HR Operations Manager

Place Partnership is seeking to appoint a dynamic, experienced and forward-thinking HR Operations Manager to lead the delivery of high-quality HR operations across our West (Wakefield) and South (Rotherham) Hubs. This is an exciting opportunity for a proactive HR professional to drive service excellence, lead operational improvement, and support organisational change.

The successful candidate will play a key role in ensuring the Trust continues to provide a responsive, compliant, and professional HR service that supports its strategic objective of empowering colleagues to deliver exceptional educational experiences. Working closely with leaders across the organisation, they will lead continuous improvement initiatives, streamline processes, and embed best practice to meet the evolving needs of academies and Shared Service teams across the Trust.

A key aspect of the role will be overseeing the end-to-end recruitment and onboarding journey, ensuring an efficient and effective recruitment service, and providing high-quality support for managers. Strong operational leadership and assurance will be central to the role, with responsibility for effective workflows, high service standards, performance monitoring, and identifying opportunities to enhance processes and guidance. A focus on compliance with safer recruitment requirements, Trust policies and GDPR will be essential, with risks proactively managed and escalated where appropriate.

The postholder will lead the effective implementation and optimisation of the Trust's HR systems (HR MIS), ensuring the accuracy of workforce data and delivering meaningful workforce insights through reports and dashboards that support informed decision-making.

Working collaboratively with colleagues, the ideal candidate will line manage HR Advisors and the Payroll Advisor, providing effective leadership and development opportunities to support individual and team success. They will contribute to the delivery of Trust-wide people strategies, support the implementation of policies and procedures, and lead initiatives that enhance organisational effectiveness and the employee experience.

Contract: Full Time, Full Year.

The successful candidate will be:

• CIPD Level 5 qualified with substantial experience in HR operations, administration or recruitment

• Pragmatic and solutions-focused, with sound judgement and the confidence to drive decisions

• Process-minded and improvement-led, spotting inefficiencies and driving simple, user-friendly ways of working

• Collaborative and relationship-driven, building productive working links across HR, payroll, finance and academies

• Proactive and forward-thinking, anticipating pinch points and putting cross-cover and workflow controls in place

• Digitally confident and data-aware, comfortable working with HR systems and using insight to improve service delivery

• Highly organised and methodical, with the ability to manage multiple priorities, ensure attention to detail and meet tight deadlines

• Professional, discreet, and able to handle highly confidential information with integrity

About Place Partnership

This is an exciting opportunity to join a forward-thinking and ambitious organisation, driven by a genuine passion for the wellbeing, care, and education of young people.

Place Partnership was formed in September 2026 following the voluntary merger of two strong and successful Trusts in South and West Yorkshire: Maltby Learning Trust, established in 2014, and Accord Multi Academy Trust, founded in 2016. At the heart of Place Partnership is a commitment to building a culture where people feel valued, take pride in their place, and hold high expectations because everyone matters. At Place Partnership we are dedicated to providing high-quality education which ensures that every child is given the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

We invest in our people through extensive professional learning and development opportunities, and we recognise that our people are our greatest strength. As such, we offer a comprehensive suite of benefits as part of our commitment to wellbeing and professional growth. Here are a few examples of employee benefits that focus on our employees' financial, physical and mental wellbeing:

• Membership to either the Teachers’ Pension Scheme or the Local Government Pension Scheme

• Technology scheme via SmartTech*

• Access to an extensive discounts platform via ‘Place Plus’

• Access to an industry-leading Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)

• 24/7 access to an online GP or Advanced Nurse Practitioner through Corporate Paid Healthcare Cash Plans

• Access to health and wellbeing services, with the ability to claim money back for essential healthcare such as prescriptions, optical and dental care through Corporate Paid Healthcare Cash Plans

• Cycle to Work Scheme*

• Free, on-site parking at every site

• Trained Mental Health First Aiders in all our settings

*restrictions apply

For full details of our employee benefit package, please see our Recruitment Pack.

Visits are warmly welcomed and can be arranged. For further details regarding this opportunity, for an informal discussion regarding the role or to arrange a visit, please do not hesitate to contact lbinks@placepartnership.com.

Application forms are available from our vacancies website.

Completed application forms to be returned to hr@placepartnership.com.

Closing date: 9.00am on Monday 23 November 2026.

Interviews are expected to take place on Tuesday 1 December 2026.

Based on the quality and quantity of applications received, Place Partnership reserves the right to interview sooner than the specified dates above. Applicants will be notified of this where possible. Therefore, early applications are encouraged.

Place Partnership is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The post is subject to an Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check and checks of the relevant barred list / prohibition lists.

Place Partnership is committed to providing a culture of inclusion, respect and equity of opportunity that attracts, supports, and retains high quality colleagues from all backgrounds and across all job roles.

Candidates will always be shortlisted based on the content of application against the job description and essential criteria without access to the personal details information.