Senior HR Specialist

About the role

As a Senior HR Specialist you will own the full employee lifecycle for Sodexo Business Services in Portugal, ensuring a smooth and compliant experience from onboarding to off‑boarding. You will act as the primary HR contact for employees and managers, supporting payroll, benefits and HR data management.

Key responsibilities

• Manage onboarding, contractual documentation, employee changes and off‑boarding processes.
• Coordinate payroll execution with the external provider, guaranteeing data accuracy and timely payments.
• Maintain HR administration including employee records, time & attendance, absences, benefits and HR systems.
• Ensure compliance with Portuguese labour legislation, GDPR and internal HR policies, preparing required reports.
• Analyse and report HR metrics such as FTE allocation, bonus calculations and workforce data to aid business decisions.
• Oversee occupational health, insurance, work‑accident reporting and other employee‑welfare processes.
• Provide guidance to employees and managers on HR policies, processes and people‑related matters.

Required profile

• 5+ years of experience in HR operations with strong exposure to payroll and employee administration.
• In‑depth knowledge of labour law, payroll principles, GDPR and HR compliance.
• Proven ability to handle confidential information with high integrity and attention to detail.
• Excellent analytical, problem‑solving and organisational skills.
• Strong communication, stakeholder‑management and negotiation abilities.
• Capacity to work autonomously, manage complex cases and drive continuous improvement.

Required skills

• Experience with HRIS platforms.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
• Familiarity with PowerPoint and the broader MS Office suite.

What we offer

• Hybrid working model with flexible hours.
• Health and wellbeing benefits.
• Opportunities to collaborate across European financial teams.