EMEA People Operations Leader

Citadel Securities; City Of London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Citadel Securities in London seeks a People Operations Lead to own high-quality HR operations across EMEA, including onboarding, changes, mobility, payroll inputs and records, with strong governance and data integrity.

You will partner with HR leadership and cross-functional teams to manage relocations, onboarding for new hires, offboarding and compliance while driving continuous improvement across processes.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree strongly preferred.
• Experience with regulatory regimes, including SMCR and remuneration requirements, strongly preferred.
• International exposure and relevant experience supporting EMEA locations preferred.
• Strong HR systems capability; Workday experience a plus.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Excel, with strong data accuracy and reporting discipline.
• Experience working in a fast-paced, results-oriented and highly confidential environment.
• To be eligible, you must have or be able to obtain UK work authorisation.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day delivery of People Operations across onboarding, employee changes, mobility, payroll inputs, benefits administration, employee records and offboarding for EMEA.
• Serve as the escalation point for complex employee queries, process exceptions and time-sensitive operational issues, applying sound judgement and confidentiality.
• Set clear service standards, controls, documentation practices and operating procedures to ensure work is accurate, consistent, timely and audit-ready.
• Partner with HR leadership, HR Business Partners, Recruitment, Compensation, Benefits, Payroll, Legal, Compliance, Finance, IT and external vendors to deliver joined-up regional support.
• Lead HR elements of projects – for example, opening in new locations.
• Global Mobility – Drive international relocations and assignments, coordinating with employees, internal stakeholders and external vendors to ensure a smooth and compliant experience.
• Onboarding – Manage HR onboarding for EMEA new hires, including background screening, orientation, documentation, right-to-work requirements and HR aspects of the SMCR Certification process.
• Employee Changes – Oversee lifecycle changes including transfers, manager changes, promotions, contract amendments, leave events and employee data updates across systems and payroll inputs.
• Offboarding – Manage voluntary leaver processes, including exit paperwork, exit interviews, system updates and accurate final payroll and benefits inputs.
• Partner with Recruiting and hiring managers to support a seamless candidate-to-employee transition, with timely documentation, approvals and onboarding handover.
• Understand the Remuneration Code for the UK and relevant European locations, helping navigate unique offer structures, role‑specific considerations and candidate requirements.
• Partner with the US-based global Compensation team on compensation-related processes, issues and employee changes.
• Ensure local regulatory remuneration guidelines are considered and applied when reviewing unique offer packages or employee changes.
• Partner with the US-based Benefits team and local providers on employee benefit issues, renewals, communications and escalations.
• Produce and analyse monthly KRI reports for EMEA Operating Committees, identifying trends, risks, exceptions and follow-up actions.
• Maintain accurate HR systems and employee files, ensuring documentation is complete, appropriately filed and aligned with data protection and internal control requirements.
• Support audits, regulatory requests and internal reviews by providing reliable data, documentation and process evidence.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement and constructive challenge across People Operations processes, workflows, templates and employee touchpoints.
• Leverage industry best practice and internal feedback to simplify processes, reduce manual effort, strengthen controls and improve the employee experience.
• Hold vendors to account through clear expectations, service review, issue resolution and performance management.

Skills

SMCR/regulatory regimes

International experience

HR data reporting

HR systems proficiency

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Workday

Job description

Citadel Securities in London seeks a People Operations Lead to own high-quality HR operations across EMEA, including onboarding, changes, mobility, payroll inputs and records, with strong governance and data integrity.

You will partner with HR leadership and cross-functional teams to manage relocations, onboarding for new hires, offboarding and compliance while driving continuous improvement across processes.