HRIS Lead in City of London

Exciting opportunity with our client to help build global infrastructure and teams from the ground up. This role offers real visibility and impact, allowing you to be part of a well-known global brand at a pivotal moment of transformation and growth.

Role Overview

The HRIS Lead is responsible for designing, building, and implementing a new P&C systems landscape, including a core Workday solution for Castrol while overseeing all HR systems activity delivered under a Transition Services Agreement (TSA). This role acts as the functional and technical Workday expert, leading the end-to-end implementation, migration planning, governance, and transition from the TSA environment into a fully standalone HRIS capability. The role partners with HR, Digital, Finance, and external vendors to ensure a smooth, compliant, and well-governed separation and setup of the new Workday platform.

Key Responsibilities

• TSA Management & Transition
  • Act as the primary HRIS lead for all TSA-related services, ensuring continuity of HR system operations until the new Workday environment is live.
  • Oversee service levels, issue resolution, data access, and system dependencies managed under the TSA.
  • Define and manage the TSA exit plan, including timelines, risks, mitigations, and system readiness criteria.
  • Ensure that knowledge transfer, data migration, and process handover activities are fully completed ahead of TSA exit.
  • Work cross-functionally with HR, digital, and external partners to ensure a seamless transition to the new platform.
• Workday Implementation and New Environment Setup
  • Lead the end-to-end Workday implementation, from requirements and configuration through to testing, deployment, and hyper care.
  • Own the design of the new Workday tenant, including the complete employee lifecycle e.g. HCM, Recruitment, Compensation, Talent, Absence, Time Tracking, and any additional modules included in scope.
  • Partner with system integrators to ensure configuration aligns with business needs and Workday best practice.
  • Lead data migration strategy, ensuring accurate extraction from TSA systems, data cleansing, validation, and load into the new Workday environment.
  • Establish integrations with Finance, Payroll, IT, identity management, and other business systems.
• System Ownership and Governance
  • Act as system owner for the new Workday instance and other P&C applications, responsible for governance, security roles, compliance, and data standards.
  • Develop a scalable and secure HRIS operating model, including processes for change control, release management, audits, and quality assurance.
  • Lead Workday and other P&C applications release management cycles, ensuring new features are evaluated, tested, and deployed effectively.
• Data, Reporting and Analytics
  • Oversee the creation of dashboards, analytics, and reporting frameworks that enable data-driven decision-making.
  • Ensure GDPR compliance, data accuracy, and strong governance across migrated and newly generated Workday data.
  • Act as a key adviser on people analytics and insights as the organisation transitions out of the TSA.
• Stakeholder Management and Collaboration
  • Partner closely with HR, Digital, Finance, Legal, and external vendors to ensure alignment across all phases of the separation and implementation.
  • Serve as escalation point for complex issues during TSA and Workday implementation.
  • Provide training, communications, and capability-building for HR teams and business users as the new system goes live.
  • Drive digitisation and automation throughout P&C function driving increased productivity and efficiency.
• Project and Change Leadership
  • Lead workstreams related to Workday implementation and other P&C applications within a broader separation or transformation programme.
  • Manage project timelines, risks, dependencies, and communications, ensuring successful go-live and adoption.
  • Drive strong change management practices, ensuring new processes, system behaviours, and user responsibilities are well understood.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management, Information Systems / Information Technology (or equivalent experience). Desirable - Workday Certifications, depending on role.
• Minimum 5+ years of experience with HRIS/HR management systems, preferably including Workday implementation or administration.
• Proven track record in HR process design, improvement, and optimisation across multiple HR functions.
• Experience of supporting large scale multi-country HR system implementation.
• Demonstrative experience in change management and process adoption initiatives.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong project management skills, with the ability to plan, track, and deliver complex multi-phase Workday programmes.
• Experience working in divestiture, separation, or TSA environments, with ability to manage risks, SLAs, and cutover plans.
• Change management capability, including user training, communication, adoption, and stakeholder readiness.
• Ability to develop Workday operating models, governance frameworks, and system administration processes from the ground up.
• Ability to translate complex concepts into actionable plans across the landscape.
• Strong presence with exceptional communication skills including presenting and written communication.
• Self-starter comfortable operating independently and at pace.
• Resilient and adaptable in navigating organisational complexity.
• Proactive solution-focused and resilient under pressure.
• Proven ability to work in fast-paced global and cross-functional teams.

What Makes This Opportunity Unique

Help shape the financial foundation of a globally known lubricants brand with strong marketing visibility (including motorsports and OEM partnerships).