IT Specialist - People Applications
Newcastle Upon Tyne, GB
Location/s: Newcastle, UK
Recruiter contact: Nikki George
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.
Overview of the role
The IT Solutions Specialist – People Applications plays a pivotal role in delivering and managing People systems, including SAP SuccessFactors. This position ensures service continuity and excellence through collaboration with internal teams and external partners, driving continuous improvement across Mott MacDonald’s People platforms.
We are looking for a self-motivated professional who thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment. You will develop a deep understanding of our People systems and their business use, applying strong technical expertise to deliver change and maintain IT services. A proactive approach to learning and rapid, intelligent issue resolution is essential to support Mott MacDonald’s commitment to its clients.
We are committed to building a diverse, inclusive, and high-performing IT and Security function. In this role, you will help nurture talent, drive innovation, and create an environment where people feel supported, empowered, and valued in their mission to deliver outstanding endpoint services.
Key responsibilities:
- Manage and maintain existing People applications within the Mott MacDonald environment, ensuring stability and reliability across systems
- Monitor system performance and availability, proactively identifying and resolving issues to minimise downtime
- Act as the primary IT contact for functional teams regarding People Applications, providing guidance and support for ongoing operations
- Develop and maintain documentation, including SOPs, operational guides, and knowledge base articles for effective system management
- Oversee release and patch management, ensuring updates are applied safely and efficiently without disrupting business operations
- Provide technical expertise to resolve escalated and complex incidents, working closely with support teams
- Conduct regular system health checks and reviews, recommending improvements based on incidents, problems, and performance trends
- Ensure compliance with security and governance standards, applying best practices for system integrity and data protection
- Lead Problem Management activities, including root cause analysis, trend identification, and implementation of permanent fixes to prevent recurrence
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives based on lessons learned from incidents and problems
Personal attributes:
- Ability to prioritise and remain calm under pressure, especially during critical HR periods such as payroll runs, performance cycles, and audits
- Strong attention to detail and commitment to quality to ensure data accuracy, compliance, and integrity in People systems
- Excellent communication, collaboration, and conflict resolution skills to bridge technical and HR teams and manage vendor relationships effectively
- Logical and analytical problem-solving approach with expertise in root cause analysis for People application issues
- Passion for technology and continuous learning, keeping up to date with HR platforms, People application trends, automation tools, and security best practices
- Business and HR process awareness to understand the impact of IT decisions on people processes, compliance, and reporting accuracy
- Risk and compliance mindset to proactively manage risks related to data integrity, security, and regulatory obligations in People systems
Key performance indicators:
- Incident Management: Ensure timely resolution through effective prioritisation, resource allocation, and escalation governance. Drive continuous improvement by analysing trends and reducing repeat incidents
- Service Optimisation: Establish and monitor performance benchmarks, enforce security compliance, and implement cost-control strategies to maximise operational efficiency
- Documentation Quality: Maintain high standards for technical documentation by setting review processes, ensuring accuracy, and promoting knowledge-sharing across teams
- Automation Adoption: Champion automation initiatives by defining strategy, selecting tools, and driving cultural adoption to reduce manual effort and improve consistency
- Stakeholder Satisfaction: Foster strong relationships through proactive communication, clear expectations, and regular feedback loops to ensure positive collaboration and outcomes
- Service Continuity: Oversee continuity and disaster recovery planning, testing, and reporting to achieve a high success rate and minimise business risk
Candidate specification
Essential:
- Proven experience in managing and maintaining enterprise-wide People systems, specifically SAP SuccessFactors and related applications
- Strong understanding of IT change control processes and governance to ensure safe and compliant delivery of changes
- In-depth knowledge of end-to-end service management processes and industry best practices (e.g., ITIL)
- Excellent communication and stakeholder engagement skills for reporting progress, managing expectations, and collaborating with vendors, partners, and internal teams
- Ability to build and sustain effective relationships at all organisational levels, fostering trust and collaboration
- Advanced analytical and problem-solving skills for diagnosing and resolving complex production issues, including root cause analysis and permanent fixes
Desirable:
- Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, HR Technology, or a related discipline (or equivalent experience)
- ITIL V3/V4 Foundation certification or higher
- Formal training or accreditation in SAP SuccessFactors or similar HR platforms
- Experience working within complex, matrixed organisations and managing global HR application support teams, including vendor coordination and SLA governance
- Familiarity with ITIL frameworks and industry standards for service excellence
- Strong understanding of service governance, performance metrics, and continuous improvement methodologies
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:
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.
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.
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.