Senior Human Resources Manager -TBWA SA at TBWA\ South Africa

PRIMARY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Culture & Engagement Leadership:

• Co-Own agency culture strategy aligned to Innovation and “Inclusive by Design” mandate and DEIB imperatives; facilitate definition of "Collective culture" principles while enabling agency autonomy.
• Lead culture assessment, diagnosis, and transformation initiatives addressing identified gaps (leadership accessibility, DEI, psychological safety, innovation culture).
• Operationalize Signature EX framework; ensure consistent, differentiated experience across Collective while respecting agency distinctiveness.
• Drive the “Inclusive by Design” DEIB and EE initiatives as culture and competitive advantage differentiator; create belonging for all talent.
• Partnership with Employment Equity committees to drive development and attainment of annual numerical goals and systematically address barriers through implementation of relevant initiatives in line with 2030 objectives.
• Lead culture change communications and narrative; inspire adoption of new cultural norms and behaviours.
• Support the GHRD in building and sustaining a high-performing HR functional culture; model coaching, psychological safety, diversity.

Employee Experience & Relations:

• Partner with Senior Managers on day-to-day employee relations, ensuring consistent, fair, and supportive approach to employee issues.
• Create visibility of and ensure compliance with employee relations policies, guidelines, and processes (performance management, conduct, grievance, wellness) aligned to labour law and business needs.
• Coach People & Culture partners on difficult employee relations conversations  maintain consistency in decision-making.
• Manage escalated employee relations cases; represent HR in disciplinary/grievance proceedings as required.
• Oversee wellness and mental health initiatives; build psychological safety culture; support manager wellbeing.

Fair Compensation, Benefits & Rewards:

• Partner with the Group HRD, selected external partners and executive leadership on job OD and job evaluation required to conduct salary benchmarking, pay equity, and reward strategy.
• Lead strategic workforce planning discussions and WW Hiring approval process in collaboration with Finance leads and Payroll.
• Own compensation positioning and recommendations (market competitiveness, internal equity, talent retention risk).
• Oversee benefits administration activities in collaboration with HR Operations, to ensure proactive visibility of benefits and optimal utilisation; ensure benefits are competitive, relevant, and well-communicated.
• Collaborate with HR Operations for case management relating to Incapacity, medical boarding, and EWP referrals.
• Lead reward and recognition strategy aligned to culture and engagement drivers.
• Manage annual compensation review process in collaboration with Finance and payroll and HR; track compensation ratios and other relevant metrics.

Embedded HR Partnership Model Management:

Manage People & Culture partner role accountabilities, success measures, and partnership expectations.

• Develop and deliver People & Culture partner training and coaching; build capability for strategic partnering.
• Conduct monthly/quarterly business reviews with agency leaders and People & Culture partners on people metrics, talent status, culture health.
• Ensure consistent application of HR policies, processes, and best practices across agencies.
• Escalation point for strategic people issues; provide guidance to agency leaders on people strategies.

Strategic Contributions:

• Partner with Group HR Director on People & Culture strategy, operating model, and organisational effectiveness initiatives.
• Contribute to succession planning and leadership development for senior leadership roles.
• Represent People & Culture function in executive leadership discussions; provide talent/culture risk briefings to CEOs.
• Track and report on people-related business metrics: retention, engagement, DEI,mmanager effectiveness, culture health.
• Lead the preparation for Bi-annual Manco Talent ExCo dialogue, including but not limited to implementation of talent audits, performance and potential assessments, development and maintenance of talent slates and analysis of data with recommendations for succession planning and capability investment decisions.
• Drive the execution of all agency -related talent outcomes and actions from the Manco Talent Dialogues.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, Organisational Psychology, Business Administration, or related field (minimum).
• Advanced qualification preferred: MBA, MSc in Organisational Development, or professional HR certification (CIPD, SABPP).

Professional Experience:

• Minimum 10-12 years' HR experience, with at least 5-7 years in Human Resources Management, employee relations, or strategic HR roles.
• Demonstrated experience leading culture transformation or organisational development initiatives.
• Experience managing people and budgets (typically 3+ direct reports; budgets ZAR 1M+).
• Demonstrated expertise in employee relations, labour law compliance, and people management i.e. initiating disciplinary cases and CCMA representation for arbitrations.
• Experience in matrix or multi-location organisational environments preferred.
• Familiarity with global or multi-agency operating models preferred.
• Experience in professional services, advertising, media, or creative industries strongly preferred.