HR and Staffing Manager

HR and Staffing Manager - Fixed Term Contract ending May 2027. Newcastle United Football Club, St James' Park, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 4ST. circa £35,000pa + excellent benefits. 40hrs pw. 5/7 Evening and weekend work required - required to work all NUFC home games and events. Free onsite parking.

At Sodexo Live!, we create exceptional experiences at some of the UK’s most iconic venues. We are proud to deliver world-class hospitality at Newcastle United Football Club, St James’ Park, and we’re now looking for an experienced and proactive HR and Staffing Manager to lead our people operations across both Hospitality and Stadium Catering. This is a high-impact, hands-on role, managing a large casual workforce in a fast-paced, event-driven environment. If you thrive on operational challenge, love building and supporting teams, and are passionate about service excellence, this could be the role for you.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for the full end-to-end people and staffing lifecycle, supporting senior managers and operational teams to ensure we have the right people, in the right place, at the right time — for every matchday and event.
• Oversee staffing levels, compliance, training, payroll and HR activity across a 52,350-seat stadium, managing up to 2,000 casual workers and 90 contracted employees.
• Lead recruitment, onboarding and induction for all casual and contracted staff.
• Plan and manage staffing numbers in line with operational demand and budgets.
• Design and deliver training and induction programmes for casual teams and new starters.
• Support Heads of Department with workforce planning and skills development.
• Oversee weekly payroll, rate changes and matchday recharges.
• Ensure full compliance with Right to Work, safeguarding, training and company policies.
• Maintain accurate personnel files, training records and labour systems.
• Manage sickness, holidays, probation reviews and contractual changes.
• Reduce agency reliance through effective recruitment and retention strategies.
• Support matchday operations including staff check-in, incident management and escalations.
• Monitor labour costs, forecast demand and report against budget.
• Liaise with Sodexo Live! teams nationally to share best practice and implement change.
• Provide HR guidance and support to HODs and site leadership.
• Proactively plan staffing for fixtures and events 4–6 weeks in advance.
• Support recruitment events, seasonal campaigns and pre-season training programmes.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in HR, staffing, people operations or workforce management.
• Experience managing large, high-volume workforces, ideally in stadiums, hospitality or contract catering.
• Strong administrative skills with excellent attention to detail.
• Experience of payroll processes and compliance requirements.
• Confident delivering training and group inductions.
• Ability to build strong relationships with senior stakeholders and operational teams.
• Graduate calibre or equivalent professional experience.
• CIPD and/or IOSH qualifications (or working towards) desirable.

What we offer

• Unlimited access to an online platform offering mental health and wellbeing support.
• Employee Assistance Programme including legal and financial advice, support with work related issues or personal issues.
• Access to a free health and wellbeing app with 24hr virtual GP and other services.
• The Sodexo Discounts Scheme (24/7) and/or prepayment cashback card.
• Money Insights and financial benefits via Salary Finance.
• Save for your future by becoming a member of the Sodexo Retirement Plan.
• Death-in-Service benefit.
• Opportunities for career growth and development.
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Volunteering Opportunities.
• Flexible and dynamic work environment.

Sodexo reserves the right to close this advertisement early if we are in receipt of a high volume of applications.

At Sodexo, our purpose is to create a better every day for everyone to build a better life for all. As the global leader in services that improve Quality of Life, we operate in 55 countries, serving over 100 million consumers each day. We are committed to being an inclusive employer and a forces friendly employer. We welcome applications from people with diverse experiences, backgrounds, and identities. We encourage our employees to get involved with Employee Networks such as Pride, Sodexo Parents & Carers, Sodexo Disability, Ability network, So Together, Generations and Origins. We’re a Disability Confident Leader employer. We’re committed to changing attitudes towards disability and ensuring disabled people have the chance to fulfil their aspirations.