Head of People Services and Systems

Location: Manchester

Salary: £85,000–£90,000

Drive change. Lead transformation. Make a real impact.

Elevation HR have an exciting opportunity for a strategic and inspiring leader to take on the role of Head of People Services and Systems. This is a pivotal position within a major organisation that is actively transforming how it delivers people services – with a clear focus on service excellence, digital optimisation, and data-driven decision making.

This role offers the chance to be part of a dynamic People Leadership Team during a period of significant modernisation. Where your expertise will help shape the future of shared services in a complex, fast-moving, and highly visible environment.

Why join?

This is a unique opportunity to drive meaningful change in a unionised, fast-evolving industry. You’ll be empowered to reimagine the way people services are delivered, influence senior stakeholders, and make a tangible difference across the employee experience.

What will you be doing?

As Head of People Services and Systems, you will:

• Lead and modernise the People Shared Services function, fostering a performance and customer-focused culture
• Define and implement service standards (SLAs), ensuring responsive, high-quality support
• Drive a data-led approach to decision making, owning the people analytics agenda
• Oversee the optimisation of people systems – including the implementation of Workday – in close collaboration with IT
• Deliver strategic continuous improvement by re-engineering end-to-end HR processes
• Programme manage delivery of the wider people strategy, working closely with People Leadership

You’ll lead a small but high-impact team, with two direct reports and influence across a wider group of 15.

What we’re looking for

We’re seeking a confident and forward-thinking leader with the credibility to influence at senior levels and the drive to deliver change. You should bring:

• Proven experience leading shared services or customer-facing operations in a complex, high-paced setting and unionised environment.
• A strong track record in service transformation, HR systems (ideally including implementation or optimisation), and use of data to inform decisions
• Excellent stakeholder management skills and the ability to navigate competing priorities
• A customer-first mindset and a practical approach to delivering insight-led improvements
• Resilience, curiosity, and the ability to challenge traditional thinking

If this sounds like your next career move please get in touch for more information