HR Operations Manager

The HR Operations Lead is a strategic, hands-on leader responsible for overseeing the entire spectrum of HR operations, including recruitment, learning and development, and Employee Relations. This role ensures seamless HR functions, optimising processes, enhancing employee experience, and aligning HR operations with the organisational objectives. The role collaborates cross-functionally to drive operational excellence and foster a positive, productive workplace culture.

Responsibilities

HR Operations Management

• Oversee and refine all HR operational processes, ensuring efficiency, consistency, and compliance with company policies and legal requirements.
• Implement and optimise HR systems and technology to improve workflows, reporting, and data accuracy.
• To lead the management of people data in the HR system and ensure the integrity of information and usage of the system to create efficiencies for the team.
• Produce data and dashboards to monitor key HR metrics and analytics to identify trends, ensure alignment with HR strategy, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• To be the first point of contact for HR advice to customers through ‘The People Department’, HR proposition and escalate any concerns to the HR Director.

Recruitment and Talent Acquisition

• Lead recruitment efforts for all levels of the organisation, ensuring high-quality talent acquisition that aligns with business goals.
• Develop and execute sourcing strategies, manage partnerships with recruitment agencies, and foster internal and group wide talent mobility.
• Ensure a seamless and engaging candidate experience, from application through to onboarding.

Learning and Development

• Working with the HRBP’s to understand the requirements from the Department Heads to establish training needs and implement comprehensive learning programmes that foster skill development and career growth.
• Lead the development and delivery of learning initiatives, including induction, leadership training, compliance training, and employee development programmes.
• Track the effectiveness of learning programmes and adapt them based on feedback and changing organisational needs.
• Support line managers in managing team performance by providing guidance on best practices, assisting with performance improvement plans, and helping set effective goals. To ensure a consistent, fair, and compliant performance management processes, fostering a high-performance culture, addresses under-performance and aligns with organisational goals.

Employee Relations and Engagement

• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on employee relations matters, ensuring fair and consistent application of legislation, policies and practices.
• Lead the resolution of all employee relations issues, including mediating conflicts, conducting investigations, and managing grievances.
• Drive engagement and retention efforts, developing initiatives that enhance employee satisfaction, productivity, and well-being.

Compliance and Policy Management

• Ensure adherence to all applicable employment laws, regulatory requirements, and company policies across HR functions.
• Develop, update, and communicate HR policies and guidelines, balancing regulatory compliance with an employee-centric approach.
• Stay current on HR best practices and legal developments, proactively recommending policy updates to address changes.

Leadership and Team Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop the HR Operations team, fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture.
• Provide strategic guidance and operational support to HR team members across various functions.
• Champion a culture of continuous improvement and professional development within the HR Operations function.
• To undertake ad hoc projects and duties as and when required, to support the needs of the business or to achieve departmental objectives.

Critical behaviours required

Personal profile

Qualifications required 

Essential

• Level 5 CIPD/working towards/or willing to work towards.
• A significant level of progressive HR experience, with a focus on HR operations, recruitment, learning and development, and employee relations.
• Proven experience in leading and scaling HR processes in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.

Desirable

• Degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field; Master’s degree or HR certification (e.g. CIPD 7).

Experience required 

Essential

• General HR experience.
• Previous experience of managing HR administration within the team.
• Experience of training development and delivery.
• People management experience.

Our Expectations

Our Approach to Risk Management

• You will require an awareness of operational and regulatory risk, which may impact on SBG. You will be responsible for reporting to their line manager any risk which may impact on the business.

Three Lines of Defence Risk Management Model

• You will be required to deliver your role competently and comply with the relevant standards and procedures, ensuring that SBG deliver a service where suitable advice is given to the end consumer, which is adequately recorded and ultimately promotes good customer outcomes. This can either be through direct influence or in a support services capacity.

The Consumer Duty Principle

• You will be required to highlight to your line manager procedures and processes that may impact on SBG’s ability to deliver good outcomes for retail customers and/or may lead to foreseeable harm. Where possible and relevant to your department, put forward suggestions that could positively impact the outcomes achieved by retail customers.

Information Security

• You will need to be aware of all information security principles, policies and procedures and ensure these are followed on a day-to-day basis. You will be required to remain vigilant at all times and report any security concerns, suspicions and/or breaches in a timely manner.

As an SBG People Manager you will be accountable to:

• Set clear personal objectives that are SMART and challenging, review objectives and provide feedback regularly in one to ones and formally through the Performance Evaluation Process (appraisal), within the set timescales.
• Manage performance across the team to ensure the achievement of service delivery outcomes.
• Manage any sensitive issues in line with SBG Policies and procedures, including attendance and performance issues.
• Coach and develop your team to ensure they perform at a high level, strive for excellence and maintain appropriate knowledge of the Group’s propositions in line with the SBG values and competency framework.
• Address any training and development needs, ensuring direct reports have a personal development plan.
• Motivate and reward the team to encourage behaviours within the department, which supports the values of SBG.
• Be committed to group corporate citizenship in line with SBG’s CSR policy. Promote and advocate social interaction and encourage support within own department for nominated charities and corporate activities within the community.