HR Manager - Publicis West Africa (Ghana)

Company description

At Publicis Groupe Africa Talent, we “find, grow, and keep our Talent.” We bring the world’s most innovative people together and create the infrastructure and culture for them to thrive. The Talent Team sits at the core of the employee experience — from attracting and recruiting, to development, performance, engagement, and retention.

Our Talent structure enables specialist delivery across key verticals including:
• HR Partnering
• Learning & Development
• Talent Acquisition
• HR Operations
• Employee Value Proposition (EVP)
• Transformation (EE and CSI)
• Employee Relations (IR)

The successful candidate will contribute to the talent management of the Publicis West Africa Cluster within Publicis Groupe Africa.

Overview

The Talent Partner is a culture and values champion, partnering closely with business leaders and employees to ensure that people decisions are informed by business context, empathy, and data. This role works across Talent verticals to deliver best-in-class support and drive organisational effectiveness initiatives.

You will act as a day-to-day consultant to leadership and employees while ensuring an exceptional employee experience across the full talent lifecycle.

Responsibilities
• Build an impactful talent structure aligned to the future of work strategy
• Harmonise systems that drive operational efficiency (Career Settings, MPC, Smart Recruiter, WIP, Marcel, etc.)
• Support the rollout of a variable remuneration model
• Create a go-to-market EVP to attract best-in-market talent
• Enable business leads to transition to a fluid workforce plan
• Cultivate a performance and feedback culture across the Groupe
• Proactively build future-fit equity talent pools
• Implement a fair succession planning approach that supports progression of top talent
• Build a learning offering to upskill leaders in client, team, and financial management
• Repackage reward incentives to motivate a new generation of employees
Key Responsibilities
1) Business Partnering (Strategic HR Partnering)
• Deliver value-added employee experience solutions aligned to business objectives
• Strategic HR partnering with the SVP, Senior Leadership team, MANCO and Team Leads to enable business performance and people outcomes
• Provide people and business insights to support decision-making in:
• Career planning
• Performance management
• Data analysis and reporting
• Compensation and rewards
• Employee relations
• Learning and development
• Recognition programmes
• Strategic workforce planning and organisational development
• Identify trends from qualitative and quantitative data to improve the employee experience
• Consult with leaders and managers to execute integrated talent strategy and influence lasting change
• Build strong, credible relationships between the Talent team and the business
• Represent the voice of the employer with empathy for the employee
• Demonstrate deep understanding of the business at macro and micro levels (including agency nuances)
• Proactively drive positive employee engagement
2) HR Operations & Payroll (Operational Excellence)
• Maintain accurate and up-to-date HRIS data and employee records
• Ensure full awareness and compliance with legal requirements, policies, and procedures
• Develop and deliver relevant people training and enablement sessions
• Proactively mitigate IR risks by advising business leaders on implications of people actions
• Oversee workflow and delivery of the employee experience across Join / Perform / Learn / Transform / Exit
• Co-ordinate and facilitate payroll inputs for your respective practice / Business Units
• Verify and approve payroll inputs and submissions to ensure accuracy and compliance
• Provide weekly status reporting and updates to relevant stakeholders
3) Employee Experience & Talent Lifecycle Delivery
• Partner with specialist Talent verticals to plan and deliver employee experience initiatives from ideation to execution, including:
• Project planning
• Internal communications
• Event management
• Content management
• Post-event analysis and feedback
• Obtain required approvals for critical hire requests (new and replacement roles)
• Support cluster recruitment with leaders and TA by ensuring role clarity, market/competitor awareness, and selection alignment
Join (Onboarding & Induction)
• Drive smooth onboarding from CV to contract, ensuring a strong candidate/employee experience
• Coordinate immersion and induction programmes for new hires
Perform (Performance Management & Reviews)
• Support rollout of performance tools (e.g., MPC), including goal setting uploads and adoption
• Coordinate bi-annual review processes for Managing Partners and leaders, cascading into teams
• Coach leaders to embed consistent and regular performance practices
Learn (Development & Capability Building)
• Provide L&D with insight into training needs and capability gaps across teams
• Support a learning culture and participation/completion of Marcel courses
Transform (Inclusion, Equity & Culture)
• Drive transformation and inclusion initiatives to ensure a bias-free environment that encourages growth
• Foster conversations around inclusion and diversity, improving the experience for all employees, especially those who feel excluded
Exit (Offboarding & Insights)
• Conduct exit interviews and translate insights into trends and recommendations
• Ensure terminations are processed effectively in collaboration with HR Ops and Resources
4) Ghana Office HR Leadership (End-to-End Ownership)
• Manage the HR function and responsibilities end-to-end within the Ghana office, ensuring strong service delivery across:
• Employee lifecycle operations
• Local compliance and labour relations
• HR governance and reporting
• Employee relations support
• Stakeholder management and escalation handling

Qualifications
• Tertiary qualification: Relevant HR or HR-related degree
• Minimum of 5-7 years of progressive HR experience,
• Minimum 3 years’ experience as an HR Generalist / HR Partner
• Strong experience in Ghana labour relations
• Strong working knowledge of local labour law and its application
• Exceptional administration and organisational skills
• High-level communication skills with the ability to engage clearly, empathetically, and confidentially

Additional information

Theoretical Knowledge & Experience
• Intermediate computer literacy (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
• Ability to operate within constraints and challenge the status quo appropriately
• Strong analytical/problem-solving capability: interpret trends and recommend actions
• Comfortable working in ambiguity and driving solutions
• Strong stakeholder management skills, including senior leadership engagement
• Experience supporting senior leaders within complex organisations
• Exposure to HR across:
• Attraction and recruitment
• Retention and engagement
• Growth and development
• Restructures and organisational change
• Strong capability across:
• Performance management
• Diversity and inclusion
• Compensation and rewards
• Recognition programmes
• Employee engagement and culture

Behavioural Competencies
1) Foundational Behaviours (Essential)
• Relationship building and stakeholder management
• Time management and delivery accountability
• Strong collaboration and teamwork
• Positive, solution-seeking mindset
• Curiosity and interest in the communications industry
• High attention to detail and quality delivery
• Flexibility and willingness to support ad-hoc needs
• Strong confidentiality and integrity
• Proactive “thinker-doer” approach
• Emotional maturity (high EQ)
2) Advanced Behaviours (Succession Planning)
• Negotiation and influencing skills
• Strong senior management communication
• Business and industry communication maturity
• Communicates change effectively and embraces it positively
• Makes bold decisions and takes accountability
• Protects team reputation and credibility
• Coaches and advocates for direct reports
• Mentors junior employees and acts as a role model