People Operations Assistant

It’s the people at Shakespeare Martineau that make us so special. By understanding what our people want, giving them the support they need, recognising everyone’s contribution and realising the unique power of teams, together we win.   As a firm we are focused on proactively building and developing diverse teams, bringing different backgrounds, personalities and perspectives together. We play to our strengths, pushing ourselves to be consistently better than yesterday and deliver amazing solutions for our clients. We empower our teams with a high degree of individual responsibility; we self-manage and encourage everyone to be responsible for their own learning, knowing it makes us even better at what we do!    

We believe in trusting our people to make the right decisions for themselves, from when and where you work, to how you dress; we focus on outputs.  

Want to find more about our amazing benefits?

Our Marketing & People Team comprises People Business Partnering, Development, Talent & Culture and People Operations functions all focussed on building a high-performance and people centric culture with strong engagement and a reputation for developing talent and enabling success at all levels.

The People Operations team lead the delivery aspects of the group strategy and culture; providing a dynamic infrastructure that continuously builds capability across the business. Influencing, coaching, impacting and delivering positive change through an outcome focussed approach that aligns to our growth ambitions.

We have an exciting opportunity for a proactive and passionate People Operations Assistant with demonstrable experience to join our highly-skilled and collaborative People Operations team.

You will be responsible for:  

• driving forward the people experience in everything that is undertaken
• delivery of people administration, ensuring all communication is of high quality, delivering the ultimate people experience

Your key duties will include:

• handling employee lifecycle administration - new starters with on-boarding – preparing contracts, undertaking PES checks and cover sheets, coordinating the induction.
• processing people changes (starters, movers and leavers)
• ensuring all systems are accurate, using checklists and reports
• managing the people operations inbox and ensuring this is cleared daily, spotting any trends or themes and taking remedial action
• preparing holiday calculations for new starters and current employees.
• working closely with Payroll / Reward to ensure any pay & benefit enrolments / changes have been communicated and systems are correct and up to date.
• assisting with project work and supporting with People Operations and Advisor activities – for example exit interviews, salary reviews, promotions.
• running processes such as family leave meetings and letters, on-boarding and post-induction, leavers (including exit interviews).
• assisting the People Operations Manager with projects, including research and ensuring feedback is provided on time.

Skills and experience you will have:

• previous administration experience
• experience of working within an operational and people services function is highly desirable
• proven ability to manage multiple activities with various or conflicting deadlines
• excellent written and presenting skills

Key competencies you will need:

• a high degree of organisation and the ability to prioritise effectively
• a flexible approach with the ability to adapt business plans when necessary
• the ability to interact with, and influence, key stakeholders at all levels with confidence and credibility
• to have strong problem solving skills
• an excellent level of empathy and emotional intelligence
• high standards and strong attention to detail
• to enjoy and thrive working in a collaborative team, supporting others when required

About you – you will be:

• highly enthusiastic and willing to go the extra mile
• a self-starter who is positive with a ‘can do’ attitude
• process driven with an ability to manage a varied workload
• a natural motivator who excels at coaching and nurturing talent

We embrace agile working and offer a blended approach to where and how we work.

We appreciate that people have different needs and preferences and we’re keen to be flexible, after all, we value what you do, not where you do it.

We have hubs in Birmingham, Leicester, London, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Solihull, Stratford-upon-Avon and Sheffield. This role will be a hybrid of home and office based and can be based from any of our office hubs.   

Please be aware, for some vacancies, where we receive high numbers of applications we may need to bring the close date forward.

Due to the nature of the work undertaken, confirmation of employment will be subject to a variety of checks which will be carried out once an offer of employment is accepted. Details of the checks can be found here.

Shakespeare Martineau is a committed equal opportunities employer. We seek to attract, develop and retain talented people from a diverse range of backgrounds and cultures. We value and respect individuality and encourage a culture within our business where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths and experiences. Everyone who either applies to or works for the firm is treated equally, regardless of their gender, age, ethnic origin, nationality, marital status, sexual orientation or religious beliefs.