People and Talent Manager - New York

Gate One was established in the UK in 2013 and is currently a c300 strong team. In recent years, Gate One has set up teams in Dublin, Bangalore, Paris and New York. We joined the Havas Group in 2019 – one of the world’s largest digital, creative and entertainment networks. Together, Havas agencies can provide greater value and services to clients while delivering meaningful, societal impact.

The specialist function team, where this role sits, is critical to the growth and performance of Gate One. The teams in Marketing, Finance & Commercial and People & Talent work in close partnership with the leadership team and Havas to facilitate growth, maintain quality and control, drive performance and support high quality decision making. Not only do the functions deliver business as usual activities, they also design and implement change projects, focusing on optimization, preparing the business for scale.

Gate One US is currently a team of 18 people and growing. By 2028, the growth strategy is to have a team size of 50 people. This role will work with US leadership across People and Talent processes and operations, being the liaison between the global people and talent team and the US team.

People and Talent Responsibilities:

• Responsible for the day-to-day people operations within the US business

• Act as the first point of contact for HR queries for the US team (e.g. around policies, using the global P&T team for escalations).

• Support US leaders by maintaining clear visibility of which client projects our Consultants are resourced on and for how long

• Capture from US account leads external hiring and Associate/Contractor requirements to share with US leads and P&T

• Supporting permanent recruitment, including co-drafting of job descriptions, coordinating with recruitment partners, early candidate screening and interview coordination

• In conjunction with the global Associates Manager, build and proactively manage the US Associate/Contractor network and Associate supplier relationships, including writing role descriptions, leading initial candidate screening calls

• Partner with Havas HR teams to stay aligned on US policies and communications

• Support the US leaders and wider team regarding the launch and embedding of global HR initiatives

• Support the US leaders and wider team on annual processes such as annual roundtables, quarterly reviews and continuous feedback culture

• Act as Gate One US ‘onboarding ambassador’ – liaising with new joiners before they start to ensure a smooth experience and welcoming new joiners on their first day (being on-hand for their first week), liaise and share feedback/ideas with the UK P&T team and Havas HR team to support and continuously improve the US onboarding experience

• Manage core people reporting, including quarterly PTO tracking, US Havasay results etc (communicating findings, this would still be run globally).

• Identify opportunities to streamline and improve HR and resourcing processes

• Champion meaningful performance and localized expectations framework

• Support with Learning & Development opportunities, liaising with the global P&T team to understand opportunities, supporting with scheduling and booking rooms for our US colleagues

Business Operations responsibilities:

• As part of new joiner onboarding and ongoing support to the team, ensure consultants have the “brilliant basics”: working spaces, onboarding packs, tech access (working with Havas).

• Coordinate leadership team logistics, e.g., SLT offsites, training, client workshops, Gateaways.