HR Director - Mergers & Acquisitions

Job Details: HR Director – Mergers & Acquisitions

Join Sage as our Director of HR – Mergers & Acquisitions, a high-visibility role where you’ll lead M&A efforts for the People Function-from due diligence to integration. Working directly with senior leaders, you’ll shape the future of our business by delivering seamless acquisitions that enhance the colleague experience and drive strategic growth. This role challenges you to navigate complex acquisitions, aligning diverse stakeholders and addressing risks to deliver financially and operationally cohesive outcomes. You’ll ensure every integration strengthens Sage’s culture while contributing to our long-term success on a global scale.

What’s Unique About This Role?

1. Leadership Collaboration at the Highest Levels: Partner directly with the Executive Senior leaders, shaping acquisition strategies that influence Sage’s future.
2. Global Complexity and Reach: Lead multi-country acquisitions, navigating diverse workforces and cultural nuances to ensure successful integrations aligned with Sage’s values.
3. Be Part of a Market Leader: Join an FTSE 100 company renowned for its innovation, financial stability, and global presence, offering resources and opportunities unique to one of the UK’s most influential organizations.
4. Strategic Impact and Influence: This isn’t just about managing processes-you’ll help evolve Sage’s M&A approach, embedding best practices and driving continuous improvement for long-term success.

Minimum Qualifications:

1. HR M&A Expertise: Extensive experience having led 10+ mergers and acquisitions within or for a global organization, focusing on HR due diligence and integration planning.
2. Industry Experience: Direct experience supporting M&A activities within the People function at a technology company, private equity firm, or within the banking/financial services industry.
3. Leadership and Influence: Demonstrated ability to challenge and drive senior leaders, external advisors, and cross-functional teams, fostering collaboration and achieving strategic goals.
4. Resilience Under Pressure: Exceptional resilience and adaptability to thrive in a demanding, high-visibility, and fast-paced environment.
5. Strategic Planning and Organization: Strong project management skills, including planning, prioritization, and execution, to manage multiple complex projects effectively.
6. Effective Communication: Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, including experience creating reports and delivering insights to C-suite executives.
7. Strategic Relationships: Ability to build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, becoming a credible advisor and influencing decisions to align with organizational goals.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Conduct comprehensive HR due diligence to identify risks and ensure smooth acquisitions.
2. Develop and manage project plans, timelines, and budgets to achieve efficiencies and successful integration.
3. Create workforce integration plans in collaboration with functional leaders, addressing duplicate roles and aligning structures.
4. Partner with Corporate Affairs to design and implement effective employee communication strategies.
5. Work closely with senior leaders to develop integration strategies that maximise acquisition value for Sage.
6. Capture lessons learned from each project to improve enterprise processes for future M&A activities.
7. Build and maintain external networks to stay informed and adopt best practices.
8. Manage retention plans for acquired talent across all M&A projects.
9. Serve as a subject matter expert, providing thought leadership and influencing Sage’s integration approach within the People Function.
10. Oversee the integration of at least two significant M&A projects simultaneously, ensuring operational alignment.
11. Lead global People teams in due diligence and planning, including functional-level discovery sessions with senior management and external advisors.
12. Collaborate with Sage leadership, external advisors, and target organisations on complex integration and separation issues.
13. Support senior leaders in target companies by facilitating their understanding of Sage’s organisation and establishing critical connections to drive success.

Location: Hybrid; 3 days per week of in-office collaboration from our London office

Benefits: We have plenty

1. Generous bonuses and pension scheme: Up to 8% matched pension contribution plus 2% top-up by Sage (8+8+2% = 18% total contribution).
2. 25 days of paid annual leave with the option to buy up to another 5 days.
3. 8 bank holiday days.
4. Paid 5 days yearly to volunteer through our Sage Foundation.
5. 50% income protection.
6. Holiday buy + sell.
7. Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage.
8. Work away scheme for up to 10 weeks a year.
9. Ongoing training and professional development.
10. Hybrid working.
11. Healthy Mind app membership.
12. Access to various helpful memberships for finances, health and wellbeing.

Function: Corporate Development

Country: United Kingdom

Office Location: London

Work Place type: Hybrid

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