The People Partner (Italy) is a trusted advisor and operational People & Organization (P&O) expert responsible for delivering highquality, compliant people support across Italy. Operating with a high level of autonomy, the role manages complex employee relations topics, oversees local HR processes, and ensures full compliance with Italian labour legislation, applicable National Collective Labour Agreements (CCNL), and statutory obligations.

The role plays a critical part in enabling the business by influencing decision making, identifying people related risks, supporting social dialogue, and partnering with HRBPs and business leaders to implement people strategies effectively within the Italian legal and cultural context.

Capabilities Summary

• Acts as the primary HR advisor for managers, employees, and internal stakeholders in Italy.

• Independently manages the full spectrum of ER cases, including high complexity matters requiring sound judgement and legal risk assessment.

• Provides local specialist expertise across Italian labour law, CCNL application, trade union interaction, policy compliance, RTW/immigration, HRIS (Workday), and local practices.

• Leads Italy specific initiatives, supports audits and statutory reporting, and drives continuous improvement of local HR processes and governance.

• Partners with HRBPs to implement people strategies, organisational change, and workforce planning initiatives.

• Typically supports ~300+ employees within one or more Italian legal entities.

Scope & Complexity

• Full accountability for People Partnering support across Italy.

• Coverage typically of ~300+ employees.

• Manages complex ER cases, disciplinary actions, and statutory consultation processes.

• Leads national workstreams and contributes to crosscountry or zonelevel initiatives.

Key Responsibilities

Italian Labour Law, Policy & Compliance

• Owns or contributes to the development, implementation, and governance of local policies in line with Italian labour law, CCNL provisions, and company frameworks.

• Acts as an escalation point for complex policy interpretation and Employee Experience Hub (EEH) queries in Italy.

• Ensures compliance with Italian legal, social security, and institutional requirements (e.g. Statuto dei Lavoratori, disciplinary procedures, notice periods, probation rules, whistleblowing obligations).

• Leads audit preparation and statutory documentation management (e.g. labour inspections, social security checks).

• Drives clear, accurate, and compliant local HR communications for managers and employees.

Employee Relations & Case Management

• Independently manages ER cases from advisory to complex matters, including performance management, disciplinary actions, misconduct, grievances, absence management, and conflict resolution.

• Coaches and advises managers on compliant people management practices in Italy, balancing legal requirements with business needs.

• Leads underperformance management, including formal warnings, improvement plans, disciplinary sanctions, and termination processes in line with Italian law and CCNL requirements.

• Conducts or supports investigations into employee concerns (e.g. misconduct, harassment, discrimination, retaliation, policy breaches), ensuring procedural fairness and legal robustness.

• Ensures complete and timely ER documentation aligned with Italian procedural requirements.

Trade Unions & Social Dialogue

• Prepares documentation and supports statutory consultation processes relating to organisational changes, workforce adjustments, policy updates, and employee representative involvement.

• Partners with HRBPs, Legal, and leadership to mitigate social risk and maintain constructive industrial relations.

Immigration, RTW & Lifecycle Support

• Provides subject matter expertise on Italian immigration processes and right to work compliance, ensuring timely and compliant management of permits and documentation.

• Supports the full employee lifecycle in Italy, including onboarding, contractual changes, job classification updates, mobility, performance processes, and exits.

• Supports Workday changes and ensures accurate HR data and process adherence.

Stakeholder Partnership & Transformation

• Builds trusted relationships with managers, HRBPs, employees, Legal, Finance, and external advisors.

• Acts as a partner and challenger—identifying people risks, influencing decisions, and proposing compliant, business-oriented solutions.

• Supports HRBPs on people strategy implementation, organisational change, restructuring, and postmerger integration.

Projects, Entity Management & Reporting

• Leads Italy-specific initiatives such as mandatory reporting, pay equity analysis, and statutory submissions as required.

• Independently manages entity-specific projects from planning to execution.

• Acts as project owner or workstream lead on multicountry or zonelevel initiatives that include Italy.

• Identifies process improvement opportunities and contributes to continuous improvement of HR effectiveness and compliance.

Abilities & Behaviours

• Strong coaching, influencing, and advisory skills with managers and senior stakeholders.

• Operates independently with sound judgement in complex and sensitive employment matters.

• Demonstrates strong understanding of Italian legal, social, and industrial relations context.

• Proactively identifies risks and ensures compliant, businessaligned outcomes.

• Shows ownership, accountability, and high professional integrity.

• Communicates clearly and confidently in Italian and English.

Expectations & Decision Authority

• Accountable for delivering high quality HR support across Italy.

• Independently manages complex ER cases and decision-making with minimal oversight.

• Represents Italy effectively in crosscountry and regional discussions.

• Acts as a role model for compliance, transparency, and ethical HR practice.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Law, or a related discipline.

• 3–6 years’ experience in a P&O Generalist, People Partner, HR Business Partner, or Employee Relations role in Italy.

• Strong, hands-on experience managing ER cases under Italian labour law and CCNLs.

• Proven experience advising managers on underperformance, disciplinary actions, and terminations.

• Experience working with trade unions and social dialogue processes.

• Strong knowledge of Italian Labour Law and collective bargaining frameworks required.

• Fluency in Italian and English (written and spoken).

• Strong analytical, consultative, and problem-solving skills with high attention to detail.

• Strong Excel skills with proficiency in Word and PowerPoint; Workday experience is an advantage.

Location & Coverage

• Based in Italy, supporting one or more Italian legal entities.

• Limited travel may be required for stakeholder engagement and regional projects.