Senior People Partner

WPP • New York, NY

3d • $100,000 - $230,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

WPP is seeking a versatile Senior People Partner to join its Corporate People Team in New York. The role serves as a trusted partner to the VP, People, North America and provides dedicated People support to assigned global corporate functions, likely including Finance and People subfunctions. The position supports the employee experience for more than 600 WPP headquarters employees in the US and serves as an escalation point for global HR Business Partners on US-centric matters.

This hands-on role combines strategic partnership, operational execution, and administrative work. The Senior People Partner advises leaders and employees, coordinates annual People processes, supports hiring and onboarding, oversees delivery with the offshore Global Business Services HR Operations team, validates Workday data, and improves processes and materials. The role requires sound judgment, discretion, strong follow-through, and the ability to work through ambiguity and changing priorities.

The position is based at 3 World Trade Center in New York City and requires four days per week in the office. Occasional flexibility may be needed to support global stakeholders, orientation sessions, employee events, and other business priorities.

Requirements

• At least eight years of progressive experience in Human Resources, People Operations, HR business partnering, or a related People function.
• Broad HR experience and sound judgment across employee support, leader advising, operational execution, detailed administration, and strategic problem-solving.
• Experience supporting employees and leaders in a complex, fast-moving organization; global or matrixed experience is preferred.
• Experience coordinating annual People processes such as performance reviews, goal setting, compensation planning, and talent activities.
• Experience partnering with Talent Acquisition and managing hiring workflows, approvals, and stakeholder follow-up.
• Experience overseeing HR operational delivery through GBS, offshore, or similarly matrixed teams and influencing outcomes without formal authority.
• Working knowledge of US employment practices and judgment to recognize when Legal, Employee Relations, or another specialist should be engaged.
• Workday proficiency, including reviewing employee information, validating transactions, and identifying discrepancies.
• Strong Excel, data-management, PowerPoint, project-management, and organizational skills.
• Excellent writing skills and the ability to create polished, concise communications and materials for employees and leaders.
• Maturity, discretion, and composure in handling sensitive information and interacting credibly with senior leaders.
• Ability to take ownership through final resolution, exercise judgment without a playbook, anticipate needs, communicate clearly, follow up reliably, maintain confidentiality and boundaries, and remain flexible and solutions-oriented as priorities change.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting employees and leaders in a global or matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Serve as People Partner for assigned global corporate functions, building trusted relationships with senior leaders and employees in New York and other locations.
• Develop an understanding of assigned functions’ business priorities, organizational structure, talent, and ways of working.
• Advise leaders on organizational changes, workforce planning, performance management, employee engagement, and team effectiveness.
• Support the VP, People, North America by translating priorities into action and following through on decisions and commitments.
• Support the broader employee experience of WPP’s 600+ US headquarters employees.
• Act as an escalation point for HR Business Partners on US-centric People matters and escalate to the VP, People, when appropriate.
• Partner with Finance, Legal, Employee Relations, and other specialist teams on sensitive or higher-risk matters.
• Help oversee the US Executive Assistant population, including hiring, onboarding, performance, development, and employee experience needs.
• Coordinate annual People processes, including goal setting, performance reviews, salary and bonus planning, stock planning, and related talent activities.
• Develop project plans, timelines, trackers, presentations, FAQs, manager resources, and other materials for People programs.
• Create and implement communications to explain process requirements, deadlines, and resources to leaders and employees.
• Draft employee communications, leader guidance, talking points, presentations, and follow-up messages.
• Monitor participation and completion, follow up with leaders and employees, troubleshoot issues, and escalate risks.
• Coordinate with COEs, GBS, Finance, and other stakeholders to ensure decisions and employee changes are processed accurately and on time.
• Serve as the primary People contact for hiring within assigned Finance and People functions.
• Liaise among Finance and/or People leaders, Talent Acquisition, GBS, and other stakeholders to maintain hiring momentum and resolve bottlenecks.
• Manage hiring exception approvals, including gathering information, coordinating approvals, tracking requests, communicating decisions, and following requests through completion.
• Facilitate new-hire orientation and partner with managers on onboarding plans.
• Coordinate with GBS on onboarding workflows, Workday steps, documentation, and employee data; monitor execution and resolve issues affecting new hires.
• Maintain and update orientation presentations, onboarding materials, and manager resources.
• Help employees navigate People policies, benefits, systems, and resources, connecting them with specialists as needed.
• Champion WPP’s culture and help employees feel welcomed, informed, and supported.
• Give the offshore GBS HR Operations team clear requirements, context, priorities, and deadlines; monitor progress and review work for accuracy and completeness.
• Manage cross-team handoffs, address service gaps, and resolve or escalate delays and delivery issues.
• Remain accountable for the quality and timeliness of the employee and leader experience when administrative work is executed by GBS.
• Use Workday to review, validate, and reconcile employee information and confirm transactions are completed accurately.
• Respond to employee and leader data requests and use Excel to organize, reconcile, manipulate, analyze, and summarize employee data.
• Create reports, trackers, presentations, and insights to support People processes and business decisions.
• Identify inefficient or unclear processes and develop practical workflows, documentation, templates, and tools to improve them.
• Bring structure and momentum to ambiguous assignments, clarify ownership, remove roadblocks, and drive work to completion.
• Explore how technology, automation, and AI can improve People-team efficiency, data analysis, communications, and service delivery.

Benefits

• Competitive benefits package; details are available through WPP’s benefits website.
• Opportunity to create, influence, and complete projects at an unparalleled industry scale.
• Challenging and stimulating work with a group of creative problem solvers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed