HR Technology - Project and Change Senior Manager - UK&I

Senior Manager – Talent Enablement (Technology & Portfolio) | UK&I

Permanent/ Full-time

Level 4: Associate Director

Location: Regions (outside London)

Hybrid working: Some office presence required, plus some travel (circa 1/ month)

The opportunity

This is a unique opportunity to sit at the intersection of Talent Operational Excellence, Technology and Innovation — shaping how we deliver Talent services at scale.

This is a high-impact Senior Manager role within UK&I Talent Enablement, reporting to the HR Enablement Leader, responsible for shaping our Talent technology agenda, driving portfolio clarity, and enabling change to land well across the organisation.

You’ll act as a trusted advisor to senior Talent leaders and stakeholders, combining strategic thinking with hands-on delivery. You’ll bring structure, pace and constructive challenge — optimising processes, turning ideas into clear priorities, and driving measurable impact. You’ll also push thinking on what services and processes we truly need, and whether they add real value.

A key focus is on Talent technology and Talent Operational Excellence: understanding how systems and data connect, where automation and AI can unlock value, and what “good” looks like in a modern, digital Talent function.

What you’ll do

Own the Talent technology pipeline

• Work with Talent Functional Leads and the Enablement Leader to shape and oversee the Talent technology roadmap across UK&I, with strong alignment to global priorities
• Manage the Talent tech demand and intake portfolio, working with Talent teams across UK&I; and Global to assess demand, shape early business cases, triage requests, and prioritise the pipeline in line with agreed principles, capacity and strategy.
• Bring visibility to risks, dependencies and trade-offs to support confident decision-making

Drive portfolio clarity and governance

• Establish simple, effective governance that enables pace without losing control
• Ensure Talent projects and operational activity are delivered within the required governance and control framework, overseeing adherence to key requirements such as Independence/BRIDGE and privacy impact assessment inputs/sign-offs.
• Deliver clear, leadership-ready reporting on progress, investment, risks and performance
• Act as a connector across Talent teams, ensuring consistency, alignment, visibility and shared understanding across priorities and delivery

Enable successful delivery of change

• Support design, readiness, testing, adoption of technology with minimal operational disruption
• You may be involved to be the Change/Project support on one or two projects at a point in time

Lead digital enablement and innovation

• Partner across Technology and Talent to bring innovation into practical use
• Identify and unlock opportunities for automation, AI and smarter ways of working

Embed operational excellence

• Continuously improve how Talent Enablement operates — driving simplicity, consistency and insight
• Use data and MI to inform decisions, track performance and continuously improve outcomes
• Support financial and commercial oversight across the portfolio
• May be involved in Enablement led projects that drive operational excellence across Talent, including on operational processes

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone curious, pragmatic and comfortable operating at pace — who enjoys connecting the dots between technology, operations and people.

• Strong experience in programme or portfolio management within complex, matrixed stakeholder environments
• Experience shaping / supporting technology or transformation portfolios, ideally within HR, Talent or corporate functions
• Confident using data and Microsoft tools to tell clear, compelling stories, translating insight into action and influencing decisions
• A natural operator and advisor — able to shape direction, influence decision making and drive outcomes
• Good understanding of how enterprise systems and data interact, and the ability to connect and improve processes, platforms and outcomes
• Good knowledge & interest in automation, AI or digital enablement, with the ability to identify and help translate opportunities into delivery
• Comfortable managing competing priorities, dependencies and trade-offs, bringing transparency and structure to decisions