At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead global workforce planning and data analytics to drive Avantor's talent strategy.
- Company: Avantor, a leader in life sciences and advanced technology industries.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, inclusive culture, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Join a dynamic team and contribute to innovative solutions in a global environment.
- Why this job: Shape global workforce strategy and make a real impact on business transformation.
- Qualifications: Experience in workforce planning and people analytics, with strong analytical skills.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 £ per year.
The Opportunity: About Avantor Avantor is a leading global provider of mission‑critical products and services to the life sciences and advanced technology industries, working side‑by‑side with customers at every step of the scientific journey to enable breakthroughs in medicine, healthcare, and technology — serving more than 300,000 customer locations across the globe. As a company undergoing significant business transformation, Avantor is investing in the data capabilities and operational discipline needed to drive sustainable growth. This UK/Ireland‑based role offers the opportunity to shape global workforce strategy.
About the Role As Senior Manager, Workforce Planning & Data Analytics, you will build and lead the enterprise workforce planning capability, ensuring Avantor's global talent strategy is anchored in rigorous data and aligned to its business transformation agenda. You will translate complex workforce dynamics across our business segments into actionable insight for senior leaders worldwide. Operating from the UK or Ireland, you will work across time zones and business units, acting as a strategic partner to global HR, Finance, and segment leadership — bringing the analytical rigour and commercial acumen needed to support a company of Avantor's scale and ambition.
Key Responsibilities
- Workforce Planning & Strategy
- Lead Avantor’s global workforce planning cycle, building supply/demand models across business segments, functions, and geographies.
- Partner with segment Presidents, HRBPs, and Finance to translate business transformation and growth goals into structured headcount and capability plans.
- Develop scenario models to support restructuring, transformation, and strategic redeployment decisions — providing analytical rigour to senior business cases.
- Build the workforce planning methodology, including frameworks, cadence, and governance aligned to the Avantor operating model.
- Monitor the global life sciences labour market trends to inform talent strategy and competitive positioning.
- People Analytics & Reporting
- Own Avantor’s people analytics function — including dashboards, predictive models, and self‑service reporting for HR and business leaders.
- Deliver high‑quality, executive‑ready workforce insight covering attrition risk, DEI progress, productivity, skills gaps, and organisational effectiveness.
- Partner with HR Technology and IT to build scalable data pipelines from Avantor’s HRIS (Workday) and adjacent systems.
- Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Act as a trusted advisor to Finance on FTE budgeting, headcount governance, and cost transformation tracking.
- Present workforce analytics findings in compelling, business‑focused narratives to C‑suite and segment leadership across multiple time zones.
- Champion a culture of data‑led decision‑making across the global HR function.
- Process & Governance
- Establish and maintain data governance standards for all people data, ensuring accuracy and full compliance within legislation and multi‑jurisdictional requirements across Avantor’s global footprint.
- Continuously improve planning methodologies, tooling, and ways of working in line with the Avantor Business System continuous improvement approach.
- Support headcount transparency and governance during periods of organisational restructuring and transformation.
Skills & Experience
- Essential
- Proven experience in workforce planning, people analytics, or HR data roles, with 3–5+ years at manager level within a large, complex, global organisation.
- Advanced analytical skills — proficiency in Power BI/Tableau, Excel, and workforce planning tools.
- Experience in using Workday and Workday Adaptive Experience supporting business transformation, restructuring, or cost optimisation programmes through workforce data.
- Strong commercial acumen with the ability to connect people data to P&L outcomes and strategic priorities.
- Outstanding stakeholder management skills, including confident engagement with C‑suite audiences across multiple geographies.
- Solid understanding of UK and/or Irish employment law, data privacy legislation (UK GDPR / EU GDPR), and workforce reporting obligations.
- Desirable
- Life sciences, biopharma, or advanced technology sector experience.
- Experience working with Workday or a comparable enterprise HRIS.
- Familiarity with external labour market data providers (e.g. Mercer, LinkedIn Talent Insights).
- Experience working across US‑headquartered matrix organisation with European centres of excellence.
- Relevant data or analytics certification.
What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)
- A credible, embedded global workforce planning cycle aligned to Avantor’s annual operating plan and multi‑year transformation roadmap.
- Executive dashboards driving monthly people strategy conversations at segment and enterprise level.
- Headcount forecasting accuracy materially improved, supporting Finance reconciliation and cost transformation tracking.
Senior Manager, Workforce Planning & Data Analytics employer: Avantor
Avantor is an excellent employer, offering a dynamic work environment in the heart of Cambridge, where innovation thrives. Employees benefit from a competitive salary, a strong focus on professional development, and the opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research while ensuring compliance with Health and Safety standards. With a culture that values attention to detail and teamwork, Avantor fosters a supportive atmosphere for growth and collaboration.
