People Partner

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 & 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.