HR Shared Services Team Lead

Location/s: Glasgow, UK
Recruiter contact: Steven Johnston

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices. 

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual. 

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the business unit  
Mott MacDonald’s support services are the driving force behind our organisation enabling us to run efficiently and effectively. The team works collaboratively to offer specialist advice, best practice and technology to all areas of our business specifically designed for our global reach.  

Overview of the role

We are seeking an HR Shared Services Team Lead to support and develop colleagues within a high-volume HR Shared Services (HRSS) team, while contributing to the ongoing development of the HR Shared Services Centre (HRSSC). 

This role supports the delivery of an efficient, high-quality service and helps ensure a consistent, customer-focused experience that meets service level agreements (SLAs). Continuous improvement is a key focus, ensuring the service continues to meet business needs while maximising efficiency.

The HR Shared Services team supports employees throughout their entire employee lifecycle at Mott MacDonald. This includes onboarding new hires by coordinating pre-employment background checks, right-to-work and likeness checks, referral payments, and probation monitoring.

The team delivers a wide range of HR services during employment, including processing changes to terms and conditions such as flexible working requests, internal offers and transfers, and supporting a variety of leave requests (including maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental leave and sabbaticals). The HRSS team also manage references, benefit support, company sick pay monitoring, talent mobility activity, and offboarding processes. In addition, the team supports the wider business through activities such as producing ad-hoc reports and contributing to internal and external audits.

The team operates across Manchester and Glasgow, working a hybrid pattern of at least three days in the office each week. Working hours are between 8:30am and 5:30pm.

Travel to the Manchester office will be required in line with business needs, particularly where line management responsibility applies. Both offices are centrally located and easily accessible by public transport.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Support the HRSS Manager in the ongoing development of the HR Shared Services Centre, ensuring compliance with relevant standards, policies and procedures
• Oversee customer-focused administrative and operational activities to ensure service level agreements (SLAs) and key performance indicators (KPIs) are consistently met
• Ensure the accurate processing and delivery of monthly payroll activities, in line with agreed timelines and quality standards
• Promote consistent, high-quality service delivery across the HR Shared Services Centre
• Monitor logged requests and review team outputs to ensure work meets expected quality, accuracy and timeliness standards
• Deliver training, coaching and guidance on HR systems, policies and procedures as required
• Act as an escalation point for complex or sensitive queries, ensuring issues are managed professionally and resolved effectively
• Provide a positive, approachable and professional service to all internal customers
• Support team members to achieve agreed performance standards and service targets
• Hold regular one-to-one discussions to support performance, development and training needs
• Gather feedback from stakeholders to assess service performance and identify opportunities for continuous improvement
• Undertake additional duties or development activities appropriate to the level of responsibility of the role 

Candidate specification

Essential:

• Proven experience of leading or supervising a team, with the ability to support performance, motivation and development through coaching and regular feedback
• Experience working in a high-volume, customer-focused environment, ideally delivering services to agreed service level agreements (SLAs)
• Good working knowledge of HR processes and employee lifecycle activities, including onboarding, contractual changes and leaver processes
• Strong understanding of HR policies, procedures and relevant employment legislation, with the ability to apply these consistently and accurately
• Experience of monitoring workloads and quality of outputs, ensuring work is delivered accurately, on time and to agreed standards
• Demonstrable experience of handling and resolving escalated or complex queries in a professional and customer-focused manner
• Strong attention to detail, with the ability to interpret and work confidently with people data and reports
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships with team members and stakeholders
• Strong organisational and prioritisation skills, with the flexibility to adapt to changing demands in a fast-paced environment
• Commitment to data protection and confidentiality, with experience of working in line with GDPR and information security requirements
• Confident IT capability, including experience using HR systems and Microsoft Office applications

Desirable:

• Experience working in an HR Shared Services or HR operations environment
• Experience of payroll processing or oversight, particularly within a shared services model
• Experience of processing Subject Access Requests (SARs) or working with data access and information governance processes
• Experience supporting organisational change, process improvement or transformation activity within an HR or shared services setting
• Experience of working across multiple locations or managing remote/hybrid teams
• Experience of using case management tools or HR workflow systems, such as Success Factors, Service Now or similar platforms
• CIPD qualification (Level 3 or above), or working towards a CIPD qualification

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working  

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion 

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Employee Ownership

• Our employee ownership model means no external investors, just us, creating a culture of shared success.
• Our employees have a stake and a voice in our business, giving them a direct connection to our success through our personal and group performance bonuses.
• As your career grows, so does your stake, recognising your long-term impact and contribution.
• Your voice matters, with the opportunity to connect directly with senior leadership through formal channels to help shape our future.
• For our senior roles you will have a direct pathway towards ownership from day one.

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

 Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.