Junior Talent Operations Advisor

About Us

IPG Mediabrands is the media and marketing solutions division of Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG). Mediabrands manages approximately $40 billion in marketing investment globally on behalf of its clients and provides strategic services and solutions across its award-winning, full-service agency networks UM and Initiative and through its innovative marketing specialist companies Kinesso, Magna, Orion, Rapport, Healix, Mediabrands Content Studio and the IPG Media Lab. Mediabrands clients include many of the world’s most recognizable and iconic brands from a broad portfolio of industry sectors. The company employs more than 13,000 marketing experts in more than 130 countries representing the full diversity of humanity. For more information, please visit our website: www.ipgmediabrands.com.

Role Description

We are looking for a Junior Talent Operations Advisor with superb administrative skills and a passion for HR to join our Talent Operations team. The wider Talent Operations team has two sub-teams; Payroll and Operations, which is made up of two Talent Operations Assistants, Talent Operations Administrator, Reward Manager, reporting into the Talent Operations Director.

The Talent Operations team are responsible for all Talent operations and are critical to the evolution of our Talent model, as we look to streamline and automate the way we work. The focus of the team is to create a great people experience for employees as well as support the generalist team.

About You

You will understand the importance of confidentiality and discretion, have a service-minded approach and be happy working in a matrix structure as you will be providing administrative support for several different agencies.

We work in an industry where things are continually changing and evolving so you will need to be flexible and adaptable. Working in a team where Business Partners, Talent Development, Payroll and Reward, Talent Acquisition and DEI all sit and work closely together, this is a fantastic opportunity for someone interested in refining their administration skills in the Talent space.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership

• Supporting and guiding more junior team members
• Proactively seeking out solutions and suggesting process improvements
• Providing ad hoc advisory support to the Talent Partnering team as needed
• Providing additional support to the Employee Relations team as needed
• Supporting the Reward Manager and Talent Operations Director with ad hoc projects

Starter & Leaver Administration

• Facilitate creation of offers letters of employment and contract paperwork for Talent Business Partners
• Check employees’ right to work before first day and save relevant documentation
• Administer employee references via HireRight, check and report irregularities, download and save report to relevant file
• Draft and send probation confirmation emails/letters
• Draft relevant letters confirming leaver details
• Liaise with IT and Facilities to ensure starters and leavers equipment is issued and returned
• Manage personnel files, taking note of retention periods
• Review new starter onboarding forms verifying accurate completion
• Maintain the Talent Starters and Leavers spreadsheet, ensuring it is always up to date (starters, leavers, fixed term contractors, maternity/paternity, etc). Send weekly Starters and Leavers to relevant groups

HR Systems Administration & Reporting

• Main contact for employee Workday queries
• Carry out all HR Partner actions in Workday such as position management, pay and reporting line changes
• Reporting from Workday to collate and provide employee data for census and diversity surveys
• Support administration of performance management system, runs reports when needed
• Assist with the preparation of data for IPG and external HR Audits

Immigration Administration

• Keep accurate records on employees’ right to work for immigration purposes, including keeping the HR Immigration spreadsheet up to date
• Assist Talent Advisors with checking and monitoring visas during immigration audit

Payroll & Benefits

• Monthly payroll processing; submitting payroll changes in Workday and via ADP spreadsheet, raising tickets with IPG Shared Services Payroll team, ensuring approvals are received by the payroll trial deadlines and working closely with IPG Shared Services and Talent Partners to ensure issues and corrections are resolved
• Supporting and guiding more junior team members
• Good knowledge of our company benefits to advise employees. Working with Benefits Helpdesk and Reward Manager to resolve queries
• Running payroll variance reports and updating to capture reasons for the variances, escalating any errors to Reward Manager

General Administration

• Manage the AskTalent mailbox, responding to general HR queries within the designated timeframe, including reference requests (employment references, letting agent and bank references), letters for visa applications and business invitation letters for foreign travel
• Update Employee Handbooks, including part time employee bank holiday entitlements and Christmas shutdown adjustments
• Administer pay review and bonus letters

Desired Skills & Experience

• Well organised and looking to build on your existing HR experience in a role that combines strong operations delivery with early advisory responsibilities.
• Excellent attention to detail, a methodical approach to problem solving and the confidence to work with stakeholders across multiple agency groups.
• Understand how the work you produce adds value to the HR Department and the wider company and be motivated to continuously improve processes and ways of working.

Qualifications & Background

• Experience working in HR operations, HR coordination or a related administrative role (agency or corporate environment)
• Ideally working towards, or having completed, CIPD Level 3 or Level 5 (or equivalent experience)
• Solid working knowledge of Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, with strong data handling skills
• Some knowledge of Office 365 applications
• Experience delivering against SLAs or KPIs
• Familiarity with HRIS/databases and confident learning new systems quickly

Competencies

• Passionate about developing a career in HR, with an ability to articulate the value HR brings to the business
• Solutions-oriented with natural problem-solving skills and a proactive, improvement-focused mindset
• Able to provide guidance to more junior team members while taking direction from senior colleagues
• Confident interacting with people at all levels of seniority
• Exceptional attention to detail, rigour and process discipline
• Good numeracy skills and comfortable working with employee data
• High regard for confidentiality and discretion
• Flexible, adaptable and comfortable managing shifting priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Highly organised, efficient, and able to multi-task while maintaining accuracy
• Open, approachable, and collaborative in style

Employee Transparency

At IPG Mediabrands, we celebrate differences and believe this makes us stronger. IPG Mediabrands are equal-opportunity employers committed to championing an inclusive culture that provides a sense of belonging for all our employees. We do not discriminate against any applicant based on age, disability, race, colour, ethnicity, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, belief, marital status or any other characteristic protected by law.

Please reach out to our Talent Inclusion Specialist Jess at Jess.Richardson@mbww.com if you would like to have a confidential conversation regarding any adjustments that would ensure our recruitment process is accessible for you. Please note requesting a reasonable adjustment will not affect your application.

The Perks

We aim to provide all our people with a supportive and fun work environment where you can develop your full potential and benefit from the broad range of opportunities within the agency. When you join us, we want to make sure you feel valued – and that you are rewarded for your fantastic work. So, we also offer a range of benefits:

• Flexi–leave, with 25 days annual leave to be taken as minimum. In addition to your holiday entitlement, the office usually closes between Christmas & New Year
• Free breakfast and free lunch
• Early finish Fridays
• Core Hours (Mon-Thurs, flexible start/finish times)
• Retail discounts
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifices car scheme
• Wellbeing programme, including Headspace & flu jabs
• Interest free season ticket loan
• Paid time off for Volunteering
• Group Income Protection
• Life Assurance
• Private Medical Insurance or Health Cash Plan (dependent on level)
• Group Personal Pension Plan with matched contributions from 3-6%
• Generous Parental Leave & Pay
• Independent mortgage advice
• Financial education
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Free eye tests
• Flexible benefits including Dental, Travel insurance, Cycle to Work, Gym Discounts and many more!

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