.
• Clear and professional verbal and written communication.
• Confident engaging with stakeholders at all levels.
• Effective problem-solving skills and sound judgement.
• Ability to manage and maintain office operations and facilities.
• Proficient with Microsoft Office and HR systems (e.g. Sage HR).
• Team player with a positive, solution-focused mindset.

What we offer you: We care about each team member’s success, so we can grow together. We operate as a diverse, supportive and inclusive employer, working to ensure that internal operations model those policies and practices that we aim to educate our clients on. Guided by our values, we provide an attractive package that recognises the contribution of each member of the team to our shared success. As well as competitive pay, we offer a career as part of a world class team in which all of our team can belong, grow and thrive. We offer benefits that support health and well being, a wide range of learning opportunities and many possibilities to have an impact through the work we do.