Manager People & Culture Operations

Tandem Partners; Melbourne; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) seeks an experienced Manager P&C Operations to lead a small team and transform HR operations across the employee lifecycle. The role focuses on centralising P&C delivery, governing systems and processes, and delivering scalable, customer-focused services.

SuccessFactors governance and continuous improvement are core expectations. You will partner with senior stakeholders to implement efficient HR service delivery, automation, and reliable

Qualifications

• Experience leading HR service delivery functions.
• Ability to influence stakeholders in complex organisations.
• Postgraduate qualification and senior-level exposure.

Responsibilities

• Centralise and strengthen the P&C service delivery model.
• Define and manage SLAs for P&C operations.
• Oversee lifecycle activities: recruitment, onboarding, mobility, learning administration and reporting.
• Strengthen governance, service standards and automation in HR ops.
• Provide workforce insights to support decision making.

Skills

People Ops leadership

HR operations

Shared services

Process improvement

Stakeholder management

Data governance & reporting

SuccessFactors

Education

Postgraduate qualification

Tools

SuccessFactors

Job description

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) is one of the world's leading education research organisations, with a proud history spanning more than 90 years. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation, ACER works at the forefront of educational research, assessment and evidence-based improvement, partnering with governments, education systems and institutions across Australia and globally.

With approximately 425 employees across Australia and international locations, ACER is undertaking a transformation to become an organisation that consistently delivers growth, innovation and impact at scale.

Reporting to the Chief People and Transformation Officer, the Manager P&C Operations will play a critical role in shaping and leading ACER's People & Culture service delivery model. As ACER continues to evolve, this newly defined position will centralise and strengthen the delivery of core people operations, ensuring services, systems and processes are scalable, compliant and customer focused across the employee lifecycle.

Leading a small team, you will help to clarify the P&C service propositions and SLAs, simplify, standardise and deliver core operational activities including employee lifecycle administration in areas including recruitment, onboarding, international mobility, learning administration and P&C reporting. You will also take functional ownership of SuccessFactors, strengthen governance and service standards, lead process improvement initiatives and provide trusted workforce insights to support decision making across the organisation. This is a highly visible role that combines operational leadership with strategic improvement, enabling the broader People & Culture team to focus on partnering, capability and organisational development.

We are seeking an experienced People Operations, HR Operations or Shared Services leader who combines strong operational discipline with a continuous improvement mindset. You will bring demonstrated experience leading HR service delivery functions, managing systems and data, driving process simplification and automation and building high performing teams. Equally important is your ability to influence stakeholders, navigate complexity and create practical, scalable solutions that improve employee and manager experiences.

A relevant postgraduate qualification and extensive experience operating at a senior level within complex organisations will be highly regarded.