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About the Role
We are looking for an experienced and capable People Services Hub - Systems Manager (HR Systems Manager) to lead and develop the People Services Hub Systems team, whilst ensuring the delivery and continuous improvement of our core People systems - predominantly SAP SuccessFactors.
You will manage an operationally focused team of System Co-ordinators, allocating workloads, developing capability, and ensuring high-quality, reliable system support and service. You’ll also act as the key liaison between Digital Services and our technology partners, ensuring effective collaboration on system issues, projects, and upgrades.
This is a critical role in delivering both the day-to-day operational delivery alongside annual system activities such as the SuccessFactors bi-annual upgrades and pay review.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, manage and develop a team of People Services Hub Systems Co-ordinators to ensure excellent service delivery, engagement and capability.
- Build confidence and capability within the team, supporting learning and upskilling in People Services systems, digital processes, governance and best practice.
- Oversee workload allocation, performance management, and resource planning to meet SLAs, KPIs and service quality targets.
- Act as a point of escalation for complex queries and technical issues, using sound judgement to apply policy and system knowledge.
- Promote a customer and people centric approach across all system services and team activity.
- Collaborate with Digital Services and our external technology partner to manage and resolve system issues and ensure timely delivery of fixes, upgrades, and enhancements.
- Lead on cyclical and business-critical activities such as bi-annual SuccessFactors upgrades, annual pay reviews etc.
- Drive improvements in system use, data accuracy, and user experience through collaboration, system updates, and training.
- Ensure system changes are delivered with appropriate governance, documentation, and stakeholder engagement.
About You
Essential:
- Experience managing a team, including allocating work and supporting development in a technical or systems environment.
- Strong working knowledge and hands-on experience with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central.
- Strong understanding of core HR processes and how they are supported by technology.
- Proven ability to lead annual business-critical activities such as system upgrades, pay updates etc.
- Strong relationship-building skills, with experience working across People Services, Digital Services, and external vendors.
- Excellent problem-solving, communication, and organisational skills.
- Able to manage competing priorities and deliver high-quality outcomes under pressure.
Desirable:
- Knowledge of SuccessFactors Recruitment and Onboarding modules.
- Experience working with external tech partners or managed service providers.
Support with your application
If you have any questions, or need support or adjustments relating to your application, the recruitment process, or the role, please contact us on 01908 541111 or email careers@open.ac.uk quoting the advert reference number.
What's in it for you?
At The Open University, we offer a range of benefits to recognise and reward great work, alongside policies and flexible working that contribute towards a great work life balance. Get all the details of what benefits we offer by visiting our Staff Benefits page (clicking this link will open a new window).
Flexible working
We are open to discussions about flexible working. Whether it’s a job share, part time, compressed hours or another working arrangement. Please reach out to us to discuss what works best for you.
It is anticipated that a hybrid working pattern can be adopted for this role, where you can work from home and the office. However, as this role is contractually aligned to our Milton Keynes office it is expected that some attendance in the office will be required when necessary and in response to business needs. We’d expect this to be approximately once per month.
Next steps in the Recruitment process
Interviews are expected to take place in early October.
Early closing date notification
We may close this job advert earlier than the published closing date where a satisfactory number of applications are received. We would therefore encourage early applications.
How to apply
To apply for this role please submit the following:
- Your CV which clearly outlines how you meet the skills and experience for the role
- Complete the additional application questions within our online application form
You can view your progress and application communications when you are logged into our recruitment system. Please check your spam/junk folders if you do not receive associated email updates.
