People Assistant - Retail & Contact Centre in Northampton

Our People Team is composed of six key teams: People Partnership, Pay & Reward, Learning & Development, Talent Acquisition, Communications & Engagement and Office Services and Health & Safety. Reporting to the People Partner, the People Assistant plays a fundamental role in our People Partnership team and is responsible for enabling and coordinating all People processes and employee administration across the employment lifecycle for Retail and the Contact Centre. Alongside the administrative role, you will be involved in exciting People Partnership and Team projects and initiatives, recent examples include Diversity & Inclusion and Mental Health, with the goal to create the best employee experience for our people and be the best place to work.

What you’ll be doing

• Employee Lifecycle
  • Generate all new starter paperwork for Retail Management and Contact Centre; partnering with the Talent Acquisition and Learning & Development Teams to ensure a seamless onboarding experience.
  • Act as the first point of call for People Support queries, managing the People Support and Reference inboxes and People Support Line, escalating when necessary.
  • Ensure all compliance checks are followed for relevant roles, including DBS and Financial Checks, escalating any concerns and delays.
  • Responsible for handling all reference requests, both tenancy and employment, for current and ex-employees of the Company within 48 hours of request.
  • Confirm in writing all probation passes for Retail Management & CC employees, confirming eligibility to the enhanced benefits offering and supporting with any related queries.
  • Maintain accurate employee status, ensuring all probation completion is recorded in People Hub.
  • Manage the leaver process for all Retail Management and CC leavers, confirming their leaver details and managing the leaver process with Pay & Reward and Line Managers, conducting exit interviews where necessary and feeding back to the People Partnership team for analysis.
  • Ensure the Organisational structure charts are updated monthly and shared with necessary stakeholders.
  • Regularly audit all employee files (electronically) to ensure statutory paperwork and information is up to date and stored in compliance with GDPR.
  • Ensure all relevant trackers are maintained regularly and accurately, with the aim to create accurate reporting around the employee lifecycle.
  • Provide admin support to the team, including any employee change letters.
  • Supporting and processing Family Leave requests.
  • Supporting the wider People team as required and contributing to project work.
• Employee Relations and People Analytics
  • Attend and support Managers at investigative or formal meetings, supporting with note‑taking.
  • Have an active interest in keeping own knowledge up to date with present and future employment legislation.
  • Run regular reports and share information with relevant stakeholders.
• Payroll & Benefits
  • Work closely with the Pay and Reward Team to manage all payroll‑related processes for Retail Management and CC, ensuring all pay activity is processed and submitted by the cut‑off date.
  • Oversee the Cycle to Work, Season Ticket Loan and Perkplace processes, ensuring systems are kept up to date with all relevant information.

The skills and experience you’ll need

• Experienced administrator who takes pride in delivering excellence in administration and co‑ordination with strong attention to detail.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to demonstrate complete ownership and accountability for the delivery of processes.
• Experience dealing with highly confidential information.
• Working accurately to deadlines, ensuring strong attention to detail in everything you do.
• Strong understanding of MS Office applications, including Excel, Word and PowerPoint.
• Ability to demonstrate a commercial mindset around decision making.
• Able to identify opportunities and implement successful change.

What we offer you

• Discount – Up to 50% discount.
• Holiday – 23 days rising to 25 with length of service.
• Holiday Buy – an opportunity to buy up to an additional 5 days holiday (pro‑rata contract duration).
• 10% Bonus – In addition to our competitive salaries, all our employees are entitled to join a discretionary bonus scheme (based on policy eligibility).
• Perkplace Benefits Platform – offering a variety of discounts across well‑being and lifestyle.
• Wagestream Money Management app – access to Wagestream gives you power over your pay and supports financial wellbeing.
• Continued Development – We offer structured support from our own in‑house Learning and Development Hub.
• Pension Scheme.
• Life Assurance.

Additional Benefits (Head Office roles only)

• Fruit basket daily.
• Tea and coffee provided.
• Hybrid working – option to work from home on Mondays and Fridays.
• Flexi working approach – office working hours 9‑5.30 pm, finish at 5pm on a Friday.
• Social – Christmas party/social events throughout the year.
• Seasonal Sample Sales.
• Volunteer Day – with a charity of your choice.

Our Equality Diversity and Inclusion statement of commitment

At The White Company we are committed to creating an inclusive culture that welcomes and celebrates a diversity of backgrounds and identities. We are working together to ensure our environment is one where people can bring their authentic selves to work, where their contribution is valued, ability enhanced, and perspective appreciated. Where difference is respected, encouraged, and celebrated. Where you can feel you belong. We are committed to an active Equality Diversity and Inclusion Policy, which starts with our recruitment and selection process.

Our Sustainability statement of commitment

We are committed to building a sustainable legacy that will enable a brighter future for people and our planet. We believe this should be reflected in everything we do.