Leading a team of professionals, driving innovation, enhancing productivity, and ensuring the seamless operation of critical Corporate business systems as well as building a best-in-class internal application architectureDeveloping & implementing a strategic roadmap for the corporate applications portfolio in alignment with the organisation's overall IT strategyCollaborating with key stakeholders to identify business needs and translate them into actionable plans/initiativesStaying updated on emerging technologies and industry trends, evaluating their potential application to enhance business processesLeading & mentoring a team of application heads and developers by fostering a collaborative and high-performance work culture, promoting professional growth and developmentOverseeing the operation, maintenance, and support of the corporate applications portfolio. Ensuring applications are secure, reliable, and available to meet the needs of the businessOptimising application performance, scalability, and user experience by implementing best practices & industry standardsManaging relationships with application vendors and service providers, including contract negotiation, performance monitoring, and issue resolutionEvaluating new vendors and technologies, conducting due diligence to ensure compatibility with organisational requirementsEstablishing and enforcing policies, procedures, and controls to ensure the security, integrity, and privacy of corporate applications and dataEnsuring compliance with relevant regulations, industry standards, and internal governance frameworks. Conducting regular audits and risk assessments to identify and mitigate potential vulnerabilitiesCollaborating with cross-functional teams, including IT infrastructure, security, and business units, to drive integrated solutionsCommunicate effectively with senior management and key stakeholders, providing updates on application performance, project status, and key metrics

Product owner for the People & Productivity (Workforce Management) ecosystem driving the strategic direction, roadmap, prioritisation, and continual pursuit of new, innovative capabilities and featuresResponsible for collaborating with senior leaders, technology and business subject matter experts and third-party vendors; and to assess feasibility, determine costs versus benefits, prioritize projects and develop and implement systems plansProvided first class advice, guidance & support to colleagues in the People Team and the wider business to ensure they leverage these systems to their maximum capabilityCultivated strong partnerships/collaboration among senior stakeholders, business process owners and to gather information and translate that into a business process/system functionality that aligns with the needs of the business with a stellar employee experienceStrong technical capabilities with the ability to engage in strategic discussions with internal clients throughout the organization and third-party vendorsDelivered data-driven workforce insights to uncover trends, drive action, and inform decisionsBuilt, led, developed, and motivated a high performing, multi-cultural team, reinforcing the organization’s core values and expectations through exemplary behavior, communication, and coaching practicesComplied with internal and external auditing policies and procedures as well as they pertain to HR systems and data. Effectively mitigating risks, including the development and maintenance of strong process & implementation controlsLed the IT team to deliver new solutions and enhance current processes to deliver new capabilities to business partners within a complex organizational structureProvided deep knowledge of HRIS and SuccessFactors solutions and HR business processes Led, developed and maintained a SuccessFactors governance structure aligned with business processes

Leading a global HR Transformation programme involving the design and deployment of standard HR processes, moving the organisation into a self service model and implementing an effective HR Service operating model by adopting good practice; across 27 local markets and circa 90,000 employees.Managing the delivery teams and plans across the people, process, technology and environments aspects that are necessary for the creation and deployment of effective HR Shared Services and Global Standard HR Processes;Led the design and sign off of standard HR processes (employee lifecycle), identified and developed a process governance framework; identifying process owners and key stakeholders as well as obstacles to overcome the achieved outcome;Leading the outsourced and consolidation of HR from 20 local operating companies into 2 Global Shared Services (India and Hungary);Defining the scope of the project workstreams in collaboration with the leadership team and creating detailed work plans which identified and sequenced the activities needed to successfully complete the programme;Delivering value to the programme by demonstrating an understanding of the integration of process, service delivery model, data and technology; articulating project impacts to existing solutions and/or efforts to stakeholders;Manage and influence stakeholders at all levels to ensure they are engaged, informed and consulted during the programme lifecycle by evaluating their interests and establishing an effective communication and stakeholder management approach (balancing local needs with global consistency);Partnering with global, regional and functional heads within HR Service Delivery, Centre of Excellence and Business Partners to proactively determine the most effective and efficient method of delivery of HR services, processes and systems;

Company X undertook a programme focused on implementing a Global ERP solution based on a core SAP System to support front, back and middle office activity. The programme was in place since 2008 and delivered core components with the remaining functionality to be rolled out in Ecuador and Poland in April 2013.Provide an independent assessment of the progress against each of the measurement criteria which involves the analysis, review and presentation of findings in relation to the criteria defined for each programme stage gates;Provision of ad-hoc advice (System Build and Configuration, Integrated Product Testing, User Acceptance Testing, System Training, Business Readiness and Cut Over) to leaders and officers of the programme;Attendance at, and contribution to, key governance forums including Steering and Audit Committee’s;Completion of a programme health check involved the review and assessment of the programme structure, governance, risks, interdependencies and ways of working.Company Y leading a Global HR Transformation programme implementing SAP HCM Solution including a new Operating Model (HR Shared Services and SAP Competency) in the UK, Australia, USA, India and Middle East.Provided assurance to the Programme and to the Programme Steering Group as to whether the programme was approaching the “go-live” in a controlled manner and was managing the potential risks and issues; Identified any programme weaknesses and raised these with management, proposing improvement actions to assist the team. This “early warning” allowed the programme to mitigate risks early and avoid issues; Provided expertise and advice on the validity of the plan to complete and associated cost estimate to complete.

Undertook the overall programme management responsibility of the HR and Payroll Transformation Programme, implementing HR SAP, insourcing payroll and transitioning HR Service Centre from Go-Live, through Warranty Period to Programme Closure. Managing and monitoring programme performance, progress and risk/issue status;Communicating with programme stakeholders to manage expectations on programme deliverables;Reporting programme status to programme Steering Committee;Ensuring all accomplished programme deliverables have been accepted with business sign-offs;Managing internal and external project managers/resources;Managing and preparing cost budgets, timeframe estimates and milestones in conjunction with project plans;Overall management of the remaining roll out phases of Self Service to employees and managers;Maintaining productive working relationships with HR and business units to ensure successful transition to the new environment;HR SAP functional expert within the Finance SAP integration programme assessing impact on HR/Payroll System, GL Files, Organisation Enterprise;Managing the strategic review of all time management systems across npower to assess the feasibility of moving to the Group SAP template.

Lead responsibility of the implementation of the Group HR/Payroll SAP system and processes into npower. ‘Hands on’ and functional expert in the delivery of: PA, Payroll, OM, Self Service (ESS/MDT), Personnel Development, Travel Management, Time Management, Training & Events, BW, Employee Interaction Centre and HR Interfaces.Undertook a strategic review of HR/Payroll requirements and prepared a business case that presented options for the introduction of the Group ‘modern’ SAP system within npower;Responsible for a programme budget of 3.8m;Managed project team of internal resources and external consultants; Led Strategic workshops to determine scope, requirements and process design for the npower template;Co-ordinated with internal IT resources responsible for infrastructure, quality and technical delivery ensuring deliverables were produced to required standard, time etc;Led the business and technical design to integrate all HR systems, interfaces and manual HR/Payroll processesDesigned end-to-end business processes that clearly identified SAP activity as well as hand-offs; Led the payroll/Self Service process review, introducing new processes and forms for all HR/payroll activity; Provided strategic, business and functional input into the group HR/Payroll integration programme;Provided business support at a strategic and systems level within the HR Function;Developed the IT system and support service level agreements;Led the design of a tailored master test approach and plan, managing prioritisation of tests and defect fixes;Designed and managed the data migration strategy and approach into the test and production systems;Responsible for the de-commissioning of existing HR and Payroll systems across the Business.

Led and managed a programme of high volume project activity, which included HR process enhancement, HR systems development and business change initiatives. Created a portfolio of continuous improvement, enhancement and standardisation that derived the efficient performance of HR and the business. Principle accountabilities were:Leading a programme of improvement initiatives, which enabled the continuous enhancement of HR services and opportunities to leverage further efficiencies. Ensured delivery on time and to budget;Responsible for a development budget of 2m;Engaged the business to understand and identify HR service requirements which supported business objectives and led a programme of continuous improvement initiatives relating to HR service and/or business projects;Worked closely with the HR management team to understand key challenges within HR and the business in the short, medium and long term and developed appropriate delivery strategies;Responsible for leading HR change activities, acted as a change agent, building relationships and gaining buy in to solutions to drive the HR function using best practice analysis and business change techniques;Managed re-engineering of operational HR/Payroll processes to support the delivery of first class performance;Ensured 3rd party contracts were managed to deliver efficient, effective services and managed rigorously; Developed and implemented the systems strategy that took account of future systems improvements and inline with Group Strategy. Included gaining sign on and approval process at Senior Management and Board Level;Programme managed the HR Systems implementation portfolio working closely with IT colleagues and the HR business teams. Championed and exploited the development of HR and contact management systems.

Provided HR consultancy, business change and analysis expertise to support both HR and business enabled initiatives. This included establishing and operating within a framework that facilitated the behaviour and style required to initiate and implement cultural change across npower. Key responsibilities comprised of:Responsible for leading HR activities, acting as a change agent, building relationships and gaining buy in to solutions to drive the HR function using best practice analysis and business change techniques;Analysed complex issues, identified drivers and formulated high profile HR enabled solutions;Ensured accurate inputs and controls were put in place to deliver quality change programmes;Challenged procedure and understanding of core processes, organisational design and controls within the business and identified alternative solutions;Worked with practice and project managers to achieve a consistent and cohesive approach to change.

Autonomous position, providing the provision of specialist HR and Payroll advice, transactional support and guidance to managers and employees, ensuring policies and processes are consistently and professionally applied in line with current UK and EC legislation. Key deliverables included: Delivered a consistent and quality transactional HR and Payroll service to the business through best utilisation of HR resources in line with agreed service levels/key performance indicators;Led, motivated and developed HR transactional teams through setting clear standards;Fostered harmonious relationships with the business, working closely with the HR Business Partners;Took prompt action on issues/queries escalated by the operational teams or the business and ensured ownership of the issue through to acceptable resolution;Worked closely with the HR Contracts Manager to maintain strong relationships between 3rd party suppliers;Participated in business service review meetings by reporting on performance of the HR transactional team, reviewing service provision, business operating procedures, quality and opportunities for enhancements;Cultivated a customer focused, exceptional service with a high commitment ethos across the team, closely coaching the team to deliver these objectives and continuously reviewing and identifying development needs.

Principal accountabilities were:Supported Line Managers in providing guidance and advice on a range of issues including grievance, discipline, sickness absence, performance, terms and conditions of employment and legislation.

Member of the HR Consultancy Team at Head Office to provide a consultancy service to external clients (e.g. EMI Music, Vodafone, Britvic, Mitchells & Butlers) and internal staff on all learning and development matters, from training needs analysis through to the delivery of learning solutions. Assignments and Processes I was responsible for: Facilitated internal and external interview, assessment skills workshops and assessment centre days;Created processes, documentation and materials to support internal and external training;Identified and recommended (through conducting a gap analysis) effective training and development needs for employees within the consultancy pool;Designed, facilitated and embedded an internal development process (PDR) for managing the emerging talent and high potential employees within the organisation;Developed a resource/competency pool of candidates through Internet sourcing and advertising campaigns;Implemented and managed the client’s specific careers portal (I-Grasp) which interfaced with their website.

Employed within one of UK’s top Pharmaceutical companies taking on the responsibility for supporting key HR projects. Co-ordinated the 2001-2002 reward and recognition process (3,000 employees).Supported the implementation of SAP HR into 5 UK pharmaceutical sitesReengineered HR policies and procedures in order to ensure alignment with the newly implemented system.