Process Engineering Lead, People - 12 Month FTC in Woking

At McLaren Racing, performance is engineered into every detail. We’re looking for a People Process Lead to design, standardise, and improve our major People processes across the employee lifecycle; ensuring they are Workday‑optimised, automation‑ready, and capable of scaling with AI. This role will help shape leaner, more agile People journeys and deliver a step‑change improvement in employee, manager, and People experience through self‑service, faster resolution, and fewer manual interventions. This is a 12‑month Fixed Term Contract role, ideal for someone who thrives in a high‑pace environment and can quickly diagnose what’s slowing things down, redesign processes for performance, and embed sustainable ways of working.

Principal Accountabilities

• Process Ownership & Optimisation: Map, diagnose and redesign end‑to‑end People processes across the employee lifecycle, removing waste and reducing friction (e.g., recruitment/onboarding, contract lifecycle changes, reward administration, performance processes, leavers/off‑boarding). Define future‑state processes with clear rules, data requirements, controls, and exception paths to enable workflow automation and scalable self‑service. Remove duplication and unnecessary handoffs; streamline approvals while maintaining appropriate governance. Translate process design into clear requirements and support adoption through change impact and stakeholder engagement.
• Governance, Compliance & Controls: Establish clear process ownership, decision rights, SOPs, and controls (including exception handling and escalation routes). Ensure processes remain compliant with employment legislation, data standards, and internal governance expectations in a high‑visibility environment. Maintain documentation that stands up to audit and supports consistent execution. Support the design and implementation of our Target Operating Model (TOM) based on future‑state processes.
• Continuous Improvement & Insight: Use data (cycle time, error rates, volumes, rework) to identify bottlenecks and prioritise improvement work that has the biggest operational impact. Lead root‑cause analysis and drive corrective actions; embed “right first time” ways of working. Create simple performance dashboards / KPIs for process health and service outcomes.
• People Technology Enablement: Build AI readiness into People processes (standardised taxonomy, knowledge quality, safe augmentations like routing/assistants), supporting responsible adoption and governance. Partner with our Workday Product Owner to translate process designs into implementable requirements (workflows, forms, integrations, case management, knowledge). Partner with IT and Finance to ensure systems and workflows reflect the intended processes. Identify opportunities for automation (workflows/self‑service), reducing manual processing and improving employee/manager experience.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Work closely with People Partners, CoEs and functional leaders to convert business needs into workable, consistent processes. Build credibility quickly and influence stakeholders to adopt standardised ways of working. Drive change adoption through stakeholder engagement, training, documentation and communications.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Strong HR operations/process expertise with proven process improvement delivery e.g., experience in Lean / Lean Six Sigma/Agile methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to design automation‑ready workflows and work effectively with Workday HCM and service delivery tools (case management, portals, knowledge bases).
• Data‑driven problem solver with strong stakeholder management and change capability.
• AI literacy in HR service contexts.

Personal Attributes

• Highly analytical and naturally curious – not afraid to challenge the status quo.
• Collaboration is a core tenant.
• Change‑orientated and adaptable.
• Structured and detail‑oriented.
• Continuous improvement mindset.
• Delivery focused.

What success looks like (during the FTC)

• Reduced cycle times and eliminated avoidable process variation in priority areas.
• Improved accuracy and reduced rework (e.g., contracts, changes, reward admin).
• Implemented/embedded clear SOPs, governance and process ownership.
• Increased self‑service/automation adoption where appropriate.
• Left behind a sustainable framework for ongoing improvement (documentation + KPIs + handover).

What McLaren can offer

We encourage and support diversity, equity and inclusion, actively promoting a culture that values difference and eliminates discrimination in our workplace. McLaren Racing is based at the iconic McLaren Technology Centre (MTC) near Woking. Here at McLaren, we offer hybrid working with 3 days a week based in the MTC, a state‑of‑the‑art sustainable campus with facilities including a gym, restaurant and indoor and outdoor break‑out areas, as well as direct access to park and common land. The MTC is connected to Woking mainline station via regular shuttle buses, from which London Waterloo is a 30 minute train ride. We offer a comprehensive package of benefits including private healthcare, car schemes, life insurance and generous pension contributions.