Senior HCM Portfolio Lead/Manager

For one of our clients, we are looking for a highly experienced Senior HCM Portfolio Lead/Managerto take ownership of the strategy, delivery, and operational performance of an enterprise HCM technology portfolio.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy and Business Partnership

• Partner with Chief P&O leadership and HR process owners to understand strategic priorities, operational challenges, and future workforce needs.
• Own and maintain the annual HCM technology roadmap, including priorities, dependencies, investment requirements, timelines, and expected outcomes.
• Advise senior stakeholders on process design and the effective use of standard platform capabilities.
• Identify and justify appropriate platform changes, extensions, or customizations where required.
• Establish governance for demand management, prioritization, design decisions, risks, dependencies, and benefits realization.
• Translate complex and sometimes ambiguous business requirements into practical, achievable technology plans.

Portfolio Delivery and Solution Ownership

• Lead the HCM portfolio across programmes, projects, enhancements, integrations, and Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM releases.
• Provide end-to-end oversight of solution design, configuration, testing, deployment, adoption, and transition into support.
• Ensure processes operate coherently across the full employee lifecycle, including:
• Core HR
• Payroll
• Time and absence
• Recruitment
• Talent management
• Learning
• Employee and manager self-service
• Govern HCM architecture, integrations, data quality, reporting, security, access controls, and compliance requirements.
• Manage delivery capacity, resource allocation, and dependencies across P&O, IT, Finance, implementation partners, and other enterprise platforms.
• Ensure solutions are scalable, secure, sustainable, and aligned with enterprise architecture standards.

Operational Excellence

• Be accountable for the health and performance of live HCM services, including critical HR and payroll activities.
• Oversee service levels, incidents, problem management, release readiness, and operational risk.
• Lead root-cause analysis and ensure the permanent resolution of recurring issues.
• Maintain clear ownership, communication, and escalation processes for business-critical incidents.
• Use service performance data, user feedback, and process measures to drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, controls, knowledge transfer, support procedures, and business continuity arrangements are in place.

Leadership and Governance

• Lead, develop, and motivate HCM technology teams.
• Hold delivery partners and implementation vendors accountable for quality, timelines, service levels, and business outcomes.
• Provide clear, decision-focused reporting to senior leadership on:
• Portfolio progress
• Key risks and dependencies
• Service health
• Investment and spend
• Delivery capacity
• Benefits and outcomes achieved
• Build strong relationships across technical, functional, and business teams.
• Resolve competing priorities and escalate decisions effectively when required.
• Promote a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and customer focus.

Requirements

Essential Experience and Qualifications

• Significant experience leading an enterprise HCM technology portfolio or a large-scale HCM transformation within a complex, multi-entity organisation.
• Minimum 12 years of relevant experience in HCM technology, ERP delivery, technology portfolio management, or a related discipline.
• Strong understanding of HCM business processes, with the ability to confidently discuss process design, policy, controls, risks, and user impact with senior P&O stakeholders.
• Deep experience with enterprise HCM or ERP platforms, including:
• Solution governance
• Integrations
• Data management and quality
• Security and access controls
• Testing and release management
• Service transition
• Live operations and support
• Proven ownership of a portfolio covering both new technology delivery and ongoing service performance.
• Experience managing cross-functional teams, implementation partners, budgets, delivery plans, and senior stakeholder expectations.
• Strong decision-making and executive communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute practical technology roadmaps aligned with business priorities.
• Experience operating in complex, highly governed, or multi-stakeholder environments.

Preferred Experience

• Hands-on leadership experience with Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM or another leading enterprise ERP/HCM platform.
• Experience across several of the following areas:
• Payroll
• Time and absence
• Talent management
• Recruitment
• Learning
• HCM analytics and reporting
• HCM integrations
• Experience working in healthcare or another large, regulated, and operationally complex environment.
• Experience leading organisational change, user adoption, and business readiness activities.