HR Manager

The successful candidate will:

• Build trusted relationships with department leaders across production teams
• Establish themselves as the primary point of contact for HR matters across the London office.
• Ensure the HR function operates efficiently, professionally and delivers a best-in-class employee experience.
• Develop a strong understanding of the production business, workflows, client demands and resourcing challenges to provide commercially relevant HR support.

Responsibilities

• Contribute to the development and implementation of the annual HR strategy, aligning people initiatives with business and production objectives.
• Introduce new ideas and best practices that enhance the employee experience and strengthen organisational effectiveness.
• Review, develop and maintain HR policies and processes, ensuring legal compliance while reflecting the realities of a fast-paced production environment.
• Oversee the entire employee lifecycle, including onboarding, development, performance management, promotion and offboarding.
• Drive employee engagement initiatives that foster collaboration, creativity, wellbeing and retention.
• Partner with senior leaders on workforce planning, resource forecasting and organisational design to ensure teams are structured effectively to meet production demands.
• Manage complex employee relations matters, providing guidance and coaching to managers while balancing employee wellbeing with commercial outcomes.
• Collaborate closely with Talent Acquisition teams to support hiring strategies across permanent recruitment
• Own local immigration processes and partner with Omnicom's central teams to ensure compliance with relevant legislation and sponsorship requirements.
• Champion diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, leveraging both agency and wider Omnicom programmes to create an inclusive and representative workforce.
• Support employee wellbeing, engagement and cultural initiatives that strengthen community and collaboration across the business.
• Remain informed of employment law updates, industry trends and evolving HR best practices, using insights to continuously improve policies and processes.
• Oversee payroll administration, ensuring accuracy, compliance and timely execution.
• Support the Head of HR’s initiatives, projects and change programmes as required.
• Contribute to ad hoc business, people or transformation projects that support the evolving needs of the agency.

Required Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in a standalone or business-partnering HR role within a creative, production, media, advertising or agency environment.
• Strong commercial understanding with the ability to balance employee needs, business priorities and operational realities.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with senior stakeholders and building trusted relationships across multiple functions.
• Ability to work independently, take ownership and drive initiatives whilst knowing when to seek guidance or escalate issues.
• Pragmatic, solutions-focused approach with strong problem-solving capability.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and best-practice HR management.
• Proven track record managing complex employee relations cases from start to resolution.
• Experience supporting high-performing, fast-paced and deadline-driven teams.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to build credibility quickly.
• High level of emotional intelligence and ability to navigate sensitive or confidential situations with professionalism and discretion.
• Experience working within a global business and supporting culturally diverse teams.
• Passion for people, culture and creating an engaging employee experience.
• Ambitious, proactive and committed to ongoing professional development within HR.
• CIPD qualified, or actively working towards qualification.
• Exceptional integrity and a thorough understanding of confidentiality as a fundamental principle of HR practice.

NOTE: this job description is not intended to be all-inclusive. Employee may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the studio.