Junior People Partner

Key Responsibilities

• Support Senior People Partners in delivering day-to-day employee advice across business areas.
• Help build and maintain strong relationships with managers and employees as a reliable first point of contact.
• Assist with the preparation of materials for management meetings, organisational design and workforce planning activities.
• Lead on employee relations matters with sound judgement and discretion, navigating sensitive situations with confidence and care.
• Demonstrate sound judgement in recognising when cases require senior involvement, escalating appropriately and supporting Senior People Partners on more complex or high-stakes matters.
• Ensure cases are managed in line with OakNorth policies and relevant employment law, taking accountability for compliant case management.
• Manage end-to-end case administration including note-taking, preparing documentation and tracking case progress to resolution.
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records across all ER activity, ensuring full case visibility and audit readiness.
• Act as People Partner support for managers and employees across the US employee population.
• Support leaders on employee relations matters, including performance management, investigations, disciplinary processes, terminations and organisational change.
• Provide administrative and coordination support for people processes affecting the US employee population.
• Help track and document US-specific people activity, including ER cases, onboarding and offboarding.
• Partner with external legal counsel and employment advisors to ensure compliance with US employment legislation and market practice
• Develop awareness of US employment practices and regional differences under the guidance of the team and provide guidance to managers on U.S.-specific people considerations, risk and best practice.
• Collaborate with the People Operations team to support people processes impacting US employees.
• Support the development and implementation of globally aligned people practices whilst recognising regional requirements and cultural differences.
• Contribute to People Team projects and change initiatives, providing research, coordination, documentation and delivery support leveraging AI tools to enhance efficiency and output quality.
• Support performance and talent processes across the employee lifecycle, including performance reviews, calibration prep, probation tracking and development planning, applying an AI-first mindset to streamline and improve these processes
• Assist with employee engagement initiatives, maintaining action plans to support follow-through utilising AI tools to surface insights and drive more effective outcomes..
• Help drive consistency across people processes championing the use of AI and emerging tools to improve scalability, speed and the overall employee experience.
• Support people data reporting across headcount, attrition, , ER engagement and performance, preparing summaries to support People Partner decision-making.
• Ensure people processes are completed accurately and on time, working closely with People Operations and Talent Acquisition.
• Handle general people queries, escalating to Senior People Partners where appropriate, and maintain confidentiality across all matters.

About You

• Experience in a HR role within a fast-paced, scaling or high-growth environment.
• Employee relations experience confidently managing complex and sensitive matters independently.
• Strong understanding of UK employment law and practical exposure to US employment practices and employee relations considerations.
• Experience supporting employee populations across multiple jurisdictions, ideally including both the UK and US.
• Comfortable partnering with external legal counsel and advisors where appropriate to manage risk and ensure compliance.
• Commercially minded with the ability to balance business priorities with employee experience.
• Bring a forward-thinking, AI-first mindset to all people work, actively seeking out opportunities to adopt and embed AI tools that improve how the team operates.
• Comfortable working with data and HR systems; picks up new tools quickly.
• Organised and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple tasks at once.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• A proactive, can-do approach - someone who is happy to roll up sleeves and get things done.
• Collaborative team player who builds good relationships across all levels.
• Curious and eager to learn, with a genuine interest in developing a career in People.
• Experience using HRIS platforms (HiBob experience a bonus).
• Interest or exposure to financial services, fintech or a regulated environment.
• CIPD qualified or working towards qualification (or equivalent experience) preferred.
• Proven experience redesigning HR processes and ways of working using AI tools, translating traditional people workflows into smarter, more scalable solutions.

Benefits and Perks

• 25 days holiday
• Personalized benefits – opt-in to what matters to you
• Subsidised Private Medical Insurance with Bupa
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• Wellbeing and social events
• In-house Barista Bar in London office
• Support causes that matter to you – Volunteering time off
• Salary sacrifice schemes (Cycle to work, nursery, gym, electric car scheme)

About OaKNorth

• At OakNorth, we're on a mission to empower ambitious businesses and the communities they serve. Since 2015, we've lent over $21 billion across the UK and US, helped create more than 58,000 new homes and 36,000 new jobs, and supported hundreds of thousands of personal savers — all while driving economic growth in the markets we serve.