GROUP HR & PEOPLE MANAGER - Cape Town

BUILD THE PEOPLE FUNCTION BEHIND A GROWING GROUP

People make them happen.

As N1 Group continues to grow across construction, plant & equipment, property and hospitality, we are looking for an experienced Group HR & People Manager to build and lead the people function across our businesses.

This is not a role for someone who simply wants to process leave forms, maintain employee files and administer HR policies.

We are looking for someone who understands that great HR means putting the right people in the right seats, setting clear expectations, developing good people and dealing decisively with poor performance.

Someone who can balance people and performance.

Someone who understands that a good organisation can be supportive, fair and respectful — while still maintaining high standards and accountability.

THE MISSION

Your job is simple to describe, but challenging to execute

Help us build an organisation where good people can perform at their best.

You will work closely with the CEO, Division Leaders and management teams to create the HR systems, disciplines and culture required for the next stage of N1 Group's growth.

You will become the central point of accountability for the employee lifecycle across the Group — from recruitment through to exit.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

Recruitment & Talent

You will take ownership of our recruitment process.

That means

Writing and placing vacancies

Direct sourcing and headhunting

Screening applications

Conducting first-stage interviews

Coordinating management interviews

Reference and background checks

Preparing offers and employment contracts

Building and maintaining our own candidate database

Developing relationships with universities, colleges and training institutions

Reducing our reliance on external recruitment agencies

Building succession pipelines for key positions

We want N1 Group to become very good at finding good people.

Contracts, Compliance & HR Administration

You will ensure that the fundamentals are properly controlled

Employment contracts

Employee files

Job descriptions

Leave records

Attendance and absenteeism

Probation

Salary and employee changes

Employee documentation

Policies and procedures

Employment Equity requirements

Skills development administration

BCEA and LRA compliance

Coordination of employee information with payroll

If it involves an employee, there should be a clear process, document and person accountable for it.

Performance & Accountability

This will be a major part of your role.

You will help managers establish clear expectations and then ensure that those expectations are followed through.

You will coordinate

Probation reviews

Performance reviews

KPI structures

Performance Improvement Plans

Poor-performance processes

Written warnings

Misconduct procedures

Disciplinary hearings

Grievances

Incapacity processes

Employee exits

Your role is not to protect employees from managers or managers from employees.

Your role is to ensure that the company acts fairly, consistently, lawfully and decisively.

Labour Relations

We need someone who is comfortable when HR becomes difficult.

You should be able to confidently advise management on

Misconduct

Poor performance

Absenteeism

Grievances

Disciplinary action

Incapacity

Retrenchment processes where required

CCMA matters

South African labour legislation

You must know when management can act — and when management is putting the company at risk.

Developing Our People

Accountability is only half the job.

The other half is helping good people become better.

You will work with management to identify

High-potential employees

Training requirements

Leadership development opportunities

Skills gaps

Career pathways

Succession plans

Internal promotion opportunities

We would rather develop our next manager internally than continually recruit one externally.

Culture

Culture isn't what is written on the office wall.

It is the behaviour an organisation repeatedly accepts.

You will help us build a culture where people understand

What is expected of me?

How is my performance measured?

Who am I accountable to?

Where can I grow?

What happens when I perform?

What happens when I don't?

WHO WE ARE LOOKING FOR

You will probably have

A relevant HR, Human Resources Management, Industrial Psychology or related qualification

Approximately 5–8+ years of practical HR experience

Strong working knowledge of South African labour legislation

Practical disciplinary and labour-relations experience

Experience dealing with CCMA matters

Recruitment and interviewing experience

Experience implementing performance-management processes

Strong administrative and documentation skills

Excellent written and verbal communication

Confidence working directly with senior management

Experience in construction, engineering, manufacturing, logistics, facilities management or another operational environment would be particularly valuable.

Experience dealing with both professional employees and site/operational workforces would be advantageous.

THE PERSON WE WANT

Qualifications matter.

But so does character.

We are looking for someone who is

Fair — but firm.

Approachable — but not easily manipulated.

Empathetic — but commercially minded.

Organised — but able to operate in a fast-moving environment.

Confident enough to challenge management when necessary.

Strong enough to have difficult conversations.

And above all

Someone who genuinely enjoys building good teams and helping good people succeed.

THIS ROLE MAY NOT SUIT YOU IF…

You avoid confrontation.

You believe HR's primary purpose is keeping everyone happy.

You struggle to hold people accountable.

You need every process to already exist before you can operate.

You prefer policy writing to solving real people problems.

You are uncomfortable working with demanding operational managers.

This is a growing entrepreneurial group.

Some systems already exist.

Some need improvement.

Some still need to be built.

You will help us build them.

THE OPPORTUNITY

You aren't joining an established HR department.

You are being given the opportunity to build one.

As N1 Group grows, the person who successfully builds this function has the opportunity to grow with it.

If you believe HR should help build better people, better leaders and ultimately a better business , we would like to hear from you.

APPLICATION

Please submit your CV together with a short motivation answering the following:

1. Tell us about an HR function or process you personally built or significantly improved.

2. Give us an example of a difficult poor-performance or disciplinary matter you managed. What did you do and what was the outcome?

3. How would you reduce a growing company's reliance on recruitment agencies?

4. What do you believe is the correct role of HR when an employee is consistently underperforming?

5. What would your priorities be during your first 90 days in this role?

Position: Group HR & People Manager

Location: Cape Town

Employment: Permanent, Full-Time

Remuneration: Market-related, dependent on experience