Senior HR Associate

Are you an HR professional who thrives on improving processes, solving complex challenges, and delivering exceptional employee experiences?

R&D Partners is seeking a Senior HR Associate to join a leading pharmaceutical company in the UK. This role is pivotal in operating, owning, and continuously improving local UK HR processes outside the scope of the global centralized HR delivery team. The position combines hands-on operational delivery with process ownership and improvement, offering an exciting opportunity for an experienced HR professional to make a meaningful impact.

Please note that to be considered for this role you must have the right to work in this location.

Responsibilities:

• Manage and operate the full range of local UK HR administrative and operational processes across the employee lifecycle, including complex and sensitive casework.
• Provide specialist advice to employees, managers, and HR colleagues on policies related to family leave, absence, sick pay, income protection benefits, pensions, company car, mobility, and immigration.
• Own, document, and control local UK HR processes, ensuring compliance with UK employment legislation and global policies.
• Maintain operational relationships with third-party providers and ensure accuracy and integrity of HR data feeds.
• Define, measure, and report against service standards for local HR processes, identifying and resolving root causes of avoidable queries and rework.
• Act as the HR data privacy point of contact for the UK, including privacy impact assessments, new vendor setup, and records retention.
• Provide cover for the HR administration team during absences, leave, and peak periods.
• Coach and support the HR administration team, ensuring processes are well-documented for resilience and cross-cover.

Key Skills and Requirements:

• Educated to degree level or equivalent experience.
• Substantial experience in operating HR administrative and operational processes within a complex organization.
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment legislation, particularly in areas such as family leave, absence, sick pay, working time, right to work, and data protection.
• Proven track record of improving processes with measurable outcomes.
• Advanced MS Excel skills and strong data analysis capabilities.
• Ability to leverage AI tools to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.
• Customer-focused mindset with user-centric design experience.
• Proactive problem-solving skills and ability to drive issues to resolution.
• Sound judgment and discretion in handling confidential and sensitive information.

Preferred Skills

• Experience delivering HR services in a large global organization.
• Familiarity with Workday and HR case management systems.
• Experience in pensions, benefits, or global mobility administration.
• Formal continuous improvement training (e.g., Lean or Six Sigma).
• CIPD qualification is an advantage.
• Forward-thinking, growth-oriented mindset with a positive, proactive approach.

Additional Information

• Full-time position.
• Hybrid working model: up to 2 days per week remote.
• Substantial operational processing workload alongside process ownership and improvement responsibilities.

For more information, please contact Mandi Cakwe.

If you are interested in applying to this exciting opportunity, then please click ‘Apply’ or to speak to one of our specialists visit the ‘Contact Us’ page.

R&D Partners is a leading life sciences recruiter focused on finding exceptional people and matching them with the finest positions across the globe. R&D Partners is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.

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