Senior HR Manager, People Governance and Compliance

Job Description

Thomson Reuters is transforming the way we work, and our Global People Governance & Compliance Unit is at the centre of it, making HR policy, compliance, and risk management simpler, more automated, and more data-driven across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC.

We’re looking for a Senior HR Manager to own People Governance & Compliance across EMEA Continental Europe & MEA, based in Barcelona or Madrid. You’ll be the person HRBPs, managers, and regulators turn to when European employment questions get complicated. You’ll balance hands-on casework (Tier 2) and operational tasks with big-picture policy design, as part of a close-knit regional team reporting into our VP of Global Governance & Compliance.

What Success Looks Like: Consistent, locally compliant HR practices underpinned by clear, well-governed policy; reduced compliance risk, faster case resolution, and clean audit trails; visible progress automating and simplifying governance processes; and recognition as the go-to advisor for HR governance and compliance in the region.

We're at a pivotal moment, transforming the way we work. Here, you'll have real ownership over our EMEA team’s governance and compliance agenda, a genuinely global team, and direct visibility to unit leadership.

Key Responsibilities

- Establish and maintain standardized HR policies that comply with local labour law while allowing local adaptation.
- Manage the policy lifecycle (drafting, exceptions, change log, communication) and interpret global and local policy for the business.
- Monitor employment law adherence across jurisdictions and manage data privacy requirements (GDPR, DSARs, retention) with Privacy & Legal.
- Run internal and external HR compliance audits, and ensure ethical practices.
- Own compliance incident management (triage, RCA, CAPA, closure) and the regional HR risk register, partnering with Legal on litigation and reputational risk.
- Own OHS activities and plans in coordination with site management.
- Set global standards for employee record-keeping and retention, and build and maintain the HR policy library, templates, and version control across the employee lifecycle.
- Document legal research, audit findings, remediation plans, and regulatory filings (e.g., EEO-1, pay gap reports).
- Develop training and communication materials for policy rollouts, and maintain a self-serve knowledge base and FAQ.
- Produce compliance reporting and KPIs for leadership, and oversee benefit provider administration and local payroll inputs.
- Perform compliance due diligence and ongoing oversight for payroll, benefits, recruitment, immigration, and other HR vendors, ensuring data protection, audit, and regulatory obligations are met.
- Review and improve HR data collection methods to ensure appropriate data protection.
- Act as the primary HR contact for local regulators and inspections, and engage government bodies where required.
- Represent the company in legal proceedings and fulfil board-mandated HR responsibilities as needed.
- Partner with the People Advisory team on union and works council negotiation documentation and compliance of agreements.
- Perform compliance due diligence and ongoing oversight for payroll, benefits, recruitment, immigration, and other HR vendors.

Required Qualifications

- Fluency in English, Spanish, and French.
- Significant HR compliance, employment law, or HR governance experience across multiple European jurisdictions.
- Strong knowledge of European employment law and data privacy regulation, with GDPR knowledge essential.
- Proven ability to operate independently in a matrixed, global organization, with a track record of driving process improvement or automation.
- Strong stakeholder management skills and the credibility to advise senior HR and business leaders.
- Based in, or willing to relocate to, Barcelona or Madrid.

Preferred Qualifications

- Fluency in other European languages.

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What’s in it For You?

- Hybrid Work Model: We’ve adopted a flexible hybrid working environment (2-3 days a week in the office depending on the role) for our office-based roles while delivering a seamless experience that is digitally and physically connected.
- Flexibility & Work-Life Balance: Flex My Way is a set of supportive workplace policies designed to help manage personal and professional responsibilities, whether caring for family, giving back to the community, or finding time to refresh and reset. This builds upon our flexible work arrangements, including work from anywhere for up to 8 weeks per year, empowering employees to achieve a better work-life balance.
- Career Development and Growth: By fostering a culture of continuous learning and skill development, we prepare our talent to tackle tomorrow’s challenges and deliver real-world solutions. Our Grow My Way programming and skills-first approach ensures you have the tools and knowledge to grow, lead, and thrive in an AI-enabled future.
- Industry Competitive Benefits: We offer comprehensive benefit plans to include flexible vacation, two company-wide Mental Health Days off, access to the Headspace app, retirement savings, tuition reimbursement, employee incentive programs, and resources for mental, physical, and financial wellbeing.
- Culture: Globally recognized, award-winning reputation for inclusion and belonging, flexibility, work-life balance, and more. We live by our values: Obsess over our Customers, Compete to Win, Challenge (Y)our Thinking, Act Fast / Learn Fast, and Stronger Together.
- Social Impact: Make an impact in your community with our Social Impact Institute. We offer employees two paid volunteer days off annually and opportunities to get involved with pro-bono consulting projects and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives.
- Making a Real-World Impact:  We are one of the few companies globally that helps its customers pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Together, with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world.

About Us

Thomson Reuters informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. We serve professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Our products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions, and to help institutions in their pursuit of justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news.

We are powered by the talents of 26,000 employees across more than 70 countries, where everyone has a chance to contribute and grow professionally in flexible work environments. At a time when objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and transparency are under attack, we consider it our duty to pursue them. Sound exciting? Join us and help shape the industries that move society forward.

As a global business, we rely on the unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of all employees to deliver on our business goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. Thomson Reuters is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer providing a drug-free workplace.

We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law. More information on requesting an accommodation here .

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More information about Thomson Reuters can be found on thomsonreuters.com.