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Why this job?

Over the last few years, Black Sun has invested heavily into our talent agenda, including building a highly functional HR team (or “Talent Team” as we like to call ourselves) and we are now recruiting for a driven and dynamic Head of talent/HR with a strong generalist background to take our talent activities to the next level. Reporting into the CEO, our Head of Talent/HR will work closely with the CEO to set our people strategy and ensure that all talent activities support the strategic direction of the business and drive towards attracting, developing and retaining top talent.

Our new Head of Talent/HR will need to be comfortable with a hands-on role whilst developing and, through the Talent team, driving to execution the full spectrum of ‘talent activities’. They will also need to be comfortable with and capable of challenging the organisation and coming up with new ideas along the way.

We are looking for a natural and charismatic leader, who is excited about managing, developing and mentoring the team.

We will expect you to use your creative style and innovative approach to do things differently whilst keeping our culture and values alive. It is essential that you have a strong empathy with our corporate purpose and understand and buy into our proposition, share our values… and have a great sense of humour!

Key responsibilities

Planning

• Working with the Talent team to develop annual Group Talent Plan to deliver on our talent acquisition, retention and development goals
• Inspire and lead your team to deliver on agreed actions from the Talent plan globally
• Feedback to the Board on your team’s progress and performance against the plan and talent KPIs and performance metrics
• Working with leadership on the proposition and strategy for the new Positive Change Group talent team
• Providing support and guidance to partner businesses within the Positive Change Group as needed

Talent Attraction

• Work closely with the Talent Acquisition Manager to ensure we are able to attract and hire the very best talent for Black Sun who share our values and buy into our goals, globally
• Where required, lead the sponsorship process for candidates to be hired in the UK/SG that require sponsorship. This also includes maintaining Black Sun’s sponsor management system
• Bring our EVP to life internally and externally effectively communicating our it through all channels– including the likes of Glassdoor and the Black Sun career’s site

On-boarding

• Through the Talent team, manage the whole new employee on-boarding process and oversee the Talent team in making offers, contract negotiations, paperwork and employment contracts, through to the implementation of our on-boarding and induction programmes
• Complete 1 month probation reviews with all new joiners, feeding insights back into the business and acting on any issues or concerns
• Manage the end of the probation review process with Managers/Senior Management
• Where required, take the lead on managing probation extensions, liaising with agencies on rebate extensions, or terminating employment

Performance management

• Work closely with the Talent Development Advisor to plan, develop and implement all talent development, training and career development activities across the business
• Lead the annual performance review process, having responsibility for ensuring all employee reviews are completed in a timely manner and employee goals are relevant
• Work with the Senior Management team to develop succession plans for key/top employees

Employee Engagement and Communication

• Have overall responsibility for the ongoing development of, and engagement with, “Halo” (Black Sun’s internal communications hub), ensuring fresh content and full company engagement
• Implement Black Sun’s annual communications and social programmes for the business
• Manage and evolve the range of initiatives to receive ongoing feedback from the business including our annual Employee Engagement Survey, employee catch-ups, and exit interviews, feeding all insights back into the business and taking remedial action on identified concerns or problems
• Work with the CEO and Senior Management team to implement the annual pay & promotion reviews for all employees, benchmarking salaries and benefits where required

Legal and Compliance

• Be the company’s ‘guardian’ ensuring that internal processes are fit for purpose and all activities and initiatives within the business are in line with legal and best practices
• Have overall responsibility for ensuring employee records are maintained at all times. This includes maintaining Black Sun’s HRIS, BambooHR
• Maintain key internal documents to ensure legal compliance such as the Employee Handbook, templates and employment contracts
• Where required, work with the Senior Management team and other external partners/ organisations on employee relations matters ensuring that all actions taken by Black Sun remain legally compliant and safeguard the business
• Work with the Finance team to implement the monthly payroll

House

• Overall responsibility for the upkeep and management of our “home”, overseeing the Office Management Team ensures we provide a great environment for our employees and ensuring a well-functioning and well-stocked office

Team management

• Manage the team on a day to day basis ensuring the team remains well tasked and highly motivated and proactively address and manage all team issues and concerns
• Have overall responsibility for the management, development, retention and motivation of the Talent team
• Lead annual performance reviews for all team members ensuring the team have a clear understanding of key responsibilities, upcoming projects, their objectives and KPIs as well as SMART goals
  • Act as a mentor to your team, demonstrating strong leadership qualities

Come join us!

Black Sun Global

Across the globe, there is a powerful movement demanding that business focus on purpose, sustainability, and wider value creation. It has never been more important for organisations to build and maintain trust with their key audiences. And that’s where Black Sun come in – we are a partner to some of the biggest brands and businesses worldwide – helping them to build enduring relationships with their stakeholders and spark positive change through better engagement and inspiring communications.

As our world rapidly changes, our focus remains constant. At heart we are storytellers, we define articulate and shape the value creation story, bringing it to life across different channels and communications formats. Our team is made up of over 150 talented specialists working across the UK, Europe, South Africa and Asia – analytical thinkers, renaissance creatives, digital mavericks and inspiring change makers!

For more than twenty years, we have won many awards and recognition for our work – but great work doesn’t happen by magic – join Black Sun and you will become part of an amazing, diverse, and inclusive community – a team of passionate and skilful people who will expand your horizon, energise your talents and ignite that spark of magic within you.

Beyond what you would expect; a competitive salary, great benefits and hybrid working – we will support you in developing the skills and expertise to fast track your career. You will have the opportunity to make a difference every day, shaping the future of communications and creating positive change – and most importantly, to have fun along the way.

The Positive Change Group

Black Sun is the founding agency at the centre of The Positive Change Group. The Positive Change Group is a truly international stakeholder advisory and engagement collective of like-minded specialist agencies with a shared ambition to help bold and visionary businesses Spark Positive Change – to make a deeper impact on society, shape more ethical practices, build inclusive communities and deliver more sustainable performance.

The Group currently consists of four pre-eminent agencies: Black Sun Global, People-Made, Stratton Craig and GoCo. Each agency brings together deep expertise on different aspects of stakeholder advisory and engagement – including brand culture, strategic communications, reporting, ESG advisory, analytics and creative storytelling. Current clients within the Group include major international firms, such as AstraZeneca, Burberry, Diageo, Meta, Olam, Virgin Atlantic and Vodafone.

With headquarters in London, Singapore, and offices worldwide, the group is transforming the way companies engage with their customers, employees, investors, and communities worldwide. As business increasingly recognises that long-term success is dependent on the support and advocacy of their stakeholders – the Positive Change Group is helping their clients to inspire trust, build more.

Reporting Relationships

Reporting to: Group CEO

Work closely with: the broader Senior Management team in London and Singapore, work with all of the Managers throughout the business and build great relationships with staff

Manage a team consisting of: Talent Development Consultant, Recruitment & Talent Manager, Talent Administrator and Front of House Manager

Qualifications & experience:

• Ideally hold a HR qualification, including CIPD certification or equivalent
• Must have approximately 8 years of experience working in a similar role with responsibility for the operational and strategic implementation of a broad range of HR activities on a global scale
• Must be highly skilled and comfortable with all aspects of generalist HR including employee relations, learning and development, talent development, talent engagement, compensation and benefits and recruitment
• Must have experience working with, maintaining and developing HRIS

Your personal qualities & skills:

• Strong interpersonal and communications skills necessary to build trust and respect both externally and internally
• Must possess strong influencing skills and be confident in the calibre of advice you give to senior managers
• High-quality service ethic and committed to customer service excellence
• Must be a proactive, creative individual who is results-driven and confident in their ability to build trust and respect with colleagues
• Ability to manage many urgent and often conflicting priorities
• Strong ‘can do’ attitude with an innate ability to take initiative and work by yourself as well as in a team
• Flexibility and team focussed, non-hierarchical approach with a ‘roll up your sleeves’ attitude to getting the job done
• A great sense of humour and fun!

Interview process

Complete application form, initial chat with Talent Acquisition Manager
1st Interview (teams) with current Head of Talent
2nd interview (f2f) with Directors and CEO

Benefits
In addition to a competitive salary based on skills and experience, as an employee at Black Sun, you will have access to a range of great benefits and perks, including:

25 days holiday per year with ‘bonus’ days for long service
Bonus scheme
Personal development opportunities
Group life assurance
Group personal pension plan
Employee assistance programme
Hybrid working
Employees will have the option to work remotely somewhere other than home for a maximum of 4 weeks per calendar year

We see this role as starting a successful career, not just a job. Attracting and retaining the right people for our team is an absolute priority for us and we take their career development seriously from day one. You will have access to a full programme of training and plenty of autonomy to develop new skills and contribute ideas. We take every aspect of the work we deliver for clients seriously and we work to maintain the highest possible standards in everything we do for them and for the firm. But as well as being passionate about our work, we are supportive, collaborative and positive, always looking to make what we do enjoyable and rewarding.

By joining us you will be working on a hybrid model and have a wonderful opportunity to explore our picturesque offices in Bishops Park, Putney bridge.

Here at Black Sun, we pride ourselves on being committed to offering equal opportunities to all potential employees and have zero tolerance for discrimination. We foster a business culture where ideas and decisions from all people help us grow, innovate, create the best work and be relevant in a rapidly changing world