People Operations Manager

Bedford is one of Anaplan's largest and longest-running Gold partners, recognised year after year for excellence and innovation. As we grow across EMEA, we look for people who are curious, take ownership and go Beyond the Expected - for one another, for our customers and for our partners.

Our culture is built on partnership, innovation, customer focus, humility and teamwork. If that sounds like you, Bedford will feel like home.

Sitting within the People Team and working closely with the Lead HR Business Partner, you will lead the day-to-day delivery of our People operations across the Group, supporting colleagues across EMEA and India. You will own the employee lifecycle, payroll inputs, benefits, HR systems, people data and policy, while acting as the first point of contact for day-to-day operational People queries.

You will also support managers with routine employee relations casework under the direction of the Lead HR Business Partner, ensuring matters are handled consistently, accurately and in line with Bedford’s policies and processes.

You will have day-to-day supervisory responsibility for one to two direct reports and will drive continuous improvement across our systems and processes across the Group.

Few roles offer this breadth. It will suit a dependable, proactive and hands-on HR professional who is comfortable taking ownership, using their initiative and making an impact from day one.

Reports to: Lead HR Business Partner

Location: UK-based. Remote, with occasional travel

Direct Reports: 1 to 2

• Lead the day-to-day delivery of People Operations across all Bedford entities, ensuring a consistent, responsive and compliant service.
• Provide day-to-day support and direction to one to two direct reports, helping to prioritise workloads, review work and resolve queries.
• Act as the first point of contact for day-to-day People Operations queries from managers and employees, resolving routine matters and escalating more complex or sensitive issues.
• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle, from offers, contracts and onboarding through to contractual changes, family leave and offboarding.
• Coordinate monthly payroll inputs with Finance, and own benefits administration across all jurisdictions, including enrolments, renewals and provider relationships.
• Maintain policies, templates and country handbooks, and coordinate UK visa sponsorship and right-to-work processes with our external immigration provider.
• Maintain the HRIS as the single source of truth and lead system improvement projects that reduce manual administration and improve the employee and manager experience.
• Support internal, client-led and statutory audits, along with data protection and compliance requirements relating to People processes and records.
• Contribute to group-wide engagement, wellbeing, HR and CSR initiatives.

• Under the direction of the Lead HR Business Partner, support managers with employee relations casework, including performance, probation, absence and flexible working matters.
• Provide practical guidance on routine cases, maintain accurate documentation and escalating complex, sensitive or high-risk matters where appropriate.
• Support the delivery of the annual People calendar across the Group, including performance reviews, salary and promotion cycles, engagement surveys and associated action plans.
• Build effective relationships with managers, providing broader People support as required.
• Support the Internal Recruiter and hiring managers with senior, newly created or more complex vacancies, including role scoping, selection and offer processes.

• Demonstrable experience at HR Manager or People Operations Manager level, with broad generalist responsibility across multiple countries and legal entities.
• Experience implementing or significantly improving an HR system, workflow or process automation.
• A strong track record of delivering an accurate, responsive operational HR service across the employee lifecycle, including payroll coordination and benefits administration.
• Strong HRIS capability, with experience maintaining data integrity and improving system…