Job Description
HR Specialist France + South (Italy, Spain, Portugal)
Fixed Term Contract - 12 months
Hybrid London / Remote UK
We’re hiring an HR Specialist to support a growing international business across France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
This is hands-on HR operations.
You’ll be the go-to person in-region, managing the employee lifecycle, advising on local labour law, and making sure things actually work, not just look good in a process document. If you like ownership, variety, and the reality of operating across multiple countries, this will suit you.
What You’ll Do:
* Act as the HR point of contact across France and Southern Europe, supporting employees and managers day-to-day
* Manage the full employee lifecycle, including contracts, system updates, and employment changes
* Own onboarding and local orientation, making sure new hires land properly, not just log into a system
* Manage offboarding and exit processes across all countries in scope
* Handle benefits enrolment, including pensions and insurance schemes
* Support rollout and review of benefits alongside Total Rewards
* Partner with Payroll to manage leave and absence processes, including parental leave
* Provide guidance on policies, employment setups, and local practices to managers and employees
* Advise on local labour law and employee relations, working with Legal where needed
* Support audits, compliance activities, and mandatory reporting requirements
* Challenge business decisions where needed, offering solutions grounded in local regulations and risk awareness
* Support expansion into new markets, including entity setup, store openings, and acquisitions
* Improve HR operations processes, aligning local needs with global frameworks
* Own and deliver regional HR projects, and contribute to global initiatives where required
* Continuously look for ways to improve how things are done across countries
* Act as a point of contact for local authorities, including tax and social security bodies
What You Bring:
* Demonstrable experience in HR operations or people ops, ideally in a scale-up or multinational environment
* Strong understanding of labour law, tax, and compliance in at least one of the countries in scope (more is better)
* Experience working across multiple countries or regions
* Comfortable owning HR processes end-to-end, not just supporting them
* Hands-on experience with HR systems (Workday preferred)
* Strong Excel and Google Suite skills
* Excellent stakeholder management, you can support, challenge, and guide when needed
* High attention to detail and confidence handling sensitive information
* Fluent in English, additional European languages are a big plus
* Experience in retail environments, labour relations, or project work is useful, but not essential
Why This Role:
This is not a policy-heavy HR role sitting in the background.
You’ll be in the middle of the action, supporting multiple countries, helping the business scale, and making sure HR operations actually enable growth rather than slow it down.
If you want ownership and exposure across Europe, this gives you both.
Let’s Talk!
This is a 12-month fixed-term contract with the chance to extend.
If this sounds like you, apply here or message me directly. Let’s chat!