People Partner

Please note: This role is part-time, 3 days a week / 0.6 FTE

The People Partner Advisor is a junior partnering role responsible for providing practical, timely and locally informed People support to leaders, managers and colleagues in Spain and Portugal. The role delivers the local People Plan, supports the consistent delivery of core People processes and helps ensure that the Spanish and Portuguese business remains operationally compliant with employment legislation, collective obligations, internal policy and agreed governance.

As part of the wider People Partnering Team, the role reports to the Associate Director, People Partnering, while receiving day-to-day and week-to-week priorities and direction from the European Lead (Regional Principal People Partner). It manages local employee relations casework, acts as a key liaison point for the local trade union and connects local needs with People Operations and specialist teams. Complex, high-risk or strategically significant matters are escalated appropriately

Key Responsibilities

• Deliver the agreed local People Plan for Spain and Portugal, translating regional priorities into clear actions, tracking progress and escalating delivery risks.
• Provide first-line People advice and guidance to managers and colleagues, supporting the fair and consistent application of policies and processes.
• Manage local employee relations cases, including absence, conduct, capability, performance and grievance matters; maintain accurate records and escalate complex, high-risk or legally sensitive cases.
• Act as a key day-to-day liaison point for the local trade union and support consultation, information-sharing and collective employee relations activity in line with Spanish and Portuguese law, agreements and governance.
• Work with the European Lead and relevant leadership stakeholders to identify local people priorities, risks, workforce trends and practical interventions.
• Support operational compliance with Spanish employment legislation, collective bargaining requirements, data protection, internal policies, employment practices and audit requirements.
• Track local legislative, regulatory and employment-practice developments and coordinate implementation of required changes with the European Lead, Legal, Employee Relations and specialist teams.
• Support colleague lifecycle activity including onboarding, probation, contract changes, absence, family leave, offboarding and locally required documentation, working closely with People Operations and Payroll.
• Coordinate local delivery of annual pay review, performance, talent, engagement and development processes in line with regional and global timetables.
• Partner with People Operations, Payroll, Talent Acquisition, Reward, Talent and Development, Employee Relations and other enabling functions to resolve local issues and deliver a consistent colleague experience.
• Maintain accurate People data, case records, compliance trackers and local reporting, using insight to highlight emerging themes and inform action.
• Contribute local insight and practical recommendations to regional People initiatives and continuous improvement activity, without holding accountability for regional strategy.

Skills, Knowledge & Expertise

• Experience in an HR Advisor, People Advisor, junior People Partner or HR Generalist role.
• Practical working knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese employment law and local employment practices, with the ability to identify when specialist advice is required.
• Experience managing employee relations casework and supporting managers through fair, consistent processes.
• Understanding of trade union or collective employee relations environments and confidence supporting consultation and engagement activity.
• Experience delivering cyclical People processes and local People Plan actions.
• Strong organisation, attention to detail and ability to manage competing priorities, records and deadlines.
• Sound judgement, discretion and professionalism when handling sensitive colleague information.
• Clear communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to work with managers, colleagues, union representatives and People specialists.
• Fluent Spanish and English, written and spoken.
• Comfortable using HR systems, Microsoft Office tools and People data to support accurate reporting and decisions.

Desired:

• Experience working in an international or matrixed organisation.
• Exposure to collective bargaining agreements and union consultation in Spain.
• A relevant HR qualification or equivalent practical experience.