Programme Manager - #2192232

Reports to: Technology Director

Location: Farringdon, London (hybrid – minimum 3 days per week in office)

Job Purpose

Royal Mail is delivering a once-in-a-generation Future ERP transformation to replace fragmented, end-of-life systems and modernise how the organisation operates. Within HR, this programme will implement SuccessFactors Employee Central (EC) and Employee Central Payroll (ECP), covering Core HR, Payroll, Onboarding, Compensation & Variable Pay, and a document management system integrated across end-to-end HR processes.

The Programme Manager (Technology) is accountable for the end-to-end delivery of outcomes enabled by this technology change. This role leads the HR ERP programme for Technology, ensuring that complex, multi-year SAP delivery translates into measurable business outcomes—simpler processes, improved employee experience, compliant and resilient payroll, and shared enterprise data models.

Operating at senior level, the Programme Manager provides clear leadership across multiple workstreams, suppliers, and stakeholders—securing investment, managing risk and dependencies, and enabling Project Managers and Business Analysts to deliver successfully within a regulated, business-critical environment.

Key Accountabilities

1) Programme Leadership & Delivery

• Lead all the technology work on the Future ERP HR Programme, aligned to Royal Mail's functional and corporate strategies.
• Own programme mobilisation, structure delivery into appropriate tranches, phases, and workstreams, and maintain a clear integrated delivery roadmap.
• Establish and maintain programme-level objectives, success measures, milestones, and dependencies across HR, Payroll, Finance, Data, and Integration domains ensuring delivery is secure, compliant, considers privacy and supportable while always considering Total Cost of Ownership.

2) Investment, Planning & Benefits Realisation

• Lead the securing of investment by providing robust estimates to support Business Cases, including costs, resources, timelines, risks, assumptions, and dependencies.
• Maintain traceability between technology outputs, HR business outcomes, and benefits such as process simplification, payroll accuracy, compliance, and employee experience.
• Own programme-level benefits realisation planning and tracking, working closely with HR leadership and business sponsors.

3) Governance, Control & Assurance

• Establish and operate effective programme governance aligned to Royal Mail standards, including reporting to senior forums.
• Create the conditions for Project Managers to deliver by ensuring:
• Clear project initiation and scope control
• Integrated planning, monitoring, and financial control
• Active management of risks, issues, dependencies, and change
• Compliance with assurance, security, data, and delivery policies
• Structured project closure and transition to Service
• Ensure appropriate assurance for payroll-critical and people-impacting releases.

4) Stakeholder, Supplier & Commercial Leadership

• Build strong, trusted relationships with senior HR, Finance, and Technology stakeholders, enabling timely decision-making.
• Lead engagement with key support functions including Cyber Security, Architecture, Service Management, Test, Data & Engineering, Procurement, and Legal.
• Provide senior leadership across System Integrators and software vendors, securing value for money and commercial advantage while maintaining delivery quality.

5) People, Capability & Continuous Improvement

• Lead, manage, and develop programme teams, including line management responsibilities where applicable.
• Recruit and retain high-calibre programme and project delivery resources.
• Act as a mentor and coach to Project Managers and Business Analysts, building delivery capability and consistency.
• Lead or contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across Technology Project and Programme Delivery.
• Contribute to the Technology community.

Key Dimensions

Indicative and dependent on programme complexity:

• Accountability for delivery through up to 100 matrix-managed resources, in addition to SI and supplier teams.
• Line management responsibility for programme resources.

What You'll Bring (Experience & Competencies)

• Experience leading large, complex technology programmes or portfolios with clear accountability for outcomes and benefits realisation.
• Proven experience delivering ERP or large enterprise platforms, ideally SAP-based, within complex, regulated environments.
• Strong strategic mindset with the ability to translate target-state HR and Payroll visions into executable delivery roadmaps.
• Excellent leadership capability—an established, credible leader able to align business, technology, and supplier teams around a common outcome.
• Strong financial, commercial, and risk management skills at programme scale.
• Experience operating in environments where payroll accuracy, data integrity, and regulatory compliance are mission-critical.
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to influence and brief audiences up to and including Executive level.
• Resilient, pragmatic, and outcomes-focused, able to operate effectively amid ambiguity and change.

Role Clarity

• Accountable for: programme outcomes, benefits realisation, governance, investment management, senior stakeholder alignment, and supplier performance.
• Leads and enables: Project Managers to deliver within agreed frameworks and standards.

Extra Benefits

• Family friendly support – enhanced maternity pay, paternity leave, adoption leave and shared parental leave

• Supportive and generous company sick pay

• Funded Dental – As a manager you are eligible to a level of employer funded dental insurance*

• Health Assessment – As a manager you are eligible to an employer funded health assessment every 2 years*

• Benefits Account – You will have access to your personal benefits account on our 'My Bundle+' platform. There are more than 800 retail offers to help you save on things like groceries, days out, holidays and your household bills as well as employer provided and voluntary benefits to suit your lifestyle.

• Your Wellbeing – you and your family have 24/7 access to services and tools to help you get the most out of life. From your physical and mental health to financial and social support and advice. It's free, and it's for everyone.

*Available only to permanent employees

Next Steps

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