HR Business Partner / Talent Manager — Assurance SA The Opportunity The HR Business Partner / Talent Manager acts as a trusted advisor to Assurance SA leadership, people managers, and employees. The role translates business priorities into practical people initiatives and supports the delivery of high-touch HR processes across the employee lifecycle. The incumbent will require a strong understanding of the Assurance business model, the professional services environment, workforce planning requirements, people risks, and talent priorities. The role provides proactive, data-led, and commercially grounded HR support that enhances employee experience, leadership effectiveness, retention, and overall business performance. Key Responsibilities <ul type="disc"> <li>Partner with Assurance Sector/Sub-Service Line leadership to understand business priorities, workforce demand, capability needs, people risks, and talent implications.</li> <li>Translate business needs into talent plans, people initiatives, and practical actions aligned with the service line strategy.</li> <li>Support workforce planning, including headcount planning, capacity management, utilisation, skills forecasting, succession planning, and critical role coverage.</li> <li>Manage employee relations matters in partnership with the internal Employee Relations function, while guiding managers on performance concerns, conduct issues, grievance handling, and appropriate escalation processes.</li> <li>Coach leaders on people management, employee engagement, performance conversations, retention risks, and team effectiveness.</li> <li>Coordinate with Talent Acquisition to support hiring plans, candidate pipelines, selection processes, and onboarding readiness.</li> <li>Work closely with Learning and Development to identify capability gaps and support learning interventions, development plans, and leadership development initiatives.</li> <li>Support performance management cycles, including goal setting, feedback, moderation, performance improvement planning, and the maintenance of quality documentation.</li> <li>Partner with Total Rewards and Talent Leadership on compensation planning, benefits, and reward-related guidance.</li> <li>Support employee engagement and wellbeing initiatives by leveraging employee feedback, people data, and business insights to inform targeted actions.</li> <li>Collaborate with the SAICA Training Office to support trainee development, progression, and professional qualification requirements.</li> <li>Leverage people analytics to identify workforce trends, risks, and opportunities. Translate insights from attrition, engagement, performance, absenteeism, utilisation, headcount, and workforce planning data into actionable recommendations for leadership.</li> <li>Promote the responsible use of AI-enabled tools and digital HR solutions to improve efficiency, enhance people insights, support decision-making, and simplify employee and manager experiences, while ensuring appropriate governance, confidentiality, and ethical use.</li> </ul> Skills and Attributes for Success <ul type="disc"> <li>Strong business acumen and the ability to understand the professional services operating model.</li> <li>Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.</li> <li>Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.</li> <li>Sound knowledge of employment legislation, HR policies, and employee relations principles.</li> <li>Excellent communication, facilitation, influencing, and coaching skills.</li> <li>Ability to work with HR data, interpret trends, and translate insights into practical recommendations.</li> <li>Comfortable using AI-enabled and automation tools to improve HR service delivery, analyse workforce trends, and create practical, data-led recommendations, while exercising sound judgement regarding data privacy, confidentiality, and responsible use.</li> <li>Strong judgement, discretion, and the ability to manage sensitive people matters professionally.</li> <li>Ability to operate independently while collaborating effectively with specialist HR teams.</li> <li>Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.</li> </ul> Minimum Requirements <ul type="disc"> <li>Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Industrial Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent relevant work experience.</li> <li>Minimum of five years' relevant experience as an HR Business Partner, Talent Manager, or in a comparable people advisory role.</li> <li>Experience supporting leaders and employees across multiple stages of the employee lifecycle.</li> <li>Strong knowledge of South African employment legislation and HR governance requirements.</li> </ul> Additional Advantageous Requirements Financial Services / Banking Exposure <ul> <li>Experience supporting teams within Financial Services, Banking, Assurance, Audit, Risk, or another regulated environment, with an understanding of sector demands, regulatory requirements, and peak workload cycles.</li> </ul> Assurance / Audit Talent Model Understanding <ul> <li>Exposure to professional services or client-facing environments where utilisation, chargeability, engagement staffing, independence requirements, and deadline-driven delivery are critical success factors.</li> </ul> Graduate / Trainee Pipeline Experience <ul> <li>Experience supporting trainees, associates, or early-career talent through professional qualifications, rotations, performance management cycles, progression, and retention initiatives.</li> </ul> AI and Digital HR Enablement <ul> <li>Experience leveraging AI-enabled tools, HR technologies, dashboards, and automation solutions to improve workforce insights, streamline HR processes, and enhance business partnering outcomes.</li> </ul>

HR Business Partner / Talent Manager - Assurance SA (Johannesburg, GP, ZA, 2146) @ EY Global Services

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