The Senior Manager, People Operations is accountable for the effectiveness, scalability, and continuous evolution of People Operations service delivery. This leader translates the People strategy into a measurable operating model, leads a high-performing team, and owns complex cross-functional programs across the employee lifecycle. The role combines operational rigor, strong judgment, HR technology expertise, data governance, and a global mindset to improve employee experience while reducing risk and manual effort.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead, coach, and develop the People Operations team with clear ownership, succession planning, capability development, performance expectations, and accountability culture.
- Own the People Operations operating model, including capacity planning, prioritization, escalation frameworks, service catalogs, SLAs, and performance scorecards.
- Translate functional priorities into sequenced roadmaps with measurable outcomes, resource requirements, dependencies, and executive-ready reporting.
- Serve as senior escalation point and decision-maker for complex, sensitive employee operations issues, balancing employee experience, policy, compliance, and business impact.
- Influence cross-functional leaders and drive adoption of standardized processes across regions and business entities.
- Own end-to-end service quality for onboarding, employee changes, promotions, transfers, leaves, and offboarding, including controls and handoffs to Payroll, IT, and Finance.
- Design and maintain consistent global standards while accommodating country, state, and entity-specific requirements.
- Oversee shared inbox and case management performance through team-level metrics, root-cause analysis, self-service enablement, and continuous service improvements.
- Ensure standard operating procedures, employee-facing resources, decision trees, and process ownership remain accurate, accessible, and audit-ready.
- Provide functional leadership for HRIS operations, including UKG Ready, integrations, workflows, approvals, roles, and lifecycle automation in partnership with HRIS specialists and IT.
- Establish controls for employee master data, organizational hierarchy, access permissions, data changes, reconciliation, and downstream system integrity.
- Prioritize and deliver automation, AI-assisted support, and employee and manager self-service initiatives with appropriate privacy and quality safeguards.
- Own operational readiness for system releases, process changes, testing, stakeholder training, and post-launch stabilization.
- Use dashboards and analytics to identify failure points, quantify efficiency gains, and inform leadership decisions.
- Lead high-impact initiatives from problem definition and business case through design, implementation, change management, and benefits realization.
- Simplify and standardize processes across teams, locations, and acquired entities; identify and eliminate redundant handoffs and manual controls.
- Build sustainable governance for process documentation, change requests, ownership, and periodic review.
- Partner with Finance, Payroll, Benefits, IT, and Legal to resolve systemic issues and strengthen operational controls.
- Drive the shift toward a self-service, automation-first, and AI-driven employee experience, transforming People Operations from transactional service delivery to a scalable, proactive, and technology-enabled function.
- Own operational compliance controls, accurate employee records, audit preparation, and timely remediation in partnership with Legal and regional specialists.
- Apply sound judgment to sensitive data, employee matters, access rights, and regional employment requirements; escalate legal interpretations appropriately.
- Set a service culture focused on responsiveness, clarity, empathy, consistency, and effective resolution.
- Support enterprise People programs, including compensation, performance, benefits, engagement, and organizational change through reliable execution and data.
- Keep up to date with and comply with all local legislative requirements. Adhere to company guidelines and the corporate Code of Conduct in an ethical manner when dealing with company assets and other people.
Qualifications
- 8+ years of progressive experience in People/HR Operations, including 3+ years leading major operational programs; equivalent experience considered.
- Demonstrated ownership of multi-state operations and experience working with global or multi-country stakeholders.
- Proven ability to design and scale operating models, lead complex cross-functional change, and deliver measurable service improvements.
- Hands-on understanding of HRIS workflows, data governance, integrations, and operational controls; UKG Ready experience preferred.
- Experience in a fast-growing technology company, distributed workforce, or post-acquisition integration is advantageous.
- Strong people leadership, coaching, delegation, stakeholder influence, and conflict resolution.
- Excellent program management, prioritization, change management, and executive communication skills.
- Analytical mindset; ability to define KPIs, diagnose root causes, quantify value, and make risk-informed decisions.
- Working knowledge of employee lifecycle practices and relevant US employment requirements (including FLSA, FMLA, ADA); ability to partner with local experts on other jurisdictions.
- Comfort with HR technologies such as UKG, ADP, Culture Amp, and SmartRecruiters, and practical application of automation and AI.
- High discretion and sound judgment.
- Commercial awareness.
- Ability to operate effectively in ambiguity.
All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.
Why you'll love working at Nearmap:
We move fast and work smart; often wearing multiple hats. We adapted to remote working with ease and are continually looking at ways to improve. We’re proud of our inclusive, supportive culture, and maintain a safe environment where everyone feels a sense of belonging and can be themselves.
In addition to your annual leave, Nearmap offers:
- 4 extra "YOU" days off each year—take a break, no questions asked!
- Company-sponsored volunteering days to give back.
- Generous parental leave policies for growing families.
- Work from Overseas Policy - explore the world in the approved list of cities while you work!
- Discounted Private Health Insurance plans.
- A Nearmap subscription (naturally!).
Learn More About The Work We Do:
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