Head of UK HR Operations and Technology in Coventry

We’re looking for a results driven Head of HR Operations and Technology (Senior Manager level) to inspire and guide a team of approx. 10+ HR professionals and drive operational and associate experience excellence. You’ll set the vision and strategy for how we deliver simple employee experiences with excellence, while constantly pushing on what’s possible across people, process, and technology. The ideal candidate for this role is passionate about the connection of HR operations and technology.

You’ll drive efficiency across all areas of HR operations; using technology and automation to create seamless journeys and experiences. You’ll also be critical to redefining team scope, operationalising new practices, designing new processes and ways of working as HR strategy evolves; and ensuring resources are leveraged most effectively.

Exploring data for governance, building cases for change, understanding opportunity and risk will be key. The ability to work with senior leader stakeholders will be paramount; ensuring they’re part of the story and journey to drive sustainable service change. You’ll partner with HR strategic teams, risk management, tech teams and business partners to help achieve our goals.

You’ll be fungible enough to work on HR processes in one moment, and be leading teams designing new HR tech capabilities the next.

What you’ll do:

• Spearhead and develop a HR operations function that provides best-in-class services to employees and people leaders.
• Own the product roadmap and strategy, ensuring it aligns with the business and moves us towards continued growth, speed, innovation and improvement.
• Work with partner tech teams to implement change.
• Represent the needs of UK employees to inform our product roadmap, ensuring we are building and delivering measurably improved HR interactions and experiences for our employees and achieving target business outcomes.
• Guide and support the team responsible for delivering the day-to-day operations of core HR services, which includes specialist processing (e.g Payroll), HR Contact Centre and tech.
• Manage, coach and develop the HR Operations team to improve capability, encourage best practice and deliver optimal results that align with business direction.
• Develop, own and report on HR Operations metrics; utilising technology to interpret workforce data, develop and deliver HR operations change in response to business/enterprise-wide change initiatives and ensure the delivery of such initiatives is simple, meets the needs of the business and preserves employee engagement.
• Work collaboratively with HR leadership to ensure coordination of initiatives and optimal use of resources.
• Ensure the highest standards of continuous and operational excellence, driving out complexity in our processes and practices and establishing a culture of continuous improvement within our operations team.

What we’re looking for:

• A thoughtful and proactive people leader with significant experience coaching and developing large teams.
• Great judgement and values, balancing the right thing for our business with the right thing for our employees.
• Previous experience in a large leadership role in HR or in a people focused or operations role and demonstrable results delivering on improvement projects.
• Resilience and excitement towards change, recognising the opportunities it brings.
• Problem solver and critical thinker. Able to design solutions to solve issues.
• Curious. You ask why, you explore, you're not afraid to pursue ideas.
• You’ll have a hunger to learn and be a seeker of new challenges.
• You want to question the status quo; you want to wow our employees with seamless, positive experiences.
• You’re comfortable with ambiguity, and are able to synthesise ideas into meaningful plans for action.
• Communicator & Influencer. You can communicate complex ideas clearly regardless of your audience.
• Do-er. You’re biased toward action. You can get around roadblocks and stay focused on your goals.
• Passionate & Customer Focussed. You care about growing others and bringing them together around what’s possible.
• Team Player. You enjoy working with diverse people and driving the team toward a common goal.

You will own the integrity of our core HR Operations, including payroll, pensions, and benefits, while simultaneously architecting our HR Tech roadmap. You will lead the integration of AI-driven solutions to automate administrative burdens, ensuring our back-office functions are not just compliant, but cutting-edge and scalable.

Stakeholder Influence & Storytelling: Master the art of 'The Why' - you must be a skilled storyteller capable of translating complex operational needs and technical agendas into compelling business cases for executive stakeholders. Success in this role requires the ability to navigate diverse viewpoints, build consensus, and secure high-level buy-in for transformative change.

Life at Capital One UK: We embrace a hybrid approach to work. You'll spend three days a week in the office (Tuesday-Thursday), with Monday and Friday being dedicated work-from-home days. Our offices are designed to inspire and support you. At our Nottingham head office, you'll find an on-site gym, restaurant and dedicated Learning Loft. Our London office boasts a rooftop running track and coffee bar. We invest in the growth of our people alongside our business. You will have extensive opportunities to learn and develop your career, including access to up to £5,000 in funding for external training.

Benefits: Competitive pension and performance-based bonus schemes, 25 days of annual leave, increasing with tenure, private medical insurance, enhanced parental leave.

Capital One is committed to diversity in the workplace.