Howden
HR Assistant

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Who are we?
Howden is a global insurance group with employee ownership at its heart. Together, we have pushed the boundaries of insurance. We are united by a shared passion and no-limits mindset, and our strength lies in our ability to collaborate as a powerful international team comprised of 24,000 employees spanning over 56 countries.
People join Howden for many different reasons, but they stay for the same one: our culture. It’s what sets us apart, and the reason our employees have been turning down headhunters for years. Whatever your priorities – work / life balance, career progression, sustainability, volunteering – you’ll find like-minded people driving change at Howden.
Here at Howden Group Holdings, we are transforming the way we deliver HR services to our business and this is an exciting time to join our evolving HR function as we look to drive commercially aligned and strategic HR support to our stakeholders. This is an exciting opportunity to deliver first class HR Services support to our UK businesses, providing first line HR support to a fast-growing and transformational business.
What you'll be doing
Provide a client focused HR service across the employee lifecycle, delivering a great experience to our people.
- Working as an advocate and expert on Workday HR, guiding and supporting people, whilst promoting self service capability.
- Responsible for follow up actions and ongoing enquiries, ensuring processes are completed to a high standard and in time for payroll cut off.
- Works closely with colleagues within HRES to drive consistency across the business, improve processes and gain efficiencies.
- Works with the Recruitment team to ensure the applicant through to new starter process is managed efficiently and provides a great candidate experience.
- Working collaboratively with the group HR centres of excellences, HRBP, reward, change, payroll, learning and HRIS teams.
- Validates data, ensures job details are correct, such as roles, teams and cost centres.
- Make appropriate decisions and use own judgement on work prioritisation ensuring expectations on service delivery can be met.
- Works within GDPR guidelines, managing people data requests and the confidentiality of data.
- Contributes to wider projects and initiatives within HR, driving process improvements, automation and efficiencies.
- Ensures cases and requests are completely correctly and in time for payroll.
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
What are we looking for?
- Delivery focused and able to demonstrate putting client experience first.
- Self-motivated with a positive attitude.
- Strong relationship building and influencing skills.
- Works well under pressure to meet deadlines whilst managing conflicting demands.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Team player with the ability to learn quickly.
- Workday and HR Shared Services experience desirable.
- Ability to work well independently with confidence.
- Strong organisational, communication and interpersonal skills.
- Problem solver with resilience, initiative and ability to challenge the status quo.
- Smart pragmatic and positive approach, able to build trust and offer proactive solutions.
- Workday and HR Shared Services experience desirable.


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What do we offer in return?
A career that you define. At Howden, we value diversity – there is no one Howden type. Instead, we’re looking for individuals who share the same values as us:
- Our successes have all come from someone brave enough to try something new
- We support each other in the small everyday moments and the bigger challenges
- We are determined to make a positive difference at work and beyond
Reasonable adjustments
We're committed to providing reasonable accommodations at Howden to ensure that our positions align well with your needs. Besides the usual adjustments such as software, IT, and office setups, we can also accommodate other changes such as flexible hours* or hybrid working*.
If you're excited by this role but have some doubts about whether it’s the right fit for you, send us your application – if your profile fits the role’s criteria, we will be in touch to assist in helping to get you set up with any reasonable adjustments you may require.
*Not all positions can accommodate changes to working hours or locations. Reach out to your Recruitment Partner if you want to know more.
Permanent
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