Senior HR Director - UK&I

UK GEO HR Lead 

Microsoft is on a path to growing all its businesses around the world and the United Kingdom is a key part of that that plan.  

Our presence in the UK encompasses the full complement of Microsoft business, including sales, engineering, gaming, support, consulting, marketing and much more, with approximately 6,000 employees in the geo. 

You will report to the VP HR for EMEA and partner with the Commercial CVP of the UK&I, and CVPs for EMEA SE&O and CCS, all in Global Enterprise Sales (GES). The role has a team of 5 direct reports, who drive the people strategy across UK&I Global Enterprise Sales and EMEA SE&O and CCS businesses. You will also partner closely with all HR COEs to lift the One HR model for the UK&I.  

Primary responsibilities include business partnership, leadership effectiveness, employee engagement, cultural stewardship, and driving talent and cultural (including diversity) focused strategies across the region. Developing, managing, implementing, and integrating these strategies in support of the region’s growth and success. The HR leader must be able to develop business relationships with the UK&I Commercial leadership team and inspire and lead the full HR function for the Geo. As Microsoft accelerates its AI transformation, this leader will help redefine how HR partners the business, embedding AI into HR workflows, workforce insights and decision-making to raise strategic impact, quality and productivity 

• Strategic Talent Management - In partnership with Talent Management, the HR leader enables the business to attract, retain and develop world-changing talent to achieve business results today and in the future. Lead end-to-end talent management processes and practices to identify and respond to gaps in building forward-looking talent capabilities all-up 

• Organizational Effectiveness - Partner with and enable leaders to develop high-functioning orgs to achieve business goals and build inclusive culture. Act as a catalyst for building organizational effectiveness within the business. Educate the business on HR trends that affect the business. Acquire business sponsorship for people initiatives, in partnership with the HR Directors who report to this position. Design and implement well-thought through change plans that account for durable effect. Provide strategic leadership for operating model evolution and work transformation across the region, enabling clarity in roles, responsibilities and ways of working as portfolio components evolve. 

• Leadership Effectiveness- Identify, develop and align leaders that can shift culture and drive business transformation and impact. Partner with leaders to diagnose, coach and provide solutions to enable our leaders and leadership teams to collaborate and continuously transform themselves and their teams/org to deliver business results. Build change leadership capability across the HR leadership bench and broader leader community to land transformation with consistency, care and speed across diverse countries and businesses. 

• Country/Geo HR Governance, Crisis Management & Business Continuity - Provide executive oversight of country/geo HR accountabilities across the UK, ensuring clear ownership and partnership with COE’s on employee experience, statutory governance and cross-business site/community leadership. Partner with country leadership teams to deliver crisis management as needed, including emergency response, risk management, communications, and disaster recovery/business continuity planning. Ensure readiness for rapid response in complex and geopolitically dynamic environments, with clear rhythms, escalation paths, and post-incident learning. 

• Legislative, Compliance, & Policy Governance - Lead the UK portfolio of legislative and compliance work, ensuring Microsoft meets its obligations across employment law, consultation requirements, statutory processes, and local regulatory expectations, in partnership with HR Consulting and Labor Relations. Provide executive sponsorship and governance for relationships with unions and other employee representative bodies, in close partnership with CELA, Labor Relations and HR Consulting. Represent the UK in work related to policy management and activation: oversee alignment to global policy philosophy, ensure timely localization/local supplements where required, and enable consistent deployment of global HR programs and process changes across countries with change management and communications in partnership with HR Consulting and COE groups. 

• Lead a direct and indirect team of HR and business colleagues to design and implement systemic organizational and people strategies that are aligned to and integrated with the business agenda. Deliver operational excellence in leading core HR programs ensuring an innovative, effective, and sustainable people agenda across all lines of business. 

• Partner with CELA, HR partners and broader HR team on employee investigations as needed. 

• People Management Lead people and HR capability through model, coach and care: setting clear outcomes, enabling success across boundaries, developing HR talent and building a high-performing, future-ready HR team. 

Critical Competencies for Success: 

• Organizational Leadership: Builds senior leaders, leadership teams, and organizations that adapt to external market changes to meet future needs. Understands the impact of decisions and actions on a system, including the leaders’ role in communicating vision and shaping culture.   

• Executive Maturity:  Effectively manages self and relationships under stress. Leads at scale and drives the leadership agenda through others. Applies a variety of approaches, as appropriate, for varied situations. Displays an executive presence. 

• Judgment:  Frames complex problems, integrating relevant variables, and holds self and other leaders accountable for solutions.  Provides deep insight and drives critical decisions that impact Microsoft and the industry.  Demonstrates conviction in their own decisions and shares principles by which decisions are made. 

• Collaboration: Drives alignment and teamwork within a team, department, or across organizational boundaries. Combines resources and joins efforts to achieve company-wide goals. Provides focus and drive in identifying and resolving issues that extend beyond Microsoft, creating a shared vision for results.  Engages across organizations to resolve complex, controversial, or sensitive issues. 

• Influence for Impact:  Creates enthusiasm and engagement with people at all levels of the organization.  Articulates vision or specific proposals in terms of the benefits for employees, the organization, or customers.   

• Drive for Results: Tenaciously pursues positive outcomes, using effective approaches to solve problems. Delivers on commitments and seeks increasingly challenging work.   Takes responsibility and holds others accountable for actions, decisions, and goals. 

Required Qualifications
 

• Bachelor's Degree in Human Resources,(HR) Legal, Business, Psychology, or related field AND demonstrable experience with HR or related experience (e.g., hiring, training, performance management) involving applicable employment laws and policies
  • OR equivalent experience. 
• Proven people management/team leadership experience. Relevant level generalist skills and the ability to mentor and provide guidance to others within HR and the management team on complex issues including attraction, assessment/hiring, development, and performance management.
• Knowledge of the UK and capability in the areas of organizational development, leadership development, performance management, integration of diversity and inclusion, career coaching, and HR Operations are required.
• Experience partnering with wide network of clients and across HR to deliver effective business solutions. Proven ability to develop trusted advisor relationships with senior executives, along with proven executive coaching capabilities.
• Demonstrated success in managing HR initiatives in a large, complex, matrixed, and global business environment. Ability to deal with ambiguity, recognize trends, and identify systematic approaches to solving problems in this dynamic environment.
• Demonstrated experience leading the UK legislative and compliance portfolio, including consultation requirements and effective partnership with works councils, unions and/or other employee representative bodies; proven capability in policy governance/activation and landing HR program and process deployments (in partnership with Legal/Labor Relations/HR Consulting). 

Preferred Qualifications:  

• Experience in a fast-paced, global company of similar scale and complexity preferred.  

• Experience with country/geo crisis management and business continuity, including participation in CMT/emergency response, risk escalation, and disaster recovery planning.

• Proven transformation leadership, including transformation/work migration planning and execution (operating model shifts, role/skill transitions, program landing), with proficient change management and communications discipline. 

• Proven success in multiple industries or business models driving organizational change initiatives and developing talent management plans for a global organization.   

• Ability to partner effectively with senior business leaders and HR colleagues.  Effective liaison between the global, regional, senior management, staff and other departments.  

• Organization Development expertise, including organizational diagnostics, org structure alignment to business requirements, and change management expertise 

• Experience in executive coaching 

• Masters Degree in Human Resources,(HR) Legal, Business, Psychology, or related field AND demonstrable experience with HR or related experience (e.g., hiring, training, performance management) involving applicable employment laws and policies

HR Generalist M6 - The typical base pay range for this role across United Kingdom is £ 100,400.00 - £ 200,500.00 per year. Certain roles may be eligible for benefits and other compensation.

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/united-kingdom-corporate-pay.html

Find additional benefits and pay information here:
https://careers.microsoft.com/v2/global/en/corporate-pay/ireland-corporate-pay.html

This position will be open for a minimum of 5 days, with applications accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.

Microsoft is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. If you need assistance with religious accommodations and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application process, read more aboutrequesting accommodations.