Senior People Services Lead – Hybrid & Payroll Focus

Great Places Housing Association; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 38,000 - 46,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension DC scheme (up to 10%)

WPA Healthcare scheme

Hybrid working

Annual leave 26–30 days

You Count Rewards

Professional membership fees paid

The Market Place discounts

Wage Stream access

Wellbeing initiatives

Job summary

Great Places Housing Association in Manchester is seeking a People Services Manager to lead a small team and drive excellence in HR administration, payroll and onboarding. You will be the senior contact for People queries, coach colleagues and ensure high service standards across the People Service Centre.

The role requires experience in HR administration, staff supervision, and strong MS Office skills, with a focus on accuracy, GDPR compliance and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Experience in HR or People Services administration.
• Experience supervising or coordinating others.
• Experience using HR systems and maintaining accurate employee records.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook).
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Commitment to community-focused social housing values.
• Passion for customer service and continuous improvement.
• Ability to coach colleagues to achieve high performance.
• Understanding of employment legislation and GDPR.

Responsibilities

• Lead, supervise and develop a team of three People Services Administrators.
• Be the senior point of contact for People queries from colleagues and managers, resolving complex enquiries in a timely manner.
• Manage colleague lifecycle administration, including recruitment, onboarding, contractual changes, benefits administration and leavers.
• Conduct regular one-to-one meetings (Great Conversations), providing coaching, feedback and development support.
• Support performance management activities, helping colleagues achieve individual and team objectives.
• Provide a high level of customer service, contributing to a positive experience for all colleagues who interact with the People Service Centre.
• Process complex or sensitive administration activities and act as an escalation point for the team.
• Collate and review monthly payroll information including new starters, leavers and contractual amendments.
• Review HR documents, ensuring accuracy, compliance and adherence to policy.
• Review work completed by People Services Administrators, providing guidance and support to maintain high standards.
• Coordinate onboarding administration, including new starter documentation, reference requests, right to work checks and DBS applications.
• Maintain People systems and records, ensuring data integrity, GDPR compliance and accurate payroll reporting.
• Monitor team workloads, priorities and service levels to ensure deadlines and service standards are achieved.
• Manage administration relating to colleague benefits, including WPA, The Marketplace, the Great Places Lottery and annual leave schemes.
• Support the delivery of People projects, audits and service improvement activities.
• Monitor and administer HR systems including Cascade, The Marketplace and Expenses+.
• Work closely with the Recruitment Team to ensure a seamless onboarding experience for new colleagues.
• Process People Team invoices, including raising purchase orders through the Finance system.
• Produce management information, service reports and data to support decision making and service improvements.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, systems and ways of working within the People Service Centre.
• Assist with induction, training and mentoring of new team members.

Skills

People Services administration

Team supervision

HR systems

Microsoft Office

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Confidentiality

Problem solving

Education

GCSE English & Maths

CIPD Level 3 (desirable)

Tools

Cascade

The Marketplace

Expenses+

Job description

Great Places Housing Association in Manchester is seeking a People Services Manager to lead a small team and drive excellence in HR administration, payroll and onboarding. You will be the senior contact for People queries, coach colleagues and ensure high service standards across the People Service Centre.

The role requires experience in HR administration, staff supervision, and strong MS Office skills, with a focus on accuracy, GDPR compliance and continuous improvement.