People operations director

About the role

The People Operations Director is responsible for leading the operational delivery and continuous improvement of the firm’s People function. The role ensures that people services, systems, governance and operational processes are efficient, scalable, commercially focused and aligned to the needs of a modern professional services business.

The role will lead HR operations, employee relations and policy, reward and people systems/data. A key focus will be driving operational transformation through simplification, automation, technology enablement, and the development of scalable service delivery models including shared services.

This is a critical leadership role within the People leadership team, balancing strategic transformation with operational excellence and risk management.

Key Responsibilities

People Operations Leadership

Lead and continuously improve the firm’s People Operations function across the full employee lifecycle. There’s a real opportunity here to develop a more commercially focused modern people function embracing technology and new ways of working.

Deliver a high-quality, consistent and efficient service to employees, managers and partners.

Establish clear operational governance, service standards and performance metrics.

Ensure operational processes are compliant, well-controlled and fit for scale and growth.

Lead and develop a high-performing operational People team.

Build capability in service excellence, process improvement and data-led decision making.

Foster a collaborative, accountable and customer-focused culture.

HR Operations & Shared Services

Oversee all HR operational activity including onboarding, offboarding and lifecycle management, ensuring legislative and regulatory compliance throughout.

Lead Talent acquisition and development operations processes and administration.

Ensure all associated operational and contractual documentation is maintained and managed, through effective governance.

Design and implement a scalable and commercial operating model for transactional people activity.

Assess opportunities for: workflow automationself-service capabilitydigitisationshared service structuresthird-party/outsourced support models

Simplify and standardise processes across the function.

Employee Relations & Policy

Lead the firm’s employee relations, policy and HR compliance framework, ensuring alignment with UK employment law and business needs.

Ensure consistent and commercially sound management of ER matters.

Oversee development and maintenance of people policies aligned to employment legislation and business requirements.

Monitor ER trends and develop proactive interventions to reduce risk and improve manager capability.

Reward

Partner with senior stakeholders to develop a reward strategy, governance and reporting requirements.

Oversee operational delivery of key reward processes including salary and bonus cycles.

Support reward benchmarking, governance and pay framework processes to support a commercial and client focused reward strategy.

Ensure effectiveness and integrity of reward-related processes and controls.

People Systems, MI & Vendor Management

Lead the firm’s people systems, people data and management information capability.

Drive systems optimisation and improved data quality and insight.

Develop reporting and dashboard capability to support decision-making.

Manage third-party vendors supporting operational delivery and systems capability.

Identify opportunities to rationalise technology and improve efficiency.

What we’re looking for

Key Skills and Experience

Significant senior HR operations leadership experience within a professional services or similarly complex environment.

Experience leading operational transformation, process optimisation and service delivery improvement programmes.

Strong experience across HR operations, people systems, ER/policy and operational governance.

Experience implementing HR technology, workflow automation or shared service models.

Strong understanding of operational risk and governance requirements.

Strategic and commercial thinking with strong stakeholder management and influencing skills

Data and insight-led decision making

Programme and change leadership

Strong people leadership capability

Ability to balance strategic improvement with operational delivery

DirectorPermanentBIRMINGHAMHuman Resources