People Operations Lead- Event Staffing & Payroll (Racedays)

Sodexo Ltd; Ascot; On-site; AUD 75,000 - 92,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Mental health support and wellbeing

Employee Assistance Programme

Health and wellbeing app access

Sodexo Discounts Scheme

Retirement plan

Death-in-Service

Learning & development tools

Cycle to Work

Volunteering opportunities

Job summary

Ascot Racecourse, part of Sodexo Live!, is seeking a proactive People Operations Manager to lead the team that plans and coordinates its large casual workforce. You’ll oversee labour forecasting, payroll and deployment across core business, including supporting up to 3,500 casual workers during Royal Ascot.

If you enjoy combining people leadership with data and commercial decision-making, this role offers variety and responsibility balancing operational needs with guest experience.

Qualifications

• Experience in people operations, workforce planning, event staffing or operational management in a fast-paced service-led environment.
• Experience managing large workforces including casual/agency staff.
• Strong financial awareness with ability to forecast labour costs and manage budgets.
• Proven leadership to coach and develop a high-performing team.
• Attention to detail and ability to prioritise under pressure.

Responsibilities

• Lead workforce planning and staffing delivery across Ascot Racecourse’s core, raceday and hospitality operations.
• Produce accurate labour forecasts aligned with revenue, service requirements and budgets.
• Lead, coach and develop the People Operations team to deliver efficient staffing services.
• Oversee payroll administration, timesheets, wage reporting and labour data accuracy.
• Build a strong pipeline of casual workers supporting onboarding, engagement, development and retention.
• Develop relationships with operational teams, clients, agencies and suppliers to meet service levels.
• Monitor labour KPIs and budgets, identifying overspend risks and taking corrective action.
• Drive continuous improvement by strengthening processes and using workforce technology.

Skills

People operations

Workforce planning

Event staffing

Leadership

Forecasting

Staffing budgets

Excel

HR policies

Education

CIPD qualification

Tools

Humanforce

Job description

Ascot Racecourse, part of Sodexo Live!, is seeking a proactive People Operations Manager to lead the team that plans and coordinates its large casual workforce. You’ll oversee labour forecasting, payroll and deployment across core business, including supporting up to 3,500 casual workers during Royal Ascot.

If you enjoy combining people leadership with data and commercial decision-making, this role offers variety and responsibility balancing operational needs with guest experience.