Location
London

Hours
Full Time

Salary
Competitive salary, details available upon application

About the Role
The People Advisor at the Financial Times is a trusted partner to managers and employees, delivering expert advice across the employee lifecycle while driving continuous improvement in People Services. This role blends strong employee relations expertise with a passion for operational excellence, technology, and innovation. Working within a global People Services team, you will leverage data, digital tools, and AI-enabled solutions to simplify processes, enhance the employee experience, and support informed people decisions. The role suits an experienced HR professional who enjoys problem-solving, identifying improvement opportunities, and collaborating in a fast-paced environment. You will provide high-quality operational support and advice while actively contributing to the evolution of the People function through automation and 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 and support a broad range of employee relations matters including disciplinary, grievance, capability, performance, absence management, flexible working, and family leave. Coach managers to build confidence and capability in handling people issues effectively and consistently. Ensure policies and practices are applied fairly and in line with employment legislation. Manage probation processes and conduct consultations relating to statutory leave arrangements.

Operational Excellence & Continuous Improvement: Collaborate with People Operations, Payroll, and People Systems teams to deliver an outstanding employee and manager experience. Identify opportunities to simplify, standardise, and improve People processes. Challenge inefficient ways of working and implement scalable improvements. Contribute to global People Services standards and promote a culture of continuous improvement.

Digital, Automation & AI: Champion the use of digital tools, automation, and AI to improve People Services efficiency and effectiveness. Identify manual activities for automation and work with People Systems to implement new technologies. Use AI responsibly to enhance drafting, knowledge management, reporting, and operational effectiveness while maintaining governance and data security.

Data & Insight: Use people data and operational metrics to identify trends, risks, and opportunities. Produce insights that support business decisions and continuous improvement. Ensure accurate 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 delivery of the FT People Strategy and wider organisational priorities.

Stakeholder Management: Build trusted relationships with managers and leaders, providing balanced and commercially focused advice. Influence decision making through credible recommendations and evidence-based insight. Promote diversity, inclusion, and belonging through everyday interactions and project work.

Experience
Demonstrable experience as a People Advisor or HR Advisor in a generalist HR environment. Solid experience managing a broad range of employee relations cases from advice through resolution. Excellent understanding of UK employment legislation and its practical application in a commercial setting. 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. Experience managing projects or contributing to cross-functional change initiatives.

About you
Strong commercial judgement with confidence to influence and challenge constructively. Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to translate information into practical recommendations. Highly organised with the ability to prioritise competing demands and work effectively under pressure. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Strong relationship-building and collaborator management skills. Collaborative, adaptable, and committed to delivering an exceptional employee experience. High levels of integrity, discretion, and professionalism when handling confidential information. A proactive, curious, and continuous improvement mentality.

Qualifications
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.