People Advisor

The Financial Times is one of the world’s leading news organisations, globally recognised for its authority, integrity and accuracy, with a mission to deliver quality information and services worldwide.

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Build a newsworthy career at the FT.

We believe in the power of unique perspectives and want all voices in our organisation to be heard, respected and valued. A supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves and operate to their full potential. We are committed to removing barriers for everyone, with a focus on addressing those faced by underrepresented groups.

The People Services Advisor is a trusted partner to managers and employees, providing generalist People advice across the employee lifecycle, with a particular focus on employee relations casework while helping to continuously improve the way People Services operates.

This role combines strong hands-on employee relations experience with broad generalist People knowledge and an interest in operational excellence, technology and innovation. You’ll have experience leading a range of employee relations casework from start to finish, including informal and formal performance improvement, sickness absence, and family-friendly matters. You’ll also have experience supporting, or a good working knowledge of, more complex employee relations matters, such as disciplinary and grievance processes. Working as part of the Global People Services team, the People Services Advisor will also use data, digital tools and AI-enabled solutions to simplify processes, improve the employee experience and support managers to make informed people decisions.

The role is suited to an experienced HR professional who enjoys solving problems, finding opportunities for improvement and working in a collaborative, fast-paced environment. Alongside employee relations casework and broader day-to-day People support, the successful candidate will have opportunities to contribute to continuous improvement, automation and more scalable ways of working.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations & People Advice

• Provide pragmatic, commercially focused advice and guidance to managers and employees across the full employee lifecycle.
• Lead a broad range of day-to-day employee relations casework from start to finish, including informal and formal performance improvement, sickness absence, flexible working and family-friendly matters, alongside other lower-level casework.
• Support more complex employee relations matters, including disciplinary and grievance processes, working alongside other members of the People team as appropriate.
• Coach and support managers to build confidence and capability in handling people issues effectively and consistently.
• Ensure People policies and practices are applied fairly, consistently and in line with current employment legislation.
• Manage probation processes, ensuring managers and employees receive timely guidance and support.
• Conduct consultations relating to parental leave, adoption, shared parental leave and other statutory leave arrangements.
  

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement

• Support a positive employee and manager experience by working collaboratively with People Operations, Payroll and People Systems teams.
• Find opportunities to simplify, standardise and improve People processes across the employee lifecycle.
• Identify and contribute to practical improvements that simplify ways of working.
• Contribute to the development of global People Services standards, ensuring consistency, quality and compliance.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, encouraging innovation and sharing ideas, feedback and good practice.
  

Digital, Automation & AI

• Make effective use of digital tools, automation and AI to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of People Services.
• Identify repetitive or manual activities that could be streamlined through digital tools, automation, AI or self-service.
• Work with the People Systems team to test and embed new tools and process improvements.
• Use AI responsibly to enhance drafting, knowledge management, reporting and operational effectiveness while maintaining appropriate governance, confidentiality and data security.
• Stay informed about emerging HR technologies and share ideas that could improve how the People team works.
  

Data & Insight

• Use relevant data and insights to support advice to managers, People decisions and continuous improvement.
• Identify themes from casework and employee feedback that could inform improvements to People practices and the employee experience.
• Produce meaningful insights that support informed business decisions and continuous improvement.
• Work with the People Systems team to ensure accurate and useful management information is available to support decision making.
  

Projects & Change

• Lead or contribute to global People initiatives including organisational change, reward, benefits, wellbeing, policy development, process redesign and HR technology projects.
• Support organisational change activity, including restructures, working alongside other members of the People team as appropriate
• Support the delivery of the FT People Strategy and wider organisational priorities.
• Develop and manage project plans, engaging partners and ensuring successful delivery against agreed turning points.
• Build solid relationships across the business, developing a detailed understanding of operational challenges and finding opportunities to improve the employee experience.
  

Stakeholder Management

• Build trusted relationships with managers and leaders across the business, providing balanced and commercially focused advice.
• Influence decision making through credible recommendations, sound judgement and evidence-based insight.
• Work collaboratively with colleagues across the global People team to deliver an integrated and consistent service.
• Promote diversity, inclusion and belonging through everyday interactions, advice and project work.
• Build managers’ confidence in handling day-to-day people matters, while recognising when additional support or expertise is needed.
  

Person Specification

Essential

• Demonstrable experience operating as a People Advisor, HR Advisor or similar generalist People role.
  
• Demonstrable experience leading a broad range of day-to-day employee relations cases from initial advice through to resolution, including informal and formal performance improvement, sickness absence and family-friendly matters.

• Experience supporting, or a good working knowledge of, more complex employee relations matters, such as disciplinary and grievance processes.
  
• Excellent understanding of UK employment legislation and its practical application within a commercial organisation.
  
• Strong commercial judgement with the confidence to influence and challenge constructively.
  
• Experience identifying and implementing process improvements within HR or People Services.
  
• Strong digital capability with confidence using HR technology, AI tools and data to improve outcomes.
  
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate information into practical recommendations.
  
• Experience managing projects or contributing to cross-functional change initiatives.
  

Desirable

• CIPD Level 5 or Level 7 qualification (or equivalent experience).
  
• Experience working within a global or multinational organisation.
  
• Experience using Workday or another enterprise HRIS.
  
• Experience supporting HR technology implementations or process automation initiatives.
  
• Familiarity with AI-enabled workplace technologies and their practical application within HR.
  
• Experience analysing HR metrics and using data to influence decisions.
  

Our benefits vary by location, but we are committed to providing best-in-class perks across all our offices. These include generous annual leave, medical cover, inclusive parental leave packages, subsidised gym memberships and opportunities to give back to the community. Full details of our benefits are available here.

We’ve embraced a 50% hybrid working model, averaging two to three days onsite, that fosters trust and remote adaptability while encouraging in-person camaraderie and peer learning. Additionally, we are open to accommodating specific flexible working pattern requests for all roles where feasible.

We are a Disability Confident employer and Valuable 500 signatory.

Please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments or personalisation as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements or have any questions, email [email protected] and a member of our team will be happy to help.

At the FT, we embrace innovation and the use of technology and appreciate that individuals may harness AI tools as part of their job application process. While we are happy for you to use AI to assist with your application, it is essential that all information provided is authentic and accurately represents your skills, experience and qualifications.

Candidates should be aware that the use of AI throughout the application process may be monitored to ensure a fair and transparent hiring process for all.

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