Senior HR Operations Manager

Are you passionate about making People processes simpler, smarter and more effective?

We’re looking for a Senior People Operations Manager to play a key role in shaping how our People & Culture services operate. You’ll use your HR Operations expertise to connect the dots across people, processes, systems and data, identifying where things could work better and turning those opportunities into practical, sustainable improvements.
Working closely with colleagues and subject matter experts across People & Culture, you’ll support everything from process improvement and service changes to the implementation of new People systems.

This is a senior individual contributor role with no direct people management responsibility. You’ll make an impact through your specialist knowledge, credibility, influence and hands-on approach, helping us create simpler, more consistent experiences for colleagues and managers.

This role offers hybrid working, with three days per week in our Newcastle office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead the design and continuous improvement of end-to-end People & Culture processes, identifying opportunities to simplify, standardise and improve the colleague and manager experience.
• Translate People policies, regulatory requirements and business needs into clear, practical processes, guidance, controls and operational documentation.
• Provide HR Operations expertise for People system implementations and changes, supporting requirements gathering, solution design, testing, data readiness, go-live and transition into business as usual.
• Maintain strong process governance and controls, including process ownership, documentation, approvals, audit requirements, data protection and compliance.
• Use operational data, feedback and root-cause analysis to identify service improvements, including opportunities for automation, self-service and the responsible use of AI.
• Build strong relationships across People & Culture and the wider business, facilitating workshops, coordinating specialist input and driving agreed improvements through to successful implementation.

What you’ll bring:

• Strong experience within HR Operations, People Services, HR Shared Services or a comparable complex service environment.
• A thorough understanding of end-to-end employee lifecycle processes and the connections between policy, operations, systems, data, controls and colleague experience.
• Proven experience of reviewing, mapping and improving complex People processes, turning policy and business requirements into practical ways of working.
• Experience supporting HR technology implementations or system changes, including requirements gathering, testing, operational readiness and transition into business as usual.
• Strong continuous improvement and problem-solving skills, with experience using data, root-cause analysis and process controls to improve services.
• Confident stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to challenge existing ways of working, coordinate across teams and deliver without formal authority.

It would be great if you had:

• A CIPD Level 5 qualification or above, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Experience working within an Ulrich-style HR operating model or HR Shared Services environment.
• Experience implementing or improving HRIS, payroll, case-management, workflow, recruitment, learning or employee-experience platforms.
• Experience supporting system integrations, data migration, parallel running or service transition.
• Knowledge of service-management disciplines, including incident, problem, change and service-level management.
• Experience using process-mapping, automation, reporting or AI-enabled tools.

If you’re interested in this role but not sure if your skills and experience are exactly what we’re looking for, please do apply, we’d love to hear from you!

Employment Type: Full-time, Permanent.
Location: Newcastle – hybrid working, with office attendance required Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
Security Clearance Level: SC.
Internal Recruiter: Amy.
Salary: Competitive.
Benefits: Up to 10% bonus, £6,600 car allowance, 25 days’ annual leave with the option to buy additional days, private medical, life assurance, pension and a generous flexible benefits fund.

Although this role is advertised as full-time, we believe that flexibility at work can promote work/life balance, increase your motivation, reduce stress and improve performance and productivity. We support different ways of working and can offer a range of flexible working arrangements. So, if you’re interested and need to work flexibly, we encourage you to apply and talk to us about what might be possible.

Loved reading about this job and want to know more about us?

Our business is, first and foremost, about people. And it always has been. The solutions we develop are driven by the connections they make and the problems they solve. Our services only matter if they work for people and if they serve a greater purpose. Known for our collaborative approach, we provide consulting and digital services, creating innovative solutions, at scale, to deliver sustainable growth and services that make life better.

Our work touches many lives in the UK. From helping the Government provide essential public and health services that offer more convenience and choice, to improving financial services to deliver fairer, customer-centric solutions.

Together we are building a better future by delivering real and lasting value.
We are just at the start of what we can achieve together. Come and join us!