Location: Home based with travel to sites and Ashford Customer Support Centre

Package: Competitive salary, car allowance, bonus scheme, private healthcare, and more

Be part of what’s next at Sysco GB.

At Sysco GB (Brakes, Fresh Direct, KFF & Medina), we’ve laid the foundations of a bold HR transformation, investing heavily in people, process, and platforms. With the successful global implementation of Workday, we’re ready to shift from build to scale. As our Director of HR Operations, you’ll play a pivotal role in shaping the future of colleague services for our 8,500+ colleagues nationwide.

Reporting directly to the GB HR Director, you’ll lead a talented team of 25 across HR Administration, Payroll, People Analytics & Systems.

Your impact:

As Director of HR Operations, you will:

• Lead & inspire the HR Operations function to deliver a streamlined, digitally enabled, colleague-first experience across the entire hire-to-retire lifecycle.
• Champion service delivery through continuous improvement, simplification, and automation, leveraging our global Workday platform by owning and optimising core HCM processes and user adoption across the GB business.
• Accountable for end-to-end payroll operations across GB, ensuring accurate and timely colleague pay across multiple sites, while maintaining full compliance with legal, regulatory, and audit requirements.
• Drive shared services maturity, embedding best-practice operations, robust SLA governance, and scalable service models that support our fast-moving, customer-centric business.
• Optimise people systems, data, and insights, ensuring timely, trusted analytics inform decision-making across all levels of the organisation, driving smarter workforce planning and improved business outcomes.
• Champion continuous improvement, streamlining policies, simplifying processes, and digitising manual tasks to free up HR capacity and improve turnaround times.
• Drive operational excellence, leading strong governance across SLAs, KPIs, service quality, and risk management, ensuring compliance and consistency in every interaction.
• Collaborate cross-functionally, working closely with HR Business Partners, Centres of Excellence, Technology, Change, PMO, Finance, and IT to deliver HR programmes and innovation.
• Lead HR project delivery, ensuring change is well-executed, people-centred, and delivers tangible business impact, supporting transformation, and ensuring the function is agile and change-ready as the wider business evolves and scales.
• Strengthen operational compliance, embedding consistent policies, employment practices, and controls in partnership with our CoEs and Legal teams.
• Represent HR Operations on key steering groups and external forums, helping shape the broader people agenda across Sysco GB and Sysco International.

What you’ll bring:

You’re a delivery-focused leader with strong operational expertise and an eye on the future. You will bring:

• Proven leadership in HR Operations or Shared Services functions at scale, ideally within high-paced, multi-site, or matrixed environments (experience in retail, distribution, logistics, or FMCG is a plus).
• Deep, hands-on experience with Workday HCM, with a track record of successfully embedding and optimising system processes, configuration, reporting, and user experience (knowledge of Time Tracking and Payroll modules are advantageous).
• Proven experience in end-to-end payroll operations, with a deep understanding of statutory requirements, tax regulations, and audit controls (SAP knowledge highly desirable).
• Commercial acumen, influencing skills, and the confidence to operate at both strategic and tactical levels.
• Demonstrated success in leading operational teams through transformation, with the ability to embed and sustain change.
• Inspirational people leadership, coaching, motivating, and growing teams while embedding a high-performance, customer-focused culture.
• A modern, progressive HR mindset, always seeking smarter ways to deliver value through digital, data, and design thinking.
• Resilience, pace, and a passion for getting things done well in complex and evolving environments.
• Sound understanding of UK employment law, contracts, policy governance, and audit/risk mitigation.

Why Sysco GB?

We’ve laid the foundations for a modern HR function, digitally enabled, colleague-focused, and fit for the future. With Workday now in place and a culture built on inclusion, pace, and performance, we’re ready to take HR and the business from good to great. This is your opportunity to shape what comes next. The scope of this role may evolve over time, with opportunities to take on broader responsibilities in line with business needs and priorities.

We offer flexibility, autonomy, and a package designed to reward you, plus award-winning food at near-cost price, an inclusive team, and a business that believes everyone should have a seat at the table, belong, and thrive.

We don’t want you to “fit” our culture; we want you to help shape it.

Additional Information

At Brakes, everyone is welcome. We don’t want you to ‘fit our culture’; we want you to help define it, and we actively celebrate the unique talents of each colleague. We’re focused on who you are and your potential, not just your CV. We are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive culture where everyone has a voice, is appreciated, and has equal opportunities. We work hard to ensure everyone feels part of our business, as we care for one another and connect the world through food and trusted partnerships. Our ultimate goal is for everyone to belong and thrive at Brakes, and we recognize that Brakes can only thrive when everyone feels they belong. We will support you during your application process, and if you need adjustments, speak to our resourcing team.

Brakes

Built on a passion for food and feeding the nation, we are the UK’s largest foodservice supplier. Every day, Brakes delivers high-quality fresh and frozen food and ingredients from our nationwide distribution centres to pubs, restaurants, schools, caterers, care homes, and hospitals. Our 8,000-strong workforce is dedicated and proud to be part of this vital provision. And we’re growing!