Darren Buck Email & Phone Number

Braemar, Scotland, United Kingdom

Human Resources Generalist / Business Partner activity for Scotland which includes a five-star hotel (with two Michelin keys) and an award-winning fish restaurant. Activity includes:- employee relations (absence, discipline, performance, grievance)- coaching and advising managers and leaders - policy development and implementation - employee engagement work - internal & external resourcing, talent management, recruitment and selection - mental health & wellbeing - occupational health- diversity and inclusion- contracts and contract variation - training and skills development - supporting staff accommodation- reward and recognition initiatives This role also involves working closely with national and international People Teams on company-wide projects and initiatives such as:- improvements to appraisal and performance management processes, including development of and maximising usage of new software- improvements to onboarding and induction- ensuring proactive compliance with the new UK sexual harassment duty - colleague of the quarter reward and recognition initiative - company communications including blogs and employee newsletters

Inverurie, Scotland, United Kingdom

- Ad-hoc work supporting in the shop- Providing advice and guidance to customers on products and services which includes wines, spirits, beer, cider, accessories, gifts and experiences - Supporting and running entertaining and informative tasting events for groups - Creating and developing wine-related social media content and promotions for the shop, including demonstrations and reviews (Instagram: @vinverurie)

Aberdeen, Royaume-Uni

- Leading on employment-related equality, diversity and inclusion activity for the organisation - Leading teams on a number of HR projects including a family-friendly project and a smarter / flexible working project - Developing policies, procedures and guidance documents - Presenting reports at Committees and Full Council- Supporting some community-related equalities work including consultations on budget proposals - Managing and supporting apprentices and interns - Improving workforce data analysis and automation - Statutory reporting Other work included:- Providing generalist HR support and guidance to employees and managers on the Council's policies and procedures and employee relations issues- Providing HR support for re-structures or organisational changes. This includes business cases and TU consultation- Designing and co-ordinating recruitment campaigns for roles including hard-to-fill posts. This includes working with university partners and designing initiatives to cover skills shortages- Reviewing and revamping the council’s employer brand and social media presence for recruitment purposes- Organising and attending recruitment fairs- Designing and implementing a new, more digital internal movement procedure.- Revamping and delivering recruitment and selection training and corporate induction- Undertaking job analysis and job evaluation- Leadership and management development, including developing a programme for underrepresented groups - Developing internal communications - Administering and analysing psychometrics (SHL) - Supporting digital transformation and digital age leadership development across the organisation.- Delivering employability lessons to school pupils- Supporting and facilitating employee networks -Working on the Covid-19 incident management team, developing strategies for staffing - Emergency response activity (e.g. storm response, royal events)

Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom

This was a maternity cover where I stepped into the senior management role. I had line management responsibility for 5 People and Organisational Development Advisors and 1 People Development Co-Ordinator. This was a strategic role where I had responsibility and accountability over a number of development and culture-related projects including the development of leadership and management development programmes, elected member and corporate team development, development of an organisation-wide capability framework and various other large change and culture projects. The role involved the management of a budget offer of over £800k. In addition, I had service-wide responsibilities such as risk management and input to service design.

Aberdeen, Royaume-Uni

I worked within the HR Service Centre and in particular with the absence/leave team. In this role, I calculated annual leave for new employees or for employees who were changing contracts or who required abatements. I also worked closely with the Council's occupational health provider to ensure a smooth administrative process for those who required to be seen by them. Another aspect to my role was answering queries on a variety of HR issues and I was often the first point of contact for existing, potential or previous employees. Any problems and issues were resolved immediately or were escalated to other teams and departments for appropriate action.Previously, I worked in the recruitment team for the Education, Culture and Sport, Corporate Governance, and Office of the Chief Executive services. The main purpose of my role was to deliver a high-quality experience for the HR Shared Service Centre customers by providing efficient transactional and query-based HR support. This support included responsive administrative duties throughout the recruitment process from advertising vacancies, through to appointing new employees. During these processes, I was in contact with recruiting managers, candidates, third party organisations such as the General Teaching Council for Scotland, and other departments of the Council to ensure that all of the correct documentation and information was provided to allow for a smooth recruitment process.

Glasgow, Royaume-Uni

Working primarily on the shop floor, I showed and demonstrated to customers the products that we had (both Apple and third party) and aimed to ensure that the customer got exactly what they wanted or needed. I then facilitated the purchasing of any products and set them up so that they were ready for the customer to use as soon as they left the store. This role also included answering customer questions and finding the best solution possible to any doubts or problems that they may have been having. I was also a member of the Visual Merchandising Team in store. I worked as part of a great, high-performing team which had as its aim to offer the best service possible to our customers.

Région De Reims, France

I taught a structured English language and culture course to small groups of adults at various levels who were taking the course for various purposes including business and pleasure. I also designed and facilitated conversation classes and grammar workshops for my students, making the most of a variety of learning and teaching methods. I received great feedback about my teaching skills and the student experience in my classroom. I also got excellent results from my students, particularly those I taught in one-to-one lessons. I helped promote new sales offers and ensured customer fidelity by giving the best service possible. I also helped plan and co-ordinate events in and outside of the centre which were often within a certain, specified budget. As a small team, we often exchanged roles when necessary so I also did reception and administration work, answering telephones, greeting students and potential clients and setting up the computers for the students’ lessons.Another activity that I got involved in was the assessment of the English level of employees from a local airport for the purpose of a performance review. I also had experience of delivering lessons outside of the centre at business offices.

London, Royaume-Uni

I worked in particular with Fortean Times where I updated the magazine’s website on a daily basis with new stories that had been sent to the company's email account by contributors. I also updated the website with stories and articles from the previous issues of the magazine using InDesign, CMS and Photoshop. I contacted image owners by email and telephone to negotiate reprint prices. This included private image owners and also organisations such as museums. I also emailed readers and contributors to get correct information for stories and articles. I digitalised the magazine’s phone and address book so that contacts were more easily accessible for staff. I also helped at the magazine’s annual event with ticketing, talking to readers, specialists and contributors, and staffing entry to the lectures and seminars that took place.

Région De Champagne-Ardenne, France

I took groups of high school students and gave oral English lessons. I worked with both general high school students and also the post-compulsory education students who were studying hospitality, catering and tourism management.I also organised special English-speaking events such as an evening at the school's pedagogic restaurant which was attended by the public and the local English-speaking community. I trained the students to explain the menu and wine list, and to take orders in English. I also prepared the students who were studying for their hospitality and receptionist qualifications for an international competition in Sweden that they were attending.This was a year abroad placement, in co-operation with the British Council, that was undertaken during my undergraduate studies.

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), French And Modern Greek Studies, 2.1

Activities and Societies: Social Secretary of the ERASMUS society. Member of the French Society.

Master Of Science (Msc), International Human Resource Management, Pass (68)

Activities and Societies: Student Class Representative (MSc IHRM).Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

Modern Greek Language, B2

Four-week summer school improving my Greek language level.

A Levels, French, Law, Media Studies, General Studies, A, A, A, B