HR Advisor

Making things count and championing best practice, in a human and simple way, is our approach to HR at Penguin Random House UK.

We have a fantastic opportunity to join the team as a HR Advisor based in London, working with a number of key group functions including Group Operations, Publishing Operations and Rights.

As a HR Advisor you will report into and work closely with one of our HR Business Partners to support managers and employees in your business areas. You’ll develop a deep understanding of the business areas and proactively offer solutions and ideas to situations and will support managers in upskilling and understanding how to apply HR practices and policies. You’ll also work closely with our Finance Partners and People Managers to manage associated budgets and approvals.

This is a busy and varied role supporting the full employee life cycle. Acting as a first point of contact for managers, you’ll get stuck into everything from talent management and employee relations through to coaching and guiding our managers and employees through topics such as wellness and reward.

You’ll play a key role at each stage of someone’s time with us – from supporting the onboarding process and partnering with the L&D team to support people to learn and grow, helping people plan their family leave and supporting career progression, through to supporting the offboarding process of colleagues leaving the organisation or moving into other business areas.

In this role, you will support approximately 370 individuals, and we are looking for an HR Advisor who can thrive in this challenging but fun role by promoting a pro-active approach and paying attention to the detail.

This role will cover all areas of HR and offers a great opportunity to get exposure to different teams across the business.

The team

The HR Generalist team act as trusted HR partners, bringing business and HR strategies together to deliver advice and expertise which is commercially minded, and people focused. We focus on upskilling and empowering People Managers to create a culture of inclusion and high-performance within their teams. With the aim to cultivate a psychologically safe and positive work environment for people at all levels.

What you will bring

1. Experience working within a generalist HR role, including experience of working directly with managers
2. Exposure to dealing with a variety of HR elements, including but not limited to disciplinary, grievances, absence management, Union relationships, parental leave and other sensitive HR areas of responsibility.
3. Sound knowledge of employment law and HR best practice
4. Motivation to develop and ability to build relationships across the business areas
5. Familiarity with the Microsoft Office suite of applications
6. The ability to organise your work effectively and keep on top of competing priorities

Preferred criteria:

1. Familiarity with HRIS systems beneficial, but not essential
2. CIPD qualification is also beneficial
3. IR35 knowledge to support Recruitment Partners & People Managers with contractor engagements would be beneficial.
4. Experience working with Business Partners and Managers to manage associated budgets and approvals.

Application instructions

Please apply with your CV by 11:59pm on Wednesday 5th March.

Please note we are looking for someone to join the team as soon as possible, but we are also happy to accommodate a reasonable notice period for the right candidate.

We anticipate a two-stage interview process which will include a virtual first-stage interview and in-person second stage interview. We are happy to discuss this further with you throughout the recruitment process.

£35,000 - £40,000 dependent on how your skills and experience align to the role, plus bonus and benefits.

What you can expect from us

Our people are the heart of our business, and we work hard to support a culture of responsibility and recognition.

Our benefits include:

• Financial – discounted shopping, season ticket loan, rental deposit loan
• Wellbeing – healthcare cash plan, employee assistance, gym loan
• Lifestyle – taste card, tech scheme, free and discounted books

This is a hybrid role where you will be expected to work from the office in London 2 times a week. There will be activities and meetings you will need to attend occasionally, in our offices based in Colchester.

About Penguin

We’re the UK’s largest publisher; made up of some 2,000 people and publishing over 1,500 books each year. Our doors are open to all kinds of talent. In a constantly evolving industry, we work hard to stretch the definition of the word publisher. Here, you’ll work with a breadth of talent who all play their part to make each of our books a success. Together, we make books for everyone because a book can change anyone.

As a Disability Confident Committed organisation, we offer interviews to candidates with a disability who meet the essential criteria for the role, and opt-in on their application form. The essential criteria for this role are listed as part of the ‘What you will bring’ section.

We encourage you to tell us about any reasonable adjustments you may need by emailing PRHCareersUK@penguinrandomhouse.co.uk . Remember, you only need to share what you are comfortable to for us to support your request.

Please note, we are not able to accept agency CVs for this role. Any CVs sent speculatively will not be eligible for a fee.

Company: Penguin Books Limited

Country: United Kingdom

State/Region: London

City: London

Postal Code: SW11 7BW

Job ID: 277775

Date: 20 Feb 2025