HR Operations Manager

Job summary

The HR Operations Manager is responsible for establishing and maintaining an excellent, reliable and responsive operational HR service for the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD).

The postholder will lead day-to-day HR operations, create clear service standards and controls, coordinate workloads and ensure managers and employees receive accurate, timely and consistent support. The role provides the operational management needed to sustain business-as-usual delivery while embedding improved processes and ways of working.

For further information about the role and GAD, please see the following pack: HR Operations Manager - HR Operations Manager

Job description

Working within HR Services, the postholder will lead the HR operations team and provide first-line operational leadership across the employee lifecycle. They will translate policy and process requirements into practical, documented services that are easy for colleagues to use and for the HR team to deliver consistently.

They will maintain effective triage, case allocation, quality assurance, records and management information. They work closely with HR Business Partners, recruitment and resourcing, pay, policy and governance, payroll and systems colleagues, escalating complex or high-risk matters appropriately.

Person specification

• Lead and coordinate the day-to-day HR operations service, setting priorities and allocating work so that employee and manager queries are handled promptly and consistently.
• Establish, document and maintain standard operating procedures, checklists, templates, decision points and escalation routes across core HR processes.
• Define and monitor proportionate service standards, workflow controls and quality checks, addressing backlogs, recurring errors and single points of failure.
• Provide clear first-line advice and guidance to managers and employees, interpreting HR policy accurately and escalating complex employee relations, legal, payroll or policy matters to the appropriate specialist.
• Lead, support and develop HR Officers, creating clear expectations, effective cover, regular review of workloads and a culture of ownership and customer service.
• Maintain accurate and accessible employee records, ensuring appropriate information handling, audit trails, retention and timely data updates across HR systems.
• Coordinate operational interfaces with recruitment, onboarding, payroll, pensions, HR systems, HR Business Partners and policy colleagues so that hand-offs are clear and controlled.
• Produce concise operational management information on volumes, timeliness, risks, exceptions and service performance, using it to drive corrective action.
• Own operational risk and issue escalation within the service, ensuring urgent employee, compliance or pay-related concerns are identified and acted on quickly.
• Embed processes ensuring ownership, training, documentation and controls are sustained in business-as-usual activity.
• Plan for peaks in demand and staff absence, maintaining resilient service cover and prioritising critical work where capacity is constrained.
• Build constructive relationships across GAD and seek regular feedback to improve the usability, consistency and credibility of the HR service.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Leadership
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Experience of managing or coordinating a high-volume operational HR, people-services or comparable customer service function. (Lead Criteria)
• Experience of leading, supporting and developing colleagues, allocating work and maintaining delivery standards through competing priorities. (Lead Criteria)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,127, Government Actuary's Department contributes £12,204 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

As well as competitive salaries, we offer a substantial package of benefits:

• Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day-to-day work.
• 25 days annual leave per year, increasing to 30 days after 5 years’ service. In addition, we offer 9 days public and privilege days leave per year (pro rata for part time staff)
• Eligibility to join either the civil service pension scheme or a stakeholder pension scheme.
• 5 days of paid volunteering leave
• Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
• Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year.
• Occupational sick pay
• Family-friendly policies such as help with caring responsibilities, special leave, generous paid maternity, paternity, and adoption leave.
• Access to employee assistance programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice.
• The opportunity to join a trade union.
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity.
• Salary advances for travel costs, including annual season tickets and cycle-to-work schemes.
• Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice.
• Complimentary BUPA health check.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Technical skills.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained.
• A Personal statement of up to 500-words explaining how you meet the essential criteria for the role, with particular reference to the criteria provided in the person specification of the JD.

Your CV and Personal Statement will be used to assess the essential criteria listed in the job description.

During the interview you will be assessed on the experience and behaviours listed in the Person Specification and detailed in this advert. The interview will include a presentation, details of which will be sent to those invited to interview.

Application deadline: 2355 hrs on 18 October 2026

Shortlisting: w/c 19 October 2026

Interviews: 29 and 30 October 2026

Interview location: In office (Either London, E14 4PU or Edinburgh, EH8 8FT)

Please apply via our recruitment portal below.

As part of the application form process, please submit your anonymised CV and supporting statement. Please do not email your CV outside of this process as it will not be accepted.

Shortlisting criteria is based on the Person Specification as set out in the Assessment Criteria section of the Job Description. Please ensure you provide examples of how you meet the Assessment Criteria; a strong application will also demonstrate that you meet the required criteria that are identified as key for this role. Applications will be shortlisted in line with the essential criteria for the role. The desirable criteria will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates. Behaviours will be assessed at sift and interview stage. Candidates who are successful at shortlist will be contacted as soon as possible and advised of the interview process and assessment (exact times and dates will also be confirmed).

A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : GAD Recruitment Team
• Email : recruitment@gad.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@gad.gov.uk

Further information

The Government Actuary’s Department’s recruitment processes are underpinned by the recruitment principles of the Civil Service Commissioner, which outline that selection for appointment be made on merit on the basis of fair and open competition http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/civil-service-recruitm… If you feel at any time your application has not been treated in accordance with the values in the Civil Service Code and/or if you feel the recruitment has been conducted in such a way that conflicts with the Civil Service Commissioner’s Recruitment Principles, you may make a complaint, by contacting recruitment@gad.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commissioners.

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/government-actuarys-department

Attachments

HR Operations Manager (HEO) - Job Description Opens in new window (pdf, 573kB)