At Google DeepMind, we value diversity of experience, knowledge, backgrounds and perspectives and harness these qualities to create extraordinary impact. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion or belief, ethnic or national origin, disability, age, citizenship, marital, domestic or civil partnership status, sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, or related condition (including breastfeeding) or any other basis as protected by applicable law. If you have a disability or additional need that requires accommodation, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Employee Relations (ER) uphold Google DeepMind (GDM) values with integrity to enable equitable outcomes. We are a forward-thinking team that relies on both our subject matter expertise and empathy to help make a better GDM by being there for our employees in the moments that matter most. We conduct thorough and timely investigations into allegations of violations of our policies and review and advise on programs, processes and workplace concerns to ensure fair treatment for all. As a team, we apply an intersectional framework and consider how race, gender, other protected classes, power and privilege are at play at all times. We support the learning and development of each member of our team and provide both training and practical experience to support the cultivation of employee relations expertise.

Artificial Intelligence could be one of humanity’s most useful inventions. At Google DeepMind, we’re a team of scientists, engineers, machine learning experts and more, working together to advance the state of the art in artificial intelligence. We use our technologies for widespread public benefit and scientific discovery, and collaborate with others on critical challenges, ensuring safety and ethics are the highest priority.

This role is embedded in our ER team, which sits within the wider People and Culture (P&C) team and reports to the Director, ER & People Operations. The role line manages a team of ER Partners (ERPs) responsible for ER in EMEA where our largest locations are London, Zurich, Paris and Berlin.

Key responsibilities:

• Providing exceptional leadership and guidance for ERPs, P&C Partners and business stakeholders on ER issues.
• Developing capabilities and individual performance of ERPs and encouraging continual learning through coaching.
• Ensuring the prioritisation of team members' workload in line with organisational goals.
• Leading on complex individual ER issues including disciplinary, grievance, appeal, attendance, redundancy etc. 
• Leading on complex collective ER issues including redundancies, TUPE etc
• Role modelling strong case management processes.
• Providing ER expertise to business projects such as change programs.
• Diagnosing and supporting interventions required for the continuous improvement of ER processes and policies.
• Reviewing and improving reporting mechanisms for ER cases .
• Utilising ER data to inform decision making and to identify opportunities to drive continuous improvement. 
• Improving ER capability amongst managers and P&C partners through training, coaching, partnership and development of tools and processes.
• Leading the ER team to review our processes and policies to ensure they are up to date, legally compliant and reflect our culture and ways of working.
• Collaborating with wider P&C teams and our Diversity, Equity & Inclusion team on initiatives to enhance employee workplace experience.
• Providing expertise and partnership on working with Works Councils and being a partner to our Labour Relations colleagues at Google.

In order to set you up for success in this role, we look for the following skills and experience: 

• You have substantive UK experience across the full breadth of ER topics (including conduct investigations, employee grievances, absence management, performance and restructuring) and understand the importance of the employee experience in these processes.
• You have extensive experience in managing ER topics in at least one of our other key EMEA locations (France, Germany, Switzerland).
• You have worked in organisations with Works Councils and have partnered  with Labour Relations teams or have managed labour relations yourself.
• You enjoy developing your team members technical skills and competencies and have experience managing small to medium sized teams.
• You are driven by fairness, high quality delivery and standards, and care deeply about people.
• When handling people issues, you efficiently navigate legal, cultural and business risks and tensions.
• You have been a core decision maker, leading large, complex and scalable people efforts, where you had to navigate and balance tensions expertly.
• You have significant change management experience and enjoy leading others through change.
• You are highly effective during times of ambiguity, forming key solutions and applying critical thinking in changing environments.
• A skilled influencer with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to handle difficult conversations, navigate complexities and disagreements and maintain neutrality in conflictual situations.
• Ability to establish strong cross-functional relationships at all levels and geographies.
• Experience acting with confidence in fast paced environments, instilling trust in everyone you interact with.
• You are capable in conflict management and problem solving and effectively coach others to do this.
• Project management skills.
• Effective analytical and problem solving skills with ability to organise and analyse data.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Strong and practical knowledge of applying UK employment law and similar knowledge of at least one other key country’s employment law.