HR & Operations Generalist

Na Mara People is delighted to be partnering with a growing professional services business to recruit an HR & Operations Generalist.

Our client has grown quickly over the last couple of years and is heading towards 100 people, with further growth planned next year. Until now, the Managing Directors and Finance team have looked after the people side of the business between them. They have reached the point where they are ready to appoint their first dedicated People hire.

This is a standalone, end-to-end generalist role. The majority of your time will be focused on HR – including recruitment co-ordination, the employee lifecycle, manager advice and coaching and building good people processes – alongside responsibility for some office operations.

For someone who enjoys being hands-on, wants autonomy and likes the idea of building and improving the People function within a growing business, there is a lot of scope here.

Role details

• Location: Shannon or Dublin 2

• Working pattern: Hybrid – two days per week in the office and three from home

• Travel: Approximately once a month to the other Irish office

• Reports to: Financial Controller

• Contract: Permanent, full time

What you'll be doing

Recruitment & candidate experience

• Manage recruitment end-to-end for a busy hiring pipeline, from role brief through to offer and onboarding.

• Act as the main point of contact for a panel of recruitment agencies, maintaining high standards and managing costs.

• Review CVs, coordinate interviews and keep hiring managers and candidates informed so the process moves quickly and feels well run.

• Introduce consistent pre-employment checks, references and records that meet regulatory obligations.

• Help grow the employee referral programme and develop a more structured approach to graduate hiring.

Employee lifecycle & HR operations

• Own contracts, offer letters, onboarding, probation, changes to terms, leave and offboarding.

• Bring structure to onboarding so every new joiner has a consistent and welcoming first few weeks.

• Run annual and mid-year performance cycles with managers, ensuring conversations happen and are recorded.

• Manage absence, annual leave and family leave processes, working with Finance to keep payroll inputs accurate.

HR systems & data

• Own the HR system day-to-day and help embed a new platform being introduced.

• Keep employee records complete, accurate and compliant with GDPR, working with the Compliance team on data protection.

• Identify opportunities to automate manual work and produce simple, useful people reporting for senior leadership.

Advice, employee relations & manager coaching

• Be a trusted first port of call for employees and managers on people matters.

• Handle employee relations matters fairly and in line with Irish employment law, knowing when to seek external advice.

• Keep HR policies current and help managers apply them consistently.

• Provide practical advice and coaching to managers as the business continues to grow.

Culture & engagement

• Help protect what is already good about the culture as the business grows – friendly, grounded, supportive and focused on doing good work.

• Help keep offices connected and support internal communications, including joiner and leaver updates.

• Support the social committee, events and recognition initiatives, while helping maintain a genuine focus on work-life balance.

Office operations

• Play a hands-on part in the running of the office, including new joiner setup, office coordination, events and aspects of supplier and office logistics.

• Support other operational activities as required.

What we're looking for

• Three to five years' generalist HR experience, including experience working independently.

• A degree or diploma in HR or a related discipline.

• Strong, practical knowledge of Irish employment law and HR best practice.

• Hands-on recruitment experience, including working with agencies and managing multiple roles simultaneously.

• Confidence advising and coaching managers, with sound judgement about when to escalate.

• Comfortable with technology and able to pick up and make good use of new systems.

• A genuine willingness to do the administration and practical work as well as the advisory work.

• Discretion, excellent organisation and clear, warm communication.

• CIPD qualification is desirable but not essential.

• Experience within a regulated, financial services or professional services environment would be an advantage.

• Experience in a growing business where you have built or improved processes would be particularly valuable.

• Office or facilities management experience would be beneficial, particularly for a Dublin-based candidate.

Is this you?

This is a grounded, friendly business with very little hierarchy and no appetite for big egos. People take quality seriously, get on with the job and look out for each other. Senior leaders are accessible and actively involved in the day-to-day business.

You'll probably enjoy this role if you:

• Are calm, practical and approachable, and people naturally trust you.

• Take pride in getting things right.

• Are independent and organised and genuinely happy to roll your sleeves up.

• Can coach a manager through a tricky conversation in the morning and sort out a practical new-joiner issue in the afternoon – and enjoy both.

• Like building things and leaving them better than you found them.

What's on offer

• Competitive salary plus discretionary bonus.

• Pension.

• Permanent health insurance, including death in service and income protection.

• Private health insurance with the company's preferred provider.

• TaxSaver commuter tickets.

• Hybrid working – two days per week in the office.

• 25 days' annual leave plus your birthday off.

• Training and development support.

• CSR initiatives.