Portland is a strategic communications consultancy trusted by some of the highest profile organizations, brands, governments, and individuals in the UK and around the world. We have global offices in London, Paris, Brussels, Washington DC, Singapore, Doha and Nairobi and Berlin.

We are pioneers in integrated communications campaigns, helping clients manage their reputation, improve their visibility and media coverage – and deliver global communications campaigns across multiple platforms.

Our teams of experienced consultants invest time to understand clients from the inside out, work with them to set clear strategic direction, and then bring the whole of Portland’s abilities to bear to deliver on their objectives.

At Portland we never rest on our laurels; we constantly strive to improve our work and be at the forefront of our industry.

The Role

The People Partner will provide a full range of generalist People support to a range of global business stakeholders and colleagues. By partnering with colleagues in the People team; other Operations staff such as Finance & Commercial; and a wide range of managers and leaders, you will play a key role in ensuring the business achieves its strategic objectives.

Responsibilities will include:

• Working closely with the other People Partners and the People Director, getting involved in the full length and breadth of the People Agenda, both strategic and operational
• Integrating with the relevant members of the People team to drive the implementation of People policies and projects as well as the delivery of People services and advisory across the business
• Supporting, alongside other team members a growing permanent population of 280+ Portlanders as well as temps, freelancers, contractors, apprentices, and interns
• Providing oversight across People Team operational processes by managing, mentoring and coaching junior members of the team
• Support managers and employees with the performance management processes around performance reviews and ongoing developmental conversations
• Supporting the Senior People leadership team oversee successful delivery and application of the full administration process of our review process, including the implementation of payroll changes, confirmation letters and changes to terms and conditions etc.
• Owning management discussions to identify leaver risks, retention plans and skills gaps – recommending appropriate L&D solutions or collaborate with our Talent Partner on a hiring solution
• Being accountable for the full employee lifecycle of all staff in your area, ensuring it continues to evolve and improve – from new starter and onboarding to leaver processes
• Analysing exit interview data for trends and briefing up to the People Director as well as into management teams
• Supporting the People Administrator and Coordinator to ensure a smooth payroll process, driving efficiencies and accuracies in liaison with the Finance Team across UK and international payrolls
• Providing analysis and insight using People analytics – ensuring we are maximising the capability of our HRIS in the most efficient ways
• Identifying specialist and cross company training needs, assisting the Senior People Team and People Director colleague in liaising with external providers, or leading with the content creation yourself
• Leading individual coaching conversations with individual line managers to ensure we are avoiding future ER emergencies and maximising employee potential
• Ensuring compliance with changes to employment law across all global locations, communicating what the impact of this might be on Portland
• Supporting the implementation of organisational change, acting as a change agent/champion
• Advising and recommending internal communications for cascading various organisational information in a way that minimises risk but also improves transparency
• Handling sensitive and complex People and ER issues to ensure that any risk to the business is minimised and we are providing an ‘Employee Champion’ service to employees
• Supporting to drive efficiencies and modernisation for our People service – both within the team administratively and how we engage with the wider workforce too
• Owning People compliance topics such as evaluating Portland’s annual Gender Pay Gap, GDPR etc.
• Leading the creation and roll out of all some international policies and our employee handbook, including educating and marketing it to the business
• Supporting the delivery of People projects across our service delivery areas on an ad-hoc basis as directed by the People Director

Skills & Competencies:

• CIPD qualified
• Well established experience in generalist HR from any industry
• Strong track record in HR advisory and owning employee relations casework
• Gravitas to engage and influence at all levels of the business
• Strong attention to detail with excellent organisational and prioritisation skills
• Open communicator, happy working in a team environment and independently within the business as needed
• Used to operating in a fast-paced environment and can give examples of juggling multiple work streams
• Logical, quick and flexible with a results orientated approach
• Strong experience partnering with finance teams and examples of aligning people and commercial strategies across the business
• Strong self-awareness with excellent interpersonal, communication and presentation skills

What we offer in return:

• We are committed to employee development and have an open doors culture where you will have the opportunity to learn from some of the most experienced people in the business. We regularly reward and promote success, and actively encourage staff to take on new challenges and responsibilities to aid progression

• Our remuneration package also includes our competitive pension contributions, private healthcare life assurance cover, company contribution to gym membership, wellbeing workshops and activities, company parties, lunch contribution each week and much, much more!

• At Portland we take a flexible approach to work and encourage our colleagues to do the same. All our roles are open to flexible working requests and we will consider all options during our recruitment process. This includes but is not limited to: flexible hours, home working, compressed hours and job sharing.

• In addition, every permanent member of staff that works at Portland is eligible for our annual profit share. When Portland thrives, all of our people share in that success

Other information

Unfortunately due to the high volume of applications we receive it is not possible to respond directly to all applicants, only to those whose candidacy is being pursued. In addition, the length of the recruitment process varies based on the vacancy needs. Traditionally, the process takes approximately 3-4 weeks. Therefore, your patience is greatly appreciated.