Director of Operational People Services - City St George's, University of London

Welcome

Thank you for your interest in the role of Director of Operational People Services at City St George’s, University of London.

This is an important appointment for us and it comes at a defining moment for the University. City St George’s brings together two institutions with proud histories, distinctive strengths and a shared commitment to education, research, practice and public impact. As we continue to build our future as one university, the People Directorate has a central part to play in helping colleagues, managers and leaders work with confidence, clarity and purpose.

Since joining City St George’s, I have found a university with great ambition, real pride in its work and a strong appetite for change. I have also found significant demand for a modern People function that can support the University through the next stage of its development. We need to strengthen the operational foundations of our service, create clearer processes, embed better use of systems and help build people management capability across the institution.

The Director of Operational People Services will be central to that work. Reporting to me as Chief People Officer, you will lead a broad and important portfolio spanning People Operations, Employee Relations and Policy, People Systems, Global Mobility, reward and related operational services. You will help us integrate and modernise our approach, shape a stronger service model and ensure that our colleagues receive support that is consistent, timely, well governed and easy to navigate.

This is a role for someone who understands the realities of complex organisations. You will need to balance immediate operational delivery with longer-term transformation. You will bring confidence in employment relations, policy, systems, process improvement and service design, alongside the judgement to work effectively with senior academic and professional services leaders. Experience of higher education, academic processes and a unionised environment would be highly valuable.

We are looking for a leader who will help us move towards a more mature, tiered People service, with greater use of self-service, clearer routes for advice and stronger manager accountability. You will also support the continued implementation of Oracle HR, the development of standard operating procedures and the delivery of a substantial programme of People projects linked to integration, harmonisation and service improvement.

This will be a demanding role, but it is also a rare opportunity to make a lasting institutional contribution. The successful candidate will help build the operational platform that enables City St George’s to support its people well, deliver its ambitions and create the conditions for a positive, inclusive and high-performing working environment.

I hope this site gives you a clear sense of the opportunity, the context and the kind of leader we are seeking. I would be delighted to hear from candidates who are energised by transformation, committed to excellent People services and ready to help shape the future of City St George’s.

Dr Marcelle Moncrieffe-Newman
Chief People Officer

About us

City St George’s, University of London is a leading international higher education institution committed to academic excellence, and focused on business, practice and the professions. Following the merger of City and St George’s – both component parts of the University of London – in 2024, the combined institution now has over 27000 students and is one of the higher education destinations for London students, with excellent research spanning health, business, science and technology, creative industries, law and policy.

Our Values

You will be expected to operate in line with City St George’s workplace values:

We care
We care for each other and for the world around us. We are inclusive, collegial and value diversity.
We learn
We (re)think. We are curious, rational thinkers who make decisions based on the best available information. We are openminded and inquisitive. That means that we are never too wedded to our assumptions. If we uncover new insights indicating that we should change our mind, we do.
We act
We shape the world through our actions. We always act with integrity. When we can change something for the better, offer help, or make a difference, we choose to do so. Change is possible if we have the courage to make it happen.

Our Schools

Bayes Business School
Bayes Business School is a leading global business school, part of City St George’s, University of London. We are known for our world-class business education, excellent research reputation, and our close connections with business. Our faculty members are experts in their fields, producing cutting-edge research with real-world impact. Find out more.

School of Communication & Creativity

The School of Communication & Creativity was established in 2022 and encompasses our Journalism, Media, Culture and Creative Industries and Performing Arts Departments. The School is a socially engaged and politically conscious centre of educational excellence and world-changing interdisciplinary research, which shapes and influences professional practice. Find out more.

School of Health & Medical Sciences

The School of Health & Medical Sciences is a leading provider of education in the fields of healthcare, medicine and psychology, offering a wide breadth of courses. The School combines the previous St George’s Hospital Medical School and City’s School of Health & Psychological Sciences and is now one of the largest suppliers of the health workforce in the capital. Find out more.

School of Policy & Global Affairs

The School of Policy & Global Affairs was established in 2022 and encompasses our Economics, International Politics, Sociology and Criminology Departments. The School is a centre of world-class scholarship, education and public service, making a transformative impact on society. It is also home to the Finsbury Institute. Find out more.

School of Science & Technology

The School of Science & Technology is a diverse, inclusive and multidisciplinary centre housing our Departments of Engineering, Computer Science and Mathematics. The School provides a first class education experience with state-of-the-art research facilities, in a thriving and vibrant London location. Find out more.

The City Law School

Located in the heart of legal London, The City Law School was the first law school in London to educate students and practitioners at all stages of legal education. The School is unique in offering a broad range of courses while remaining committed to excellence in research and professional scholarship. Find out more.

The President’s Office

Deputy President and Provost; Deputy President (Operations)
Vice-Presidents for Education; Digital and Student Experience; Enterprise, Engagement and Employability; Research and Innovation; Development
Office of Institutional Equity and Inclusion
Policy and Government Affairs

City's Strategy

Our top priority is our students’ experience. It is critical to City St George’s future success and requires our collective effort to achieve. We believe students should have the best possible experience while at City St George’s, make positive connections with fellow students and with our staff, and feel they are a valued member of our community.

We will focus attention on excellent teaching and well delivered, timely and appropriate assessment. We will eliminate broken business processes, improve student communication, increase our responsiveness and provide meaningful feedback. We will listen to our students, showing respect and kindness. We are aligning our Professional Services teams to meet these commitments and developing our senior level strategic capacity to ensure we can support the scale of our ambition.

We build successful and fulfilling careers and develop leaders for the world of work

Understanding, celebrating and empowering our students – the students who choose us, and whom we choose – and delivering enriching and personalised educational experiences.
Providing relevant skills, attributes and approaches that enable our graduates to succeed in their future careers and life pathways.
Creating a diverse and vibrant community of learning that reaches far beyond the University and is sustained through powerful networks.

We undertake research at the frontier of practice

Fostering important, impactful and engaged research.
Educating professionals for whom evidence-based thinking is integral to their practice.
Challenging practice and redefining the professions.

We are a flexible, high-performing learning organisation

Building a great place to work that is inclusive, supports well-being and is a fun place to be.
Creating an accountable, socially responsible, efficient and responsive organisation that can deliver this strategy.
Operating a robust and sustainable financial margin that ensures we have the space to achieve our mission.

We are open and outward-facing

Comfortable with partnership and happy with co-creation – the opposite of an ivory tower.
Ambitious, innovative and risk-taking – not afraid to be different.
Embedded in London, a world capital, and proud of our deep connections with the City of London.

The role

Director of Operational People Services (AQ3597)

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Job Description

Job Title: Director of Operational People Services
Job Family: TBC
Department: People
School/Directorate: People Directorate
Grade: 9
Responsible to: Chief People Officer
Responsible for: Head of People Services x 1
Head of HR Policy and Employee Relations x 1
Global Mobility Advisor x 1
Head of People Systems x1

Job Purpose

The Director of Operational People Services is a senior People leader who deputises for the Chief People Officer and provides operational and strategic leadership for the delivery, integration and transformation of People services across the University. The role ensures that People operations, people management practices and governance are aligned to the University’s Vision and Strategy, its Target Operating Model, and its commitments to equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly during a significant period of organisational change and integration.

Reporting to the Chief People Officer, the postholder leads People Operations, HR Policy and Employee Relations, Global Mobility and People Systems holding accountability for transactional HR and customer service delivery, reward and recognition, global mobility and HR projects. The role plays a critical part in ensuring that People services, systems, structures and cultures are integrated effectively, legally compliant and capable of supporting new ways of working.

Through strong senior stakeholder engagement, governance participation and leadership, the postholder drives continuous improvement, operational excellence and a high quality employee experience across the whole institution.

Key Accountability Statements

Being Student/Customer focused
- Set and model institutional standards for operational people service quality, ensuring People Services, Employee Relations and Policy, People Systems Reward & Benefits and Global Mobility deliver consistent, professional and customer focused support that enhances the staff experience while reinforcing manager accountability.
- Ensure People services are designed and delivered around user needs and digital self service, enabling managers and staff to access timely advice, clear guidance and streamlined processes without over reliance on People services intervention.
Planning and organising
- Own the design, implementation and ongoing refinement of the People operational delivery model, ensuring services are integrated, scalable and aligned to the University’s Target Operating Model across all campuses.
- Plan and prioritise People operational capacity during periods of significant change, including post merger integration and system implementation, balancing transformational activity with delivery of safe, legally compliant ‘brilliant basics’.
- Ensure Employee Relations and Policy, People Services, People Systems, Reward & Benefits and Global Mobility operate to clear service plans, milestones and performance measures, supporting resilience, transparency and delivery confidence.
Interpersonal skills (including communicating and influencing)
- Build strong, trusted relationships with the Chief People Officer, Executive Deans, Professional Services Directors and senior academic leaders, enabling constructive challenge, shared understanding of People boundaries and effective people related decision making.
- Influence senior leaders to adopt new ways of working, including digital self service, helpdesk, AI agents, clearer line management accountability and standardised processes, supporting behavioural and cultural change at scale.
- Represent People Operations in institutional governance and cross University forums, providing credible, evidence based input on workforce, capacity and organisational risk.
Problem solving and decision making (including initiative)
- Lead resolution of complex, cross service operational challenges, including post merger alignment issues, system constraints and workforce compliance risks, ensuring pragmatic, timely outcomes that protect institutional integrity.
- Use workforce data, service insight and benchmarking to identify systemic weaknesses, commissioning targeted operational, process or system improvements in partnership with specialist teams.
- Provide senior operational judgement on delivery trade offs during transformation, advising the CPO and Executive on risk, sequencing and feasibility.
Leadership and management (including teamwork)
- Provide strategic direction and line management for Heads of People Services, HR Policy and Employee Relations and People Systems and support operational leads, building a high performing, accountable and delivery focused leadership cadre.
- Ensure clear role boundaries and collaboration between People operational teams, preventing duplication, reducing bottlenecks and enabling each function to operate at the appropriate strategic or transactional level.
- Champion leadership behaviours that reinforce professionalism, service ownership and continuous improvement, strengthening confidence in People Services during a period of sustained organisational change.
Taking Responsibility
- Deputise for the Chief People Officer as required, providing continuity of leadership and accountability for operational delivery, integration activity and governance.
- Hold institutional accountability for operational People governance, including data integrity, service assurance, delegated authority and audit readiness across Employee Relations and Policy, People Services, Reward and Global Mobility.
- Ensure delivery of compliant, auditable Global Mobility and immigration processes, addressing historic fragility and mitigating legal, financial and reputational risk.
- Act as operational lead for People transformation, including post merger integration and Oracle Fusion embedding and modernisation of People services, ensuring services are fit for future state expectations.
Budgetary/Financial Controls
- Own financial stewardship for People operational services within delegated authority, ensuring resources are deployed effectively, aligned to institutional priorities and deliver value for money.
- Support delivery of required efficiencies and savings through service redesign and process optimisation, while safeguarding compliance, workforce stability and service quality.
- Provide clear financial and resource impact assessments to the CPO and Executive, informing prioritisation decisions during periods of constrained capacity and high demand.

Person Specification

Job Title: Director of Operational People Services
Job Family: TBC
Department: People Services
School: People Directorate
Grade: 9
Professional Membership/Registration required (please specify): CIPD
DBS Check required (please specify): No
Security Clearance Check required (please specify): No
Eligible for Sponsorship SOC code (please specify): Yes

All of the following criteria is considered essential and will be assessed by application/interview unless otherwise noted.

Qualifications and Knowledge

Undergraduate degree, or equivalent workplace experience. Assessed by application only
CIPD or equivalent Level 7 HR qualification, or equivalent workplace experience. Assessed by application only
Strong practical knowledge of UK employment legislation, UKVI and Global Mobility frameworks, GDPR, HR Operations, Pay and Reward and enterprise HR governance. Assessed by application only
Track record of leading and developing high-quality, multi-disciplinary HR operational teams within a complex organisation.
Experience of overseeing employee relations, industrial relations, policy, people systems, recruitment and transactional services, reward, benefits or remuneration-related functions through direct or line management.
Experience implementing or operating within a digital self-service model.
Demonstrable experience leading the integration or transformation of People services across multiple systems, structures or campuses, including post-merger or enterprise-wide change.
Experience acting as functional lead or accountable owner for major People systems implementations (e.g. ERP/HCM), translating system capability into sustainable operating models and service design.
Experience of working in the Higher Education Sector. Desirable; assessed by application only

Being Student/Customer focused

Proven ability to lead customer-focused service design and delivery at institutional scale, balancing user experience with governance, systems controls and manager accountability.

Planning and organising

Experience prioritising delivery across competing strategic, operational and transformation demands within constrained resource environments, advising executive leaders on feasibility, sequencing and risk.
Strong project and transformation experience with the ability to manage competing priorities and long-term objectives. Assessed by interview only

Interpersonal Skills (including communicating and influencing)

Excellent communication and influencing including building effective relationships and acting with tact and diplomacy.
Experience of operating effectively within complex governance environments, engaging with a wide range of senior stakeholders and regulatory frameworks.
Experience of working in a unionised environment.

Problem solving and decision-making (including initiative)

Experience of leading service improvement and change initiatives, using initiative to drive innovation and enhance performance.

Leadership and Management (including teamwork)

Experience leading senior HR leaders (Heads of Service) and building accountability, resilience and succession across an operational leadership team.
Proven experience of managing and developing a high performing diverse team.
Experience of contributing to planning and policy development.

Taking Responsibility

Track record of acting as a deputy to a senior executive, exercising delegated authority and providing continuity of leadership and decision-making during periods of organisational change.
Self-motivated and able to lead others with confidence and integrity. Assessed by interview only

Budgetary/Financial Controls

Experience integrating workforce, reward and operational HR decision-making with institutional financial governance and affordability constraints.
Understanding of financial regulations and strategic resource management. Assessed by interview only
Experience supporting or contributing to Remuneration Committee, pay negotiations or sector bench-marking activities. Desirable; assessed by interview only

Our Values

We Care – Demonstrates compassionate and inclusive leadership, fostering a respectful and supportive culture across teams and services.
We Learn – Promotes a culture of continuous learning and reflective practice, encouraging innovation and development across administrative functions.
We Act – Leads strategic change initiatives with integrity and purpose, aligning administrative services with institutional goals and delivering impactful outcomes.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

An understanding of the requirement to seek to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion in line with the University’s Equality Act obligations and the public sector equality duty.

Sustainability

Experience of implementing environmentally responsible approaches.

Special requirements (if applicable)

Occasional travel between campuses
Ability to work flexibly during peak activity periods

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Terms of appointment

Further Information about the role

Salary will be on Grade 9 of the salary scales for Senior Administrative staff.
Annual Leave is 30 days, plus 8 statutory and 4 additional days during the Christmas holiday period.
Automatic entry into the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) with the option to opt out.
All offers of appointment are subject to City St George’s receiving satisfactory references
and medical clearance.
All posts at City St George’s are subject to reasonable adjustment under the Equalities Act (2010).
All appointments at City St George’s are subject to a probationary period.
The appointment is terminable by three months’ notice on either side.
Full details on benefits can be found here

Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Statement

City, University of London is committed to promoting equality, diversity, and inclusion in all its activities, processes, and culture for our whole community, including staff, students and visitors. We welcome applications regardless of age, caring responsibilities, disability, gender identity, gender reassignment, marital status, nationality, pregnancy, race and ethnic origin, religion and belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background. For more information on our approaches to encouraging an inclusive environment, please see City’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Pages.

How to apply

Anderson Quigley is acting as an advisor to the University, an executive search process is being carried out by Anderson Quigley in addition to the public advertisement.

The closing date for applications is midday, Monday 13 July 2026.

To apply, please provide:

A comprehensive CV, including your full employment history, responsibilities and achievements
A supporting statement of no more than three pages, setting out your interest in the role and how your experience meets the requirements of the appointment.

Your supporting statement should address:

Your motivation for applying to City St George’s, University of London at this stage in its development and for taking on this particular operational People leadership role
Your experience of leading complex, multi-disciplinary People, HR operations or shared services functions, including how you have improved service quality, governance, processes and customer experience
Your track record in leading People transformation, integration or major service improvement across complex organisations, including the use of HR systems, digital self-service, standard operating procedures and tiered service models
Your experience of employee relations, policy development, organisational change and working effectively in a unionised environment
The leadership style, judgement and stakeholder management approach you would bring to working with senior academic and professional services leaders
Your initial reflections on how City St George’s can build stronger people management capability, clearer manager accountability and a more modern, consistent and responsive People service.

Should you wish to discuss the role in strict confidence, please contact Ed Pritchard at +44 (0)7980 817 927 or ed.pritchard@andersonquigley.com

Appointment of the Director of Operational People Services