Head of HR | UK & Ireland

ABOUT US

Fund services | Corporate | Capital markets | Private client | Regulatory & Compliance

We help clients succeed by unlocking new value through expertise, trust and scale. We deliver solutions that solve complex challenges faced by asset managers, financial institutions, corporates, high net-worth individuals and family offices.

With a curious mindset, we ask the right questions to get to the right solution, faster. We collaborate to win together, sharing successes and shaping the future of our global business. Our culture of support and recognition provides the tools and opportunities for you to grow, while unlocking the most value for our clients and making your mark with Ocorian.

Expertise: We deliver specialist, tech-enabled solutions for our clients grounded on deep industry expertise.

Trust: We’re a trusted partner to over 8,000 clients globally. We are proud to have long-lasting partnerships with our clients.

Scale: With more than 1,500 colleagues, we operate across 20+ countries, our scale enables us to support our clients globally and locally, providing a seamless client experience across borders and service lines.

PURPOSE OF THE JOB
Reporting to the HR Director for Countries/Functions and HR Director for Service Line, this role oversees the operational delivery of HR services across the UK and Ireland. Ensuring resources are optimised, processes run efficiently, and HR support is aligned with business needs.

MAIN RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and deliver HR support throughout the full employee lifecycle across the UK & Ireland, working closely with HR Directors to drive organisational transformation, support M&A activity, and optimise talent and workforce planning across a population of c.350 employees.
• Act as a trusted HR partner to senior stakeholders, including Country Heads (London, Belfast and 
• Dublin) and C‑suite leaders, building strong, positive relationships and spending meaningful time in the business to anticipate needs rather than react to issues.
• Provide expert HR guidance to managers and colleages, ensuring local policies, handbooks and procedures are up to date, compliant, well‑communicated and easy to access.
• Oversee resourcing and workforce planning for client delivery, including onboarding, attrition, absence management and talent pipeline development.
• Lead on complex employee relations matters, ensuring issues are managed in line with legislation and internal processes, including grievances, appeals, redundancies and performance management (including active involvement in PIPs).
• Use data and evidence (attrition, absence, utilisation, engagement insights) to diagnose people challenges, identify priorities and shape practical, business‑focused solutions.
• Coach, challenge and influence managers to strengthen people leadership capability, drive performance and support the successful implementation of organisational initiatives.
• Act as the local HR expert for the rollout of new people initiatives, ensuring effective execution of plans designed at group level (e.g., organisational design, engagement survey actions, policy updates).
• Lead and coordinate HR operational activity, ensuring high‑quality BAU delivery while remaining agile and adaptable to changing business priorities.
• Collaborate with other HR teams including TA, Reward, HR Operations and Learning & Development
• Ensure HR practices reflect the organisation’s risk appetite, providing clear recommendations and 
• minimising reliance on external legal counsel.
• Contribute to “clean‑up” and reorganisation activity where needed, ensuring clarity, consistency and improved operational efficiency.
• Travel up to twice per month to partner with stakeholders and maintain strong on‑site relationships.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Proven experience operating as a Senior HRBP or Head of HR within a complex, global and matrixed organisation.
• Operates as a hands‑on HR generalist with strong ER expertise; M&A experience advantageous.
• Strong HR generalist background with deep expertise in UK and Ireland employment law, including  managing complex ER cases, grievances, appeals and redundancy processes.
• Comfortable working with senior stakeholders and C‑suite leaders, with strong influencing, coaching and relationship‑building skills.
• HR operational and tactical business as usual experience and initiative implementation.
• Highly data‑literate, with the ability to use evidence (attrition, absence, utilisation, engagement  insights) to forecast issues, identify priorities and shape practical solutions.
• CIPD Level 5 qualified or working towards
• Strong HRIS systems literacy (eg. Bamboo, SmartRecruiters, Microsoft, Oracle).
• Self‑starter who is agile, collaborative and able to navigate ambiguity and change.
• Willingness to travel frequently.

All staff are expected to embody our core values that underpin everything that we do and that reflect the skills and behaviours we all need to be successful.

These are:

• We are CLIENT CENTRIC – Clients are at the centre of our world, and we’re committed to providing expertise and specialist solutions to meet their most complex challenges. 
• We are AMBITIOUS – We aim high. We think and act globally, seizing every opportunity to delight our clients and support our colleagues - wherever in the world they may be.
• We are AGILE – We act on our initiative to get things done for our clients. Our independence gives us the flexibility and freedom to keep things simple, efficient and effective. 
• We are COLLABORATIVE – With a curious mindset, we ask the right questions to get to the right solution, for our clients faster. We collaborate to win together and share our successes.
• We are ETHICAL – We behave with integrity at all times and assume positive intent, building trust through responsible actions and honest relationships.

Equal Opportunities for Everyone

Please let us know if there’s anything we can do to make the process easier for you. You can reach us at [email protected].

We’re an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family or parental status, national origin, or veteran, neurodiversity or disability status.

information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.