Senior Manager, Regional HR Operations, UK & Ireland in Reading

Reading office. Hybrid based ICON plc is a world-leading healthcare intelligence and clinical research organization. We’re proud to foster an inclusive environment driving innovation and excellence, and we welcome you to join us on our mission to shape the future of clinical development. At ICON, it's our people that set us apart. As a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation, we are driven by a mission to advance and improve patients' lives through innovative clinical research and technology-enabled solutions.

We are seeking an experienced Senior Manager, Regional HR Operations to lead the delivery of high-quality HR operations across our largest region. Supporting approximately 4,000 employees across Ireland and the UK, you will play a critical leadership role in ensuring an exceptional employee experience, operational excellence, and compliance across a complex and fast-paced environment. This is an exciting opportunity for a senior HR leader who thrives in a large-scale, matrixed organisation and has a strong track record of leading HR teams, driving continuous improvement, and partnering with business leaders to deliver impactful people solutions.

The Role

Reporting to the EMEA Regional HR Operations Director, you will lead a team of HR managers responsible for delivering operational HR support across Ireland and the UK. You will act as a trusted adviser to senior stakeholders, ensuring HR processes, policies, and practices are executed effectively while continuously enhancing service delivery and employee experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of HR Managers and HR professionals across Ireland and the UK.
• Drive the delivery of HR operations across the employee life cycle, including onboarding, employee relations, performance management, policy implementation, and workforce support.
• Partner closely with business leaders to understand organisational priorities and develop effective people solutions.
• Ensure compliance with employment legislation and company policies across Ireland and the UK.
• Provide guidance and support on complex employee relations matters, investigations, and organisational change initiatives.
• Monitor HR metrics, trends, and service performance, using data-driven insights to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives to enhance operational efficiency, employee experience, and service quality.
• Collaborate with HR Shared Services, Talent Acquisition, Reward, Payroll, and broader HR teams to ensure seamless service delivery.
• Support business transformation, organisational design, and workforce planning initiatives as required.
• Foster a culture of accountability, high performance, and customer-focused HR service delivery with the broader EMEA HR managers team.

To be successful in this role, you will ideally have:

• Significant HR Operations or HR Business Partnering experience within a large, complex, multinational organisation.
• Demonstrated experience leading and developing teams, ideally including the management of HR Managers.
• Strong experience supporting employee populations in Ireland, with a thorough understanding of Irish employment legislation and HR practices.
• Experience partnering with senior business leaders and influencing decision-making.
• Strong employee relations experience, including the management of complex cases and organisational change.
• Proven ability to drive operational excellence and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Experience using HR data, metrics, and analytics to inform decision-making and measure performance.
• Excellent stakeholder management, communication, and relationship-building skills.

Preferred Experience

• Experience supporting both UK & Ireland within a regional HR leadership capacity.
• Knowledge of UK employment legislation and HR practices.
• Experience working within highly regulated, professional services, healthcare, life sciences, pharmaceutical, or clinical research environments.
• Experience leading HR transformation or process optimisation programmes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related discipline.
• CIPD qualification or equivalent HR certification preferred.

What ICON can offer you:

Our success depends on the quality of our people. That’s why we’ve made it a priority to build a diverse culture that rewards high performance and nurtures talent. In addition to your competitive salary, ICON offers a range of additional benefits. Our benefits are designed to be competitive within each country and are focused on well-being and work life balance opportunities for you and your family.

Our benefits examples include:

• Various annual leave entitlements
• A range of health insurance offerings to suit you and your family’s needs.
• Competitive retirement planning offerings to maximize savings and plan with confidence for the years ahead.
• Global Employee Assistance Programme, LifeWorks, offering 24-hour access to a global network of over 80,000 independent specialized professionals who are there to support you and your family’s well-being.
• Life assurance
• Flexible country-specific optional benefits, including childcare vouchers, bike purchase schemes, discounted gym memberships, subsidized travel passes, health assessments, among others.

At ICON, inclusion & belonging are fundamental to our culture and values. We’re dedicated to providing an inclusive and accessible environment for all candidates. ICON is committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or in order to perform the essential functions of a position, please let us know or submit a request here.