The HR Manager for the Manila office is responsible for leading the end-to-end human resources function locally while aligning with the global people strategy of Code and Theory. This role will drive talent management, employee relations, HR operations, compliance, and learning and development initiatives in close collaboration with leadership in Manila, New York, and India.
The HR Manager will act as a strategic partner to the Manila leadership team—supporting business objectives, fostering a high-performance culture, and ensuring the office remains an engaging and compliant place to work. The role also supervises the HR/Admin Assistant, ensuring smooth day-to-day administrative operations and effective office management.
WHAT YOU'LL DO- Oversee and administer the local performance management cycle, ensuring timely feedback, development plans, and alignment with global processes
- Partner with local and global leadership on career progression, promotions, and succession planning for key roles
- Collaborate with Resource Management to ensure staffing aligns with business needs and project demands
- Work with recruiting teams (local and global) to address talent gaps, define candidate profiles, and improve hiring processes
- Serve as the primary HR contact for Manila employees, building trust through accessibility, confidentiality, and proactive engagement
- Provide guidance to managers and employees on performance management, conflict resolution, and employee concerns
- Support and help evolve company culture through team-building activities, employee engagement programs, and internal events
- Conduct new hire orientations to integrate employees into the organization’s culture and operations
- Oversee disciplinary actions and terminations in partnership with the Managing Director and legal counsel
- Lead the implementation and management of HR policies, ensuring compliance with Philippine labor laws while aligning with global HR guidelines
- Manage and administer employee benefits, leave programs, and government-mandated contributions
- Oversee payroll coordination with the accounting team, ensuring accuracy and timely processing
- Maintain accurate employee records and data, and manage HRIS updates and reporting
- Review and recommend improvements to policies, practices, and procedures
- Supervise and support the HR/Admin Assistant in handling administrative operations, including office facilities management, business permit renewals, bill payments, bank transactions, and other essential office coordination tasks
- Partner with department heads to assess training needs and design development plans
- Coordinate and implement training programs (local or global), ensuring consistency and quality across all levels
- Support leadership development, technical upskilling, and soft skills training initiatives
- Advise the Manila leadership team on HR trends, metrics, and workforce-related risks or opportunities
- Participate in global HR initiatives and projects, ensuring Manila’s perspective is represented
- Champion diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management, Psychology, Business Administration, or related field
- At least 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, with 3+ years in a managerial capacity
- Strong generalist background with expertise in HR operations, employee relations, performance management, and talent development
- Experience in a fast-paced, project-driven environment (agency or tech environment preferred)
- Proven track record of working with leadership teams and influencing decision-making
- Excellent understanding of Philippine labor laws and employment compliance
- Strong facilitation, coaching, and mediation skills
- Ability to build strong relationships across all levels and offices
- Highly organized with the ability to manage multiple priorities simultaneously
- High degree of professionalism, discretion, and integrity
- Proficiency in Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides), cloud-based collaboration platforms (Slack, JIRA, Confluence), and HRIS platforms
ABOUT US
Born in 2001, Code and Theory is a digital-first creative agency that sits at the center of creativity and technology. We pride ourselves on not only solving consumer and business problems, but also helping to establish new capabilities for our clients. With a global client roster of Fortune 100s and start-ups alike, we crave the hardest problems to solve. We have teams distributed across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. The Code and Theory global network of agencies is growing and includes Kettle, Instrument, Left Field Labs, Create Group, Mediacurrent, Rhythm, and TrueLogic.
Striving never to be pigeonholed, we work across every major category: from tech to CPG, financial services to travel & hospitality, government and education to media and publishing. We value the collaboration with our client partners, including but not limited to Adidas, Amazon, Con Edison, Diageo, EY, J.P. Morgan Chase, Lenovo, Marriott, Mars, Microsoft, Thomson Reuters, and TikTok.
The Code and Theory network is comprised of nearly 2,000 people with 50% engineers and 50% creative talent. We’re always on the lookout for smart, driven, and forward-thinking people to join our team.
Top Skills
What We Do
Code and Theory is a strategically driven, digital-first creative agency that lives at the intersection of creativity and technology. We solve consumer and business problems across the entire customer journey that flex to meet the ever-changing needs of consumer expectations. We put the user, their behaviors and needs, at the center of everything we do — from our proprietary research methodologies, to product development processes, to how we create brand, channel and messaging strategies. Our goal is simple: to solve our clients business problems.
We bring big ideas to life by looking holistically at brand ecosystems where digital plays a prominent role in driving the consumer from first-touch through to conversion to relationship deepening over time. We identify gaps in the consumer journey and opportunities in culture that require products, services or communications to fill. We work across categories, ranging as far and wide as health care (Pfizer, Sanofi, Reach MD, Bioreference Laboratories) to financial services (JP Morgan Chase, Prudential, Morgan Stanley, First Data) to cpg (Mars, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson) to technology companies (Facebook, Xerox, Samsung, Comcast) to culture brands (adidas, H&M). And because our DNA is in publishing — we’ve embedded in over 135 newsrooms in the past decade — we bring unique expertise in understanding how content is created, distributed and optimized, including our work with CNN, NBC News, NBC Sports, and Bustle Digital Group.
At Code and Theory, we strive to only be limited by our own ambition and creativity. We believe in pushing our creativity beyond the easy and obvious answers in order to deliver the solutions that are right for our clients, their businesses, and their consumers.
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