HR Business Partner

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries is the UK's only chartered professional body dedicated to educating, developing and regulating actuaries based both in the UK and internationally. We represent and regulate members worldwide and oversee their education at all stages of qualification and development throughout their careers.

We are looking to recruit an HR Business Partner to work in our small HR team based in Oxford.  This exciting role will support the Head of HR in delivery of the HR strategy across our 3 UK offices in Edinburgh, Oxford and London and also our 2 overseas offices.  The role will provide a true HR business partnering service to 170+ employees. 

This is a permanent, full-time role.  If you are interested in applying for the above position please send your CV and a covering letter via email to hrsupport@actuaries.org.uk. The closing date for applications is close of business Friday 3 May 2019.

Principal Accountabilities

Recruitment and Induction

• Supporting the Head of HR in the manpower  planning process and maintaining staff plans for strategic and budgetary purposes
• Creating and recommending the  most appropriate, cost effective  and creative recruitment approaches
• Liaising with recruitment agencies, online job boards and other means of sourcing candidates as well as posting vacancies on the IFoA website.
• Managing the Preferred Supplier List and negotiating rates with agencies to ensure value for money in relation to the Recruitment budget
• Providing recruitment support to managers and overseeing the process to ensure adherence to best practice and GDPR
• Maintaining the vacancy list and liaising with the Management Accountant to ensure adherence to budgeted headcount
• Running Corporate induction days regularly throughout the year and ensuring material is up-to-date and engaging

Performance Management

• Managing the annual performance management process, including training managers and employees on the process, ensuring adherence to agreed deadlines and carrying out a quality check on paperwork that has been submitted.
• Coach and support line managers in relation to capability issues with a view to improving performance to the required standard.

Learning and Development

• Design and delivery of HR-related lunch and learn sessions and “HR Essentials” training sessions for managers.  HR Essentials sessions to be delivered 3 times a year across all sites.

Compensation and Benefits

• Controlling and managing the data flow from HR into the payroll process and maintaining  accuracy of data
• Managing the benchmarking process with Croner for new jobs or regraded jobs
• Preparing data for the salary and bonus review processes and ensuring correspondence is accurately produced.
• Ensuring employees are aware of the range of benefits offered and where to find further information.
• Advising on best practice in relation to benefits and ensuring the benefits package is competitive.

Employee Relations

• First point of contact for employee relations issues.
• Managing employee relations caseload, through to appeal level. 
• Interpreting employment law (planned and current) and applying best practice to ensure our policies and processes are legally compliant and that all HR policies are reviewed every 2 years as a minimum.  The review process involves consultation with Directors and Employee Forum.
• Managing employee absence and sickness cases, including tracking payment of company sick pay and engaging with occupational health where appropriate.
• Attending Employee Forum meetings in the absence of the Head of HR.
• Negotiating and mediating sensitive issues between employees and managers.

Lifecycle Events

• Managing maternity, paternity and shared parental leave processes. 
• Working with the HR Administrator to ensure that deadlines are met and routine administration is completed on time and to the required standards.

Employee Wellbeing

• Promoting the IFoA wellbeing policy, including a programme of communication around wellbeing topics and organising the annual wellbeing week activities.
• Identifying instances where employee wellbeing is at risk and taking appropriate action, involving the relevant support agencies where appropriate.
• Trained Mental Health First Aider.

Health and Safety

Acting as “competent person” for Health and Safety policy and procedures.  Duties include:

• advising the IFoA on matters relating to health, safety and welfare;
• consulting with the employees on the IFoA’s behalf in relation to Health and Safety matters;
• recognising hazards and proposing protective measures to eliminate or reduce any identified hazards(s);
• undertaking such training in Health and Safety matters as may be required to undertake the role.
• Undertaking risk assessments, including stress risk assessments for employees.

Management Information and Budgets

• Overseeing the running of the HR system and ensuring it is used to its full potential
• Ensuring compliance with the GDPR in relation to employee data and that of unsuccessful job applicants.
• Responsible for the integrity of the HR Data on the system
• Providing accurate and timely management information to the Directors and Finance Department as part of a suite of HR Management Information.

Main Contacts

Internal : all employees across all levels of the organisation, but with particular engagement with line managers.   

External: recruitment agencies, occupational health, benefits providers, legal advisers.

Decisions

Must be able to make autonomous decisions regarding operational HR issues, but know when to escalate an issue.    Decisions (eg change of process or policy) or setting of a precedent could have long term implications or costs to the organisation.

Complexity

Must be able to multi-task and able to think creatively in a new situation.  Must be able to provide insight into a legal situation, versus business need and give balanced advice to management.

Impact

Has an impact at all levels of the organisation, particularly in relation to policies and their application.

Knowledge and Experience

• MCIPD as a minimum requirement
• Strong commercial awareness to understand the direction of the business and be able to develop HR policy to help support the global aims of the organisation.
• Strong track record in generalist HR, including dealing with complex employee relations issues.

• Able to advise managers on complex legal issues, from redundancy to employment tribunals.  Comes up with own solutions to problems within the framework of IFoA and the law
• Must have good written and oral communication skills, able to tailor communications at different levels from staff correspondence to board reports.
• Able to delegate routine tasks to the HR Administrator and work co-operatively within the small HR team, covering for absence where necessary.
• Has a network of contacts outside the organisation to keep up to date with best practice
• Develops strong relationships across the organisation and with external providers and suppliers
• Able to cope with pressure and juggle priorities.  Able to respond quickly to requests from leadership
• Able to meet tight deadlines
• Able to manage sensitive and difficult situations
• Able to build lasting relationships with business leaders and managers

Desirable

• Ideally postgraduate qualification in HR.
• Knowledge and/or experience of membership organisations
• Experience of delivering in-house training programmes

Values and Behaviours

The job holder will be expected to demonstrate all 3 of the IFoA core values of Community, Integrity and Progress.  Integrity is particularly important for any HR role.

Additional Information

This role is required to travel to all 3 of the UK offices on a regular basis.