Senior People Partner
Telana · Preston
Who are we?
Telana are experts in applied innovation, focused on delivering business outcomes through AI, data, software development, and cloud engineering expertise. We leverage our problem solving skills and end-to-end capabilities to help our clients create better solutions for their customers and employees.
As a top-tier partner of Google Cloud and Microsoft, the market leaders for AI, Data, and Cloud, we work with some of the world’s biggest brands and government organisations to help them solve their toughest business and operational challenges; whether that’s attracting new customers, driving operational efficiency, or improving reducing risk.
We have received impressive external recognition for its innovative offerings, best-in-class capabilities, and tangible impact for customers across various industries: Telana is recognized as a Leader for Data, Analytics, and Machine Learning in the ISG Provider™ Lens for Google Cloud Partner Ecosystem in 2024, and a Rising Star in 2022 and 2023. We are an accredited Azure Expert MSP provider, and have also been awarded Google Cloud’s 2024 EMEA Public Sector Partner of the Year award.
What will your role be?
As a Senior People Partner reporting to the Chief People & Operations Officer, you will join our People & Operations team to oversee and promote the employee experience and lifecycle at Telana, from initial candidate engagement through to offboarding.
Your primary impact will be realised through enabling our existing and upcoming leaders and managers at Telana. You will act as a trusted advisor and coach, developing impactful training programs, and providing guidance on employee matters. You will serve as a reliable, empathetic point of contact for everyone at Telana, playing a critical role in shaping our employee experience as we scale.
What will you be doing?
You will manage the end-to-end employee lifecycle, focusing heavily on the growth and development of our people at Telana.
Attract
- Hiring: Collaborate with hiring managers on role scoping and interview design to ensure a fair, structured selection process.
- Candidate Experience: Ensure an inclusive, welcoming, and transparent candidate journey from first contact to contract signing.
- Employer Brand: Partner with Marketing to authentically showcase Telana's culture through employee stories, targeted content, and events.
- Onboarding: Facilitate a seamless onboarding experience and support managers through the probationary period to ensure new hires integrate successfully.
Engage
- Employee Voice: Lead engagement surveys and employee feedback. Propose improvements and act on them. Guide team leads in translating results into actionable improvements.
- Inclusion & Belonging: Embed inclusive practices into our hiring, promotion, and daily management processes, while actively supporting our employee networks.
- Values & Recognition: Champion Telana's values by embedding them into our employee lifecycle.
- Reward & Benefits: Manage the annual pay review and benefits offerings, utilising market data to ensure our compensation remains fair and competitive.
Develop
- Manager Coaching: Provide 1:1 coaching to managers on performance management, constructive feedback, and team dynamics to build leadership confidence.
- Leadership Development: Enhance our leaders' people management skills through specialised briefings, clinics, and targeted coaching.
- Training: Design, deliver, and evaluate core people-skills training, including manager development programs, inclusive leadership, and wellbeing initiatives.
- Performance Management: Oversee our feedback and review cycles, assisting managers in setting clear objectives and delivering continuous feedback.
- Career Progression: Maintain our career framework and equip managers to facilitate meaningful career development conversations.
- Talent & Succession: Collaborate with leadership to identify high-potential talent and proactively plan for future organizational needs.
Retain
- Business Partnering: Act as a trusted advisor to leaders, integrating the "people perspective" into business decisions and translating strategy into action.
- Employee Relations: Proactively address complex working relationships by stepping in early, offering mediation, and facilitating trust-building.
- Sensitive Situations: Provide fair, consistent, and empathetic support to employees and managers.
- Change Management: Guide leaders and teams through organisational change via clear communication and well-prepared processes.
- Offboarding: Conduct insightful exit interviews, analyse turnover drivers, and implement changes that improve employee retention.
Policies, Systems, & Compliance
- Policies: Ensure all HR and people related policies and contracts remain clear, compliant, and up-to-date.
- Systems hygiene: Keep our HR systems, employee data, and records accurate, organised, and up to date. Ensure employment contracts, compliance checks, and audit requirements are handled cleanly so we are always audit-ready.
- AI & Automation: Integrate AI into how you work every day, stripping out manual effort so you can focus on complex, high-value activities. Bring an inquisitive, builder mindset to the team and partner with colleagues as needed to design and build smarter, automated workflows.
- Support: Manage the People workspace in Freshservice to provide swift, helpful resolutions to employee enquiries.
- Compliance & Audits: Ensure all personnel records (e.g., right to work, screening, training completion) are strictly maintained and ready for our audits.
This may be you
You have experience spanning strategic business partnering and talent development, ideally within professional services or the tech sector. You are as comfortable advising senior leaders as you are designing and delivering development workshops, training managers and providing 1:1 coaching.
- Empathetic & Proactive: You are passionate about professional growth and understand that early, transparent communication prevents most issues.
- Coaching Mindset: You empower managers rather than taking over their challenges, guiding them to develop their own conflict-resolution and leadership capabilities.
- Conflict Resolution Skills: You excel at finding common ground and rebuilding trust during strained interactions. You are an accredited workplace mediator, or eager to earn this qualification with our support.
- Fair & Compliant: You possess a strong grasp of employment law and HR best practices, ensuring all employees are treated with fairness, consistency, and care.
- L&D Focus: You enjoy designing and facilitating impactful workshops and are driven by measurable improvements in how people work.
- Organised & thorough: You care about clean systems and accurate data. You keep documentation in order and you have a sharp eye for detail.
- Adaptable & resilient: You are comfortable operating without a rigid playbook. You handle shifting internal priorities and challenges with composure, adapting to the situation rather than forcing a one size fits all process.
- Pragmatic & AI-fluent: You favour sensible solutions over unnecessary bureaucracy, using AI and data daily to streamline processes and solve problems faster without cutting corners. You are innately curious, keen to experiment with better ways of working, and quick to collaborate with peers to build smarter workflows.
- CIPD: Level 5 is required.
There are many roads leading up to being a Senior People Partner. Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Have an untraditional background? Our team is already a mix of self-taught and formally educated people. Don't self-select out!
What we offer you
- You will be a part of a skilled, inspiring, and supportive team, and work in an environment that encourages long term personal growth.
- Flexible, and trust-based work environment with a healthy work life balance.
- Our people come first. That's why you'll have access to private medical insurance, employee assistance programmes, group life assurance, income protection and access to a market leading benefits platform.
- Learning & development. We will support you in your growth journey and cover the costs of your role-based certifications.
- We have first hand experience that diversity encourages creativity and innovation and makes us better placed to understand a wider range of customers' needs. This means that whatever your background, you won't find a more welcoming place to work.
- We have family friendly policies and encourage a work-life balance, including flexible working options in roles which permit it.