Human Resources Operations Manager

Senior HR Operations & Advisory Manager Location: London, City based 3 days p/w Salary: £90,000 - £120,000 + bonus and benefits We're partnering with a highly esteemed Financial services business in search of a Senior HR Operations & Advisory Manager to lead a broad People function spanning People Operations, payroll governance, employee relations, advisory, people systems, data, automation and continuous improvement. This is a senior leadership role for someone who combines strong operational discipline with a genuine focus on employee and manager experience. You'll shape how People services operate across the employee lifecycle, ensuring they are responsive, well-controlled, consistent and increasingly enabled by technology. You'll lead a multi-skilled team, set the service strategy and improvement roadmap, and work closely with senior stakeholders across the business to resolve complex people matters and deliver sustainable change. Key elements of the role:

• Own the operating model, service standards, priorities and improvement roadmap for People Operations, Advisory and HR automation.
• Lead, coach and develop a multi-skilled team, building capability, resilience and succession.
• Be accountable for service performance, operational resilience, colleague and manager experience, quality and timely delivery.
• Oversee People Operations, including joiners, movers, leavers, contractual changes, benefits, records, people systems and consultant lifecycle activity.
• Provide governance and oversight of monthly payroll, ensuring accurate, complete and controlled delivery.
• Lead the People advisory and employee relations service, ensuring advice is timely, pragmatic, fair and consistent with employment law, bank policy and risk appetite.
• Strengthen manager capability through coaching, guidance, tools and learning.
• Own the People simplification and automation roadmap, identifying opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve service quality and release capacity.
• Sponsor and govern the responsible use of automation and AI, ensuring appropriate ownership, testing, security, human oversight and measurable benefits.
• Set standards for People processes, workflows, systems, data quality and management information.
• Own the first-line risk and control framework across the remit, including testing, issue management, remediation and escalation. What we're looking for: You'll bring significant experience leading People Operations, shared services, HR advisory or employee relations within a complex organisation, together with proven experience of leading and developing teams through change. Including the following:
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law, employee relations, payroll governance and colleague lifecycle processes.
• Experience operating within a regulated environment, ideally Financial Services, with a strong understanding of operational risk, controls, audit and remediation.
• A track record of simplifying services and delivering technology, workflow, automation or AI-enabled improvements with measurable outcomes.
• The judgement and confidence to navigate complex and sensitive situations, challenge senior stakeholders and escalate appropriately.
• Strong analytical and communication skills, with the ability to turn service, case and control information into clear decisions and priorities.
• Experience managing third-party providers, budgets or contracts is desirable. Why this role? This is an opportunity to make a significant impact on how the People function operates, combining people leadership, operational excellence, risk management and digital transformation. You'll help build a trusted and resilient People service, strengthen manager capability, improve employee outcomes and use simplification, self-service, automation and responsible AI to improve the way work gets done.