People Advisor

The Role

Based in Frankfurt, the People Advisor is a pivotal member of the People team, serving as a coach for People Coordinators and a key collaborator with People Partners to drive talent strategy across multiple Teneo Business Units. With a strong understanding of local employment legislation and company policies, the People Advisor provides guidance on performance and employment relations (ER) matters and plays a crucial role in HR initiatives.

What we are looking for: 

We’re looking for an experienced People Advisor based in Frankfurt, with travel to Berlin approximately once a quarter and 3 days per week in the office.

• Be native or business/fluent in German and English.
• Have at least 2 years’ experience already operating in a People Advisor or equivalent role.
• Ideally come from professional services, or have experience in a similarly demanding environment such as consulting, banking, or strategic communications - experience supporting different business lines would be particularly valuable.
• Have strong, practical knowledge of German employment law and HR processes, including areas such as employment requirements, performance management and employee relations.
• Have the gravitas and confidence to hold their own with senior stakeholders, with strong judgement, common sense and excellent attention to detail.
• Be calm under pressure, pragmatic and not easily flustered, with a strong benchmark for what excellent People support looks like.

Core Responsibilities

• Advise employees and managers on HR policies and processes, integrating legislative knowledge and general best practice.
• Collaborate with People Partners on cyclical initiatives such as goal setting, performance reviews, and compensation planning. Manage timelines, assist with communications, oversee completion rates, and recommend actions to ensure smooth delivery. Manage upward to People Partners regarding these initiatives, ensuring the People Partner is focused on providing strategic input and supported with practical delivery.
• Support People Partners with strategic initiatives, such as those related to engagement and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI). Manage specific projects in these areas and partner with Centres of Excellence to execute.
• Manage ER cases from start to finish, partnering with the internal ER team to ensure compliance with legislation and internal policies.
• Provide meaningful analytics to drive business improvement and seek opportunities to improve our people analytics offering.
• Lead and contribute to projects for the rollout of new initiatives or continuous improvement efforts within People Operations and other People Team Centers of Excellence.
• Conduct exit interviews, review and analyze turnover data, and develop insights to share with People Partners.
• Support and coach other members of the People Operations team on complex transactions and policy questions.
• Act as a continuous improvement and change champion, proactively identifying opportunities to improve or implement policies, processes and ways of working that enhance our People Strategy and improve the employee experience.
• Act as a strategic observer for People Partners, monitoring trends, providing insightful feedback, and identifying potential risks to ensure proactive and effective HR management.

Relationship with People Partner:

• The People Advisor requires a proactive approach in managing upward, ensuring that the People Partner is well-informed and supported in their strategic objectives. Each People Partner may have their unique ways of working, and the People Advisor plays an integral role in shaping this relationship to ensure effective collaboration. By fostering a strong partnership, the People Advisor enables our People Strategy and is exposed to continuous development opportunities.
• Collaborate with the Talent Acquisition team to on requisitions across the region, specifically regarding translation of job descriptions and any other needs as appropriate.
• Support local learning and development needs by organizing training sessions, sourcing suitable vendors, and collaborating with the Global Learning team as needed.

Skills Required

• Fluent English and German language skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Exemplifies integrity and discretion.
• Continuous improvement mindset – a proactive, adaptable, and agile collaborator.
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Analytical abilities and attention to detail
• Project management and organizational skills
• Proactive and strategic thinking
• Risk management approach, recognising potential ER issues and escalating these as appropriate
• Growing commercial mindset

Qualifications and Experience

• At least 3 years’ experience as an HR Coordinator or minimum 5 years’ generalist HR experience.
• Knowledge of local employment legislation.
• Experience with HRIS systems.
• Bachelor's degree in human resources, business management, psychology or related field preferred

About Teneo

Teneo is the global CEO advisory firm. We partner with our clients globally to do great things for a better future.

Drawing upon our global team and expansive network of senior advisors, we provide advisory services across our five business segments on a stand-alone or fully integrated basis to help our clients solve complex business challenges. Our clients include a significant number of the Fortune 100 and FTSE 100, as well as other cor­po­ra­tions, financial insti­tu­tions and organisations.

Our full range of advisory services includes strategic com­mu­ni­ca­tions, investor relations, financial trans­ac­tions and restruc­tur­ing, management consulting, physical and cyber risk, orga­ni­sa­tion­al design, board and executive search, geopolitics and government affairs, corporate governance and ESG.

The firm has more than 1,800 employees located in 50+ offices around the world.