HOURGLASS COSMETICS — Talent Acquisition & People Partner – UKI & EMEA
Connected by creativity and driven by purpose. Hourglass Cosmetics is a vegan and cruelty-free beauty brand, redefining luxury cosmetics with high-performance products, innovative formulas, and award-winning franchises. Recognized by Forbes, Fast Company and Time Magazine as one of the most inventive beauty companies, Hourglass leads the industry with its breakthrough products and its commitment to animal welfare. Founded in 2004, Hourglass is globally available in 32 markets and over 4,600 doors including Sephora, Ulta, Neiman Marcus, Selfridges, Space NK and more. Hourglass became part of the Unilever Prestige division in 2017. Discover more about the Hourglass brand story and mission on our website hourglasscosmetics.com.
We are seeking a proactive, commercially minded Talent Acquisition & People Partner to support our growing business across the UK, Ireland and EMEA.
This broad, hands-on role leads end-to-end recruitment across Retail and Corporate functions. Partnering closely with hiring managers, you will identify, attract and secure exceptional talent while continuously improving our recruitment approach and employer brand. As part of a lean, collaborative HR team, you will also contribute to broader people initiatives, including employee relations, performance management and annual people processes.
WHAT YOU DO:
Talent Acquisition & Recruitment
- Manage end-to-end recruitment across UKI & EMEA, supporting both Retail and Corporate vacancies across a variety of levels and functions.
- Take ownership of the full recruitment lifecycle, including role briefing, advertising, proactive sourcing, screening, interviewing, offer management and candidate communication.
- Develop creative and proactive sourcing strategies to build strong talent pipelines, reducing reliance on recruitment agencies wherever possible.
- Coach and support hiring managers on recruitment best practice, including interviewing techniques, candidate assessment, selection and effective decision-making.
- Track recruitment activity and key metrics, using data to identify trends and opportunities to improve our approach.
- Gather candidate, employee and hiring manager feedback, as well as keeping up to date with emerging recruitment, benefits and workplace trends across the beauty, luxury and retail sectors to understand what attracts talent to the business.
People Partnership & HR Projects
- Support the wider HR team with employee relations matters where required, including performance, capability, conduct and absence management.
- Provide guidance to managers on day-to-day people matters, escalating more complex cases where appropriate.
- Support with learning and development initiatives, partnering with the Sr. HR Manager to build an engaging L&D strategy.
- Support regional HR projects and initiatives based on changing business priorities.
- Work collaboratively across the HR team, providing additional support during busy periods and taking ownership of ad hoc projects where required.
YOU’LL LOVE THIS JOB IF:
- You are CREATIVE: You are innovative and forward-thinking in your approach and mindset.
- You are highly STRATEGIC: You are able to develop creative concepts and vision that support brand and business goals.
- You are extremely ORGANIZED: You are not overwhelmed by the thought of tackling multiple tasks at a time.
- You are DETAIL ORIENTED: You appreciate the importance of having detailed and precise information.
- You are a strong COMMUNICATOR: You are a people person, natural leader and collaborate well with others.
- You are AGILE: You adapt well to changing needs and priorities and are able to pivot easily to achieve goals and deadlines.
- You are PASSIONATE about beauty: You are eager to learn and absorb all things related to beauty, brand and creative strategy.
QUALIFICATIONS:
- Minimum 5 years experience in Talent Acquisition, Recruitment or a broad HR role with significant recruitment responsibility.
- Proven ability to manage end-to-end recruitment across diverse functions and seniority levels.
- Experience in beauty, luxury, retail, fashion or a similar fast-paced consumer industry is preferred.
- Confident in partnering with and influencing hiring managers, constructively challenging decisions and coaching on recruitment best practices.
- Sound knowledge of compensation, benefits and market benchmarking, with an interest in building further expertise.
- Exposure to broader HR activities, such as employee relations, performance management or HR projects, is advantageous.
- Strong organisational skills and the ability to manage multiple vacancies, stakeholders and projects simultaneously.
- A collaborative, solutions-focused approach and willingness to support the broader HR agenda.
- Must be able to work from the London Office at least 60% of the time.
