About the Role
We are looking for an experienced and adaptable People Partner to own the People partnership for designated business functions while playing a key role across UK/RoW and global People priorities. Working closely with senior leaders, you’ll translate business priorities into practical solutions across workforce planning, organisational change, talent, performance, employee relations and organisational effectiveness. You’ll operate with a high degree of autonomy and ownership, using commercial judgement, data and insight to influence decisions and proactively identify challenges. You’ll also work closely with the Senior Director, People as a key partner across the UK/RoW agenda, taking ownership of strategic, cross-functional and global People initiatives.
Responsibilities
- Own the People partnership for designated business functions, building trusted relationships with leaders and translating business priorities into practical people and workforce plans.
- Provide commercially focused advice and constructive challenge across organisational effectiveness, workforce planning, team structures, capability requirements and ways of working.
- Partner with leaders on workforce and headcount planning, identifying future skills, capability and resource requirements and ensuring people needs are appropriately reflected in broader business and financial planning.
- Support organisational design and change, including restructures, role changes, evolving operating models and employee consultation processes, ensuring appropriate, fair and compliant outcomes.
- Identify workforce, capability and retention risks and partner with leaders to develop practical mitigation and succession plans.
- Partner with managers throughout the full performance lifecycle, including goal setting, ongoing feedback, annual reviews, calibration, development planning and performance improvement.
- Facilitate talent and succession planning, supporting leaders to identify critical roles, high-potential talent, capability gaps, succession risks and development priorities.
- Partner with leaders to identify career and development opportunities and support the evolution of career frameworks, job levelling and approaches that strengthen organisational capability and employee growth.
- Work with People colleagues and subject-matter experts to identify learning and development needs and translate these into initiatives that address business, leadership and capability priorities.
- Independently manage employee relations matters, providing pragmatic advice across performance, conduct, absence, grievance, disciplinary and capability matters.
- Use people data, employee feedback and organisational insight to identify trends, risks and opportunities and make clear, evidence-based recommendations to leaders.
- Partner with leaders to strengthen employee engagement and culture, supporting inclusive, accountable and high-performing teams.
- Lead People projects from concept through to implementation and collaborate with People colleagues across regions on UK/RoW and global initiatives.
- Contribute to the continuous improvement of People processes, ways of working and the overall employee experience.
- Mentor junior colleagues to support their growth and development.
Requirements
- Experience operating as an HR Business Partner or in a comparable generalist People role within a complex, fast-paced organisation.
- Experience partnering with senior stakeholders, building credible relationships and providing constructive challenges and commercially focused advice.
- Strong generalist HR knowledge across the employee lifecycle, including employee relations, performance management, talent and succession, workforce planning and organisational change.
- Sound knowledge of employment law, with the ability to translate legal and policy requirements into pragmatic business solutions.
- Experience supporting workforce planning, organisational design, restructures and change programmes, including employee consultation where appropriate.
- Experience partnering with leaders on performance, talent, succession and capability planning.
- Strong analytical skills and experience using people data and organisational insight to influence decisions and identify workforce risks.
- Experience leading People projects from concept through to implementation and adoption.
- Strong communication and influencing skills, with the confidence to appropriately challenge senior stakeholders and navigate differing perspectives.
- A proactive, solutions-focused approach with strong accountability, sound judgement and the ability to operate independently while knowing when to seek input or escalate.
- A clear and proactive communication style, keeping stakeholders informed, sharing relevant context and ensuring there are no surprises.
- Resilience and the ability to remain pragmatic and effective when managing complex or challenging People matters.
- Comfort operating through ambiguity and change, adapting quickly as priorities evolve.
- A collaborative, curious and empathetic approach to problem-solving, with the commercial judgement to balance employee experience, business priorities and organisational risk.
- Experience supporting compensation reviews, engagement surveys, career frameworks, job levelling, succession planning or learning and development initiatives.
- Experience with headcount, workforce and financial resource planning.
- Experience supporting operating model or organisational design changes.
- Experience working across global or multi-jurisdictional People environments.
- Experience within Technology, Music Technology, Music/Entertainment or Gaming.
Skills
- Workforce planning
- Organisational change
- Talent management
- Performance management
- Employee relations
- Organisational effectiveness
- Commercial judgement
- Data analysis
- Insight generation
- Stakeholder management
- Employment law
- Organisational design
- Succession planning
- Employee engagement
- Communication
- Influencing
- Problem-solving
- Compensation reviews
- Engagement surveys
- Career frameworks
- Job levelling
- Learning and development
- Headcount planning
- Financial resource planning
- Operating model design
Location
- London, United Kingdom
Work Type
- Hybrid Working: 3 days in your local office
- Full-time
- Permanent
Experience Level
- Experienced
About the Company
- At Kobalt, we’ve championed creators since 2000. Our technology and music services are built to make the industry more transparent, fair, and rewarding for artists, songwriters, and rights holders. We’re proud to work with some of the world’s most influential talents including Phoebe Bridgers, Sam Fender, Paul McCartney, Foo Fighters, Karol G, Young Thug, Kali Uchis, and Andrew Watt as well as acclaimed writers like Simon Aldred (Rag’n’Bone Man, Liam Gallagher, Celeste) and Clarence Coffee Jr. (Dua Lipa, Lizzo, The Snuts). We’re a company that thrives on creativity, collaboration, and progress. Our values: Music First, Transparent, Tech Powered, and Transformative shape how we work, build, and grow together. We are a community of people who care deeply about making a meaningful impact in music and technology.
Equal Opportunity
- Kobalt is an equal opportunity employer encouraging diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, national origin, gender, age, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or any other status or characteristic protected by law.
