People & Culture Assistant – Job Description Location: Head Office – Peterlee Reports to: HR Manager About Phoenix 2 Retail: Phoenix 2 Retail is the leading wholesaler specializing in vaping and nicotine products, offering a unique route-to-market service to global brands seeking distribution within the UK’s vape category. Our mission is to become the world’s leading supplier of smoking alternatives, investing in responsibility, innovation, education, and sustainability to create a better future for retailers and consumers. Our Values: Our “I CARE” values encapsulate a holistic approach to our culture, emphasizing positive influence, unwavering commitment, individual and collective accountability, ethical responsibility, and the relentless pursuit of excellence. This acronym serves as a memorable representation of the company’s core values, guiding the actions and decisions of our employees What You Will Be Doing: As our People and Culture Assistant, reporting to the HR Manager, you will play a pivotal role in supporting varied people and culture activities and processes. This dynamic position requires meticulous attention to detail, strong teamwork capabilities, and the ability to communicate effectively at all organisational levels. Your responsibilities will span the entire employee lifecycle, ensuring tasks are completed accurately, efficiently, and in line with company policies. Duty’s & Key Responsibilities: Administration Undertake administrative duties including drafting letters and documentation, which support various HR processes relating to (but not restricted to) joiners and leavers, promotions, fixed term contracts, flexible working, family related leave, compassionate leave etc. Accurately input data that impacts payroll, collaborating closely with the HR Manager and Finance. Maintain and update the HR system, including updating employee records, processing joiners and leavers, updating annual leave and changes, running reports, undertaking data checks and audits and any other reasonable duties. Undertake all administration in relation to absence records, return to work interviews and self-certifications for absence, ensuring the HR Manager & Head of People Development is informed when employees reach a trigger point under the absence management procedure. Update organisational charts, as. Maintain hard copy and electronic employee personal records, including delivering receiving, filing and tracking employment documents such as references and signed HR paperwork in an efficient manner. Provide any other general administration support to the People team or the wider organisation, including word processing, notetaking, document formatting, and distributing information as. Recruitment Assist the HR Manager with recruitment including advertising vacancies on our website, social media and any relevant jobs board reviewing the market to ensure full visibility of the roles. File and organise job applications and coordinate the shortlisting process. Keep the recruitment tracker and recruitment systems up to date at all times, following recruitment timelines. Contact candidates to arrange interviews, assessments and carry out pre-employment checks. Provide first line advice to managers regarding recruitment and onboarding processes. C oordinate and arrange induction programmes, meetings and training, working closely with the HR Manager & Head of People Development. To track the completion of Probation reviews Safeguarding Administering pre-employment checks including DBS, right to work in the UK and reference checks. Organise, record, and support with the evaluation of, training for staff in connection with safeguarding. Maintain strict confidentiality in all aspects of work as and work in line with GDPR, at all times. Provide confidential support and guidance for our Mental Health First Aider. Learning & Development Undertake administration in relation to staff training including the processing of staff development applications and bookings for internal/external training. Maintain records of compulsory training attendance, for example GDPR, recruitment, first aid, health and safety training undertaken and report on this when. Assist the HR Manager with tracking of one-to-one meetings, following up with managers and advising the HR Manager & Head of People Development where there are any issues. Deliver and contribute to the develop ment of our Employee Onboarding program Person Specification : Experience of working in a HR or Recruitment Commitment to a high standard of customer service Providing information, support, advice, and guidance to a wide audience Embedding and promoting equality, diversity and respect through all aspects of a role Ability to communicate effectively with people at all levels of seniority in an organisation, both verbally and in writing Ability to organise and prioritise work with experience of achieving agreed targets and working to deadlines Ability to work both independently and with others in a team Adaptable and resilient with the capability to handle changing situations. Experienced and confident user of Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft PowerPoint as well as video conferencing platforms i.e. Teams Pro-active commitment towards safeguarding and promoting the welfare of our people CIPD Level 3 or higher Desirable This role is an excellent opportunity for someone ready to make a meaningful impact on our people strategy and help shape the future of our business. The varied nature of this role requires an individual who thrives in a fast-paced environment, demonstrates precision in their work, and excels in collaborating with colleagues across all levels. What do we offer? Salary of up to £ 25 ,000 up to 10% Bonus. Quarterly Bonus Scheme £40 Monthly Wellbeing Payment ⛱ 24 Days Annual Leave Bank Holidays Off Extra Paid Day Off For Your Birthday Employee Assistance Programme Salary Sacrifice Scheme 5% Employer Pension Contribution We are passionate about growth, we aim to provide every employee with a clear development plan, with regular reviews that enables them to achieve their career goals .