HR Business Partner / Talent Manager - Assurance SA

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

• Partner with Assurance Sector/Sub-Service Line leadership to understand business priorities, workforce demand, capability needs, people risks, and talent implications.
• Translate business needs into talent plans, people initiatives, and practical actions aligned with the service line strategy.
• Support workforce planning, including headcount planning, capacity management, utilisation, skills forecasting, succession planning, and critical role coverage.
• 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.
• Coach leaders on people management, employee engagement, performance conversations, retention risks, and team effectiveness.
• Coordinate with Talent Acquisition to support hiring plans, candidate pipelines, selection processes, and onboarding readiness.
• Work closely with Learning and Development to identify capability gaps and support learning interventions, development plans, and leadership development initiatives.
• Support performance management cycles, including goal setting, feedback, moderation, performance improvement planning, and the maintenance of quality documentation.
• Partner with Total Rewards and Talent Leadership on compensation planning, benefits, and reward-related guidance.
• Support employee engagement and wellbeing initiatives by leveraging employee feedback, people data, and business insights to inform targeted actions.
• Collaborate with the SAICA Training Office to support trainee development, progression, and professional qualification requirements.
• 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.
• 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.

Skills and Attributes for Success

• Strong business acumen and the ability to understand the professional services operating model.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder management skills.
• Sound knowledge of employment legislation, HR policies, and employee relations principles.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, influencing, and coaching skills.
• Ability to work with HR data, interpret trends, and translate insights into practical recommendations.
• 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.
• Strong judgement, discretion, and the ability to manage sensitive people matters professionally.
• Ability to operate independently while collaborating effectively with specialist HR teams.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Industrial Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field, or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Minimum of five years' relevant experience as an HR Business Partner, Talent Manager, or in a comparable people advisory role.
• Experience supporting leaders and employees across multiple stages of the employee lifecycle.
• Strong knowledge of South African employment legislation and HR governance requirements.

Additional Advantageous Requirements

Financial Services / Banking Exposure

• 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.

Assurance / Audit Talent Model Understanding

• Exposure to professional services or client-facing environments where utilisation, chargeability, engagement staffing, independence requirements, and deadline-driven delivery are critical success factors.

Graduate / Trainee Pipeline Experience

• Experience supporting trainees, associates, or early-career talent through professional qualifications, rotations, performance management cycles, progression, and retention initiatives.

AI and Digital HR Enablement

• Experience leveraging AI-enabled tools, HR technologies, dashboards, and automation solutions to improve workforce insights, streamline HR processes, and enhance business partnering outcomes.