Head of Transformation and People Portfolios

Head of Transformation & People Portfolio Manager

Office Location: Triton Street/Hybrid Working

This role will benefit from our Hays Balanced Working agreement so will be based in our Triton Street office and from home. There will be occasional travel to our offices in other locations, as and when required.

At Hays, we believe in being long-term partners with our people as well as our customers. Together, we will work for your tomorrow, and the possibilities are endless.

With over 50 years of business success, we have built a reputation as the world leader in specialist recruitment and workforce solutions. But joining Hays isn’t just about being part of a global business leader; together with over 12,000 people across 33 countries, you’ll be making a difference in the world of work.

Role Objectives:

Reporting directly to the Director of Colleague Experience, Engagement and Change, this role is responsible for ensuring Hays has the right level of overall transformation portfolio oversight and visibility, to support effective organisation transformation, tracking progress and ensuring well-informed decisions are made around sequencing, execution, and risk & interdependency management.

This role will also provide programme and planning expertise for the People & Culture function, supporting the realisation of benefits and delivery of strategic people objectives through effective programme planning and best practice programme/project principles. Finally, the post holder will bring expertise in executing people-impacting change acting as a trusted advisor to the business.

Key Result Areas: Skills and Competencies

Transformation Portfolio Management:

• Champion and implement effective portfolio management for major Hays change programmes, creating a single view across Hays and supporting the effective planning and delivery of organisation change and transformation
• Work with programme stakeholders, developing collaborative and credible relationships to understand their portfolio, including key milestones and interdependencies, and be able to identify and resolve issues
• Manage the overall portfolio set-up, monitoring and reporting, ensuring that this is adequate to enable decision-making at the right level
• Identify, manage and drive resolution of portfolio level risks, reporting on overall costs and benefit realisation
• Ensure a pragmatic but effective approach to the transformation portfolio, providing required oversight and risk management whilst not duplicating or creating bureaucracy and slowing down the business
• Coordinate and prepare agendas, pre-reads and management of actions for the Global Portfolio Lead Steering Committee

People & Culture Function Planning & Change:

• Responsible for the coordination and maintenance of the Global People plan reflecting local, regional and global priorities and ensuring sequencing, resource utilisation and audience impact are taken into account
• Develop first-class relationships with local People & Culture leaders and their teams to ensure a people plan which considers all stakeholders
• Provide insights to the People Leadership Team to support ongoing prioritisation of and successful delivery of all HR projects and programmes, including sequencing, risks & issue management and benefits realisation
• Act as a trusted advisor to the business on the people aspects of change programmes as an expert in this space
• Capacity-dependent, this role may also take the lead on the day-to-day project management of some key People projects

Knowledge, qualifications and experience

• Experience working within a complex change portfolio function, with programme management experience
• Able to plan across multiple time horizons (12 – 18 months)
• Experience of working effectively with risk within a complex change portfolio, with specific expertise in HR and people change
• Recognised qualifications in programme or change management desirable
• Proven track record of acting as a credible advisor to senior stakeholders
• Up to date knowledge and expertise of best practice and current developments in people change
• Excellent interpersonal and influencing skills, able to communicate and partner effectively with a variety of stakeholders up to ExCo level
• Pragmatic and able to deliver in a fast paced, complex environment
• Able to communicate clearly and openly to win support
• Able to problem solve and challenge the ‘norm’ whilst operating to HR best practice guidelines

Skills and Competencies

• Demonstrates behaviours that support and reflect the Hays values
• Collaborative with an appreciation of global/local needs
• Strong intellect balanced by pragmatic, solution-oriented approach with a continuous improvement mindset
• First-class attention to detail
• Excellent personal presentation and communication skills
• Able to effectively manage and influence stakeholders at all levels
• Personal credibility, professional, approachable and outgoing
• Complete discretion and confidentiality
• Good forward-planning, can work under pressure and to deadline

What you will get in return

This is a truly unique opportunity to work in the strategic function of the Hays group business and collaborate with senior leaders to help shape tomorrow together.

In addition, Hays group offer:

• Competitive compensation and reward package
• Stimulating and rewarding work at a time of significant organisational change.
• An inclusive culture built on rewarding success and the opportunity to influence your future career path.
• Flexible hybrid working patterns.
• Broad range of employee wellbeing initiatives and benefits
• Community of internal support networks
• Paid volunteering day for all employees under our Working for Your Tomorrow Initiative

Life at Hays presents the opportunity for growth, varied career paths, exciting challenges and a culture of inclusion that celebrates diversity. As a committed Disability Confident employer, if you’re thinking of a new tomorrow for your career, whatever your background, let’s work together to create it!

At Hays, we share a passion for creating a culture of opportunities for our people to flourish and succeed, whatever your background. We know that diversity of perspective and an inclusive approach, which encourages those experiences and views to be heard, is great for business and therefore your career.