Jobs 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.

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PRIMARY ACCOUNTABILITIES

Strategic HR Partnering:

• Build trusted partnership with agency management team; understand business strategy, challenges, and talent implications.
• Provide talent and culture insights informing business decisions (e.g., expansion plans, restructure, performance challenges, retention risk).
• Translate Collective HR strategy and policies into agency context; advocate for consistency while enabling local adaptation.
• Partner with agency leaders on talent planning, succession planning, and capability development aligned to business priorities.
• Advocate for adoption of people management fundamentals and best practices.

Day-to-Day HR Operations & Employee Relations:

• Be the first point of contact for employees on HR matters: questions, concerns, career development, benefits, policies.
• Administer People processes: onboarding, offboarding, leave management, benefits administration, contract management.
• Support people managers on employee relations matters: performance management, conduct discussions, disciplinary procedures, difficult conversations.
• Handle and escalate employee relations issues; maintain fairness, consistency, and legal compliance.
• Ensure adherence to HR policies and procedures, flag policy gaps or inconsistencies to Senior Manager.

Talent Management & Development:

• Partner with agency leaders on talent identification and high-potential development.
• Coordinate onboarding; ensure new hires integrate quickly and productively.
• Support succession planning for agency middle management roles.
• Promote learning and development opportunities to agency employees; coordinate programme enrollment with the Talent and Learning team.
• Facilitate engagement surveys and action planning; translate survey insights into local improvements.

People & Culture Operations:

• Maintain accurate HRIS data (employee records, leave, benefits, training history, performance).
• Administer compensation and benefits; respond to employee questions; ensure timely processing.
• Coordinate payroll, benefits administration, statutory requirements (POPIA, UIF, tax, BEE reporting).
• Generate local people metrics and dashboards; provide data to Senior Manager for Collective-wide analysis.
• Manage recruitment coordination with talent acquisition partners; ensure positive candidate experience.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATION

Education:

• Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, or related field (minimum).
• HR professional certification preferred (CIPD, SABPP, or similar).

Professional Experience:

• Minimum 3-5 years' HR experience, preferably in HR operations, employee relations, or HR business partnership roles.
• Experience administering HR processes (HRIS, payroll, benefits, leave).
• Experience supporting people managers and coaching on HR practices.
• Exposure to multi-location or matrix environments helpful.
• Experience in professional services, advertising, media, or creative industries preferred but not essential.

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KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES & DECISION-MAKING AUTHORITY

Talent Operations Accountability:

• Recruitment Operations & Execution: End-to-end recruitment process execution within strategic framework set by Talent Manager: job posting, candidate screening, interview coordination, offer management, onboarding. Execute recruitment according to defined timelines and quality standards. Manage candidate experience and communication.
• Recruitment Requisition Management: Manage 15-25 active recruitment requisitions across multiple agencies and levels. Track pipeline, manage hiring manager relationships, escalate delays or quality issues to Talent Manager.
• Onboarding Program Delivery: Execute onboarding for new hires: ensure paperwork completion, system access, benefit enrollment, first-week orientation. Coordinate first 90-day integration; gather feedback from new hires and hiring managers on onboarding quality.
• Talent Data & HRIS Management: Maintain accuracy of talent related HRIS data: applicant tracking, recruitment metrics, employee records as they pertain to talent module. Monthly data reconciliation and clean-up. Generate recruitment pipeline reports and hiring metrics.
• Performance Management Support: Administer performance management cycle (if applicable): scheduling, template distribution, deadline management, collation of performance data. Support managers with performance conversation guidance.
• Retention & Engagement Initiatives: Execute engagement and retention programmes designed by Talent Manager: pulse surveys, recognition programmes, engagement events, stay interviews, exit interview coordination. Identify at-risk talent and escalate to manager.
• Talent Review Facilitation: Assist with talent review sessions: coordinate scheduling, prepare materials, document succession planning decisions, maintain talent pipeline documentation.

Learning & Capability Execution Accountability:

• Learning Programme Delivery: Co-deliver or facilitate learning programmes designed by Capability Manager: leadership development workshops, skills academy courses, team training sessions. May co-facilitate or support external facilitators.
• Onboarding Learning Integration: Integrate learning elements into onboarding process: ensure new hires access foundational learning (role-specific skills, culture orientation, system training). Create tailored onboarding plans aligned to role-specific capability needs.
• Microlearning & Just-in-Time Learning: Curate and deliver bitesized learning content in response to immediate capability needs (system training, process updates, compliance training). Use learning platforms to deliver microlearning modules.
• Learning Programme Logistics & Coordination: Coordinate learning programme delivery logistics: scheduling, participant registration, venue/meeting management, materials preparation, participant communication.
• Learning Effectiveness Support: Administer learning programme evaluations (participant feedback, completion tracking). Collect learning transfer evidence (manager observations on participant application of learning). Report learning delivery metrics to Capability Manager.
• Coaching & Mentoring Support: Facilitate connections between mentors and mentees; may provide peer coaching or developmental conversations. Support coaching programme administration.
• Capability Assessment & Development Planning: Support capability assessments during onboarding or performance reviews. Help individuals identify development needs and connect to appropriate learning resources.

Cross-Functional Execution Accountability:

• Employee Experience Coordination: Coordinate with People & Culture team on engagement initiatives and culture activation activities. Help create positive employee touchpoints and communications aligned to Signature EX framework.
• Stakeholder Relationship Management: Build relationships with agency leadership, hiring managers, HR partners, employees, and external recruitment partners. Respond to inquiries; provide HR support at operational level.
• Data & Analytics Support: Compile talent and learning metrics; create reports; assist with data analysis projects commissioned by senior managers. Quality assurance of data inputs.
• Process Improvement & Documentation: Identify process inefficiencies and bottlenecks in talent and learning operations. Suggest improvements; maintain documentation of processes and procedures.

bRequired Experience:

• Minimum 3-5 years in Human Resources, Recruitment, Learning & Development, or related operational HR roles
• Demonstrated experience in recruitment coordination, onboarding, or HR administration
• Experience with HRIS systems and recruitment platforms
• (applicant tracking systems)
• Experience managing multiple concurrent projects/ requisitions with attention to quality and timelines
• South African HR context: Knowledge of South African employment law basics, recruitment regulations, compliance requirements

Preferred Experience:

• Experience in a Collective or holding company structure with multiple operating companies
• Experience with learning programme logistics or training coordination
• Experience in engagement programme execution or employee events coordination
• Advertising industry exposure (creative talent dynamics preferred but not required)
• Experience with multiple recruitment channels and recruitment technology
• Data analysis or basic analytics experience (spreadsheets, reporting)

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma/National Senior Certificate (minimum)
• Post-secondary qualification in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field strongly preferred

Preferred Qualifications:

• Diploma or degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field
• Certification in HR (e.g., SABPP HR Fundamentals) or Recruitment (e.g., Recruitment Certification)
• Certification in Learning & Development fundamentals
• Advanced Microsoft Office proficiency (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, dashboarding)