People Partner, APAC - (12-months parental leave cover)

Job Details

People Partner – APAC (12-months parental leave cover)

Location: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (Hybrid)

Contract:12 Month – FTC - Hybrid

About Verian

Verian is a purpose-led company, delivering high-impact projects that shape public policy and drive social change. From education to health, crime to energy, our projects make a real difference.

With offices in 15 countries, our consultants and researchers advise government departments, regulators, charities, and other public sector organisations to make informed decisions and improve people’s lives.

Operating globally, Verian has offices across Europe, Asia Pacific, and the United States.

About the Team

The global People Team spans People Partnering, People Operations & Talent Acquisition, offering opportunities to contribute across HR initiatives.

This year, we are strengthening HR foundations across culture, performance, data and insights, while launching AI- and technology-led HR products.

We are seeking an experienced People Partner with strong APAC HR expertise to help deliver global strategic people initiatives in the region.

About the Role

The People Partner, APAC is responsible for leading and delivering the People & Culture agenda across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, supporting approximately 190 employees. Reporting to the Global People Director and working in close partnership with the APAC CEO, the role provides commercially focused people advice, strengthens organisational capability, and ensures an exceptional employee experience across the region.

This is a standalone People Partner role for APAC, supported by administrative resources in the Singapore office and the central HR Services Hub. Whilst operating with a high degree of autonomy, the role forms an integral part of Verian's global People & Culture team, working closely with People Partners, Talent Acquisition, People Operations and HR Services colleagues across the organisation. The successful candidate will benefit from a highly collaborative team environment, shared expertise, and practical support to ensure sustainable delivery and successful integration of local and global people priorities.

The role requires an experienced and hands-on People Partner who can confidently manage employee relations matters, organisational change, talent and capability initiatives, and people-related risk, while translating global people strategies into meaningful outcomes across APAC.

What You’ll Do

Strategic Partnering & Advisory

• Act as a trusted advisor to the APAC CEO, regional leadership team and people managers.
• Align people initiatives with business objectives, supporting growth, performance and organisational effectiveness.
• Translate global People & Culture priorities into practical regional delivery plans.
• Coach leaders on people management, talent development, workforce planning and organisational change.
• Use people data and insights to identify trends, risks and opportunities and support evidence-based decision making.
• Represent APAC perspectives and requirements within global People & Culture initiatives.

Employee Relations & Legal Compliance

• Provide expert advice and guidance on employee relations matters across Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
• Support managers with performance management, disciplinary matters, grievances, investigations and workplace conflict resolution.
• Ensure compliance with local employment legislation, regulatory requirements and company policies.
• Support organisational change activities, including restructures, consultations and workforce transitions where required.
• Proactively identify and mitigate people-related risks.
• Partner with legal and external advisors when specialist advice is required.

Reward & Benefits

• Partner with leaders on workforce planning, organisational design and talent requirements.
• Support recruitment activity in partnership with the Talent Acquisition team.
• Provide guidance on salary benchmarking, internal mobility, promotions and reward decisions in line with global governance frameworks.
• Oversee local benefits administration and vendor relationships, supported by HR Operations and local administration resources.
• Ensure reward and benefit programmes remain competitive, compliant and aligned with business needs.

Learning & Development

• Support leaders in identifying capability gaps and development priorities.
• Drive effective performance management and talent review processes across APAC.
• Partner with the wider People & Culture team to implement learning and development initiatives.
• Promote utilisation of global learning platforms, programmes and career development tools.
• Support succession planning and talent development discussions across the region.

Employee Experience, Engagement & Communication

• Champion Verian's culture, values and employee experience across APAC.
• Lead local engagement, wellbeing and inclusion initiatives aligned to the global people strategy.
• Support employee listening activities and develop meaningful action plans in response to feedback.
• Ensure people policies, processes and resources are accessible, relevant and understood by managers and employees.
• Partner with leaders to communicate organisational change effectively and consistently.
• Act as a visible and approachable People & Culture partner across the region.

People Projects & Continuous Improvement

• Lead and support regional people projects and change initiatives.
• Contribute to global People & Culture programmes, sharing regional insights and best practice.
• Identify opportunities to streamline processes and improve the employee and manager experience.
• Work closely with the HR Services Hub and People Operations teams to drive consistency, efficiency and service excellence.

What You’ll Bring

• Significant experience in a People Partner, HR Business Partner or equivalent generalist HR role.
• Strong employee relations experience across complex and varied employee matters.
• Working knowledge of employment legislation and HR practices within one or more APAC markets, ideally Australia, New Zealand and/or Singapore.
• Experience partnering directly with senior leaders and leadership teams.
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on operational delivery.
• Strong communication, influencing and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience working within a global and matrixed organisation.
• Ability to work independently whilst building strong collaborative relationships across teams and geographies.

A bonus if:

• Experience supporting multiple locations or markets
• Experience contributing to or delivering learning and development initiatives
• Exposure to global HR systems and processes
• Experience adapting global frameworks to meet local market needs

Why Verian?

• Make a real impact on our people, culture and business
• Join a supportive global team and help drive positive change across Verian
• Supportive & collaborative environment
• Hybrid & flexible working
• Professional growth and development opportunities

How to Apply

Ready to make an impact? We’d love to hear from you!

Apply online today, and if your profile matches, we’ll be in touch for an initial exploratory interview.

We encourage applications from all sections of society and provide reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the application and interview process.

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