Overview
Head of People Operations Jobs in Johannesburg Metropolitan Area at OutsideCapital
Title: Head of People Operations
Company: OutsideCapital
Location: Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
This role can be based in Johannesburg or Cape Town.
Our client, a large and established organisation, is seeking an experienced People Operations Manager to lead and transform its People Operations function.
This role is specifically suited to candidates coming from large, complex FMCG, Retail or Manufacturing environments. Experience within these sectors is essential due to the scale, complexity and operational demands of the business.
The successful candidate will have a proven track record of leading high-volume payroll operations, driving systems and process improvements, managing personnel costs and workforce analytics, and partnering closely with Finance to optimise labour spend and organisational performance.
This is a highly strategic leadership role where the successful individual will be responsible for improving the efficiency, effectiveness and scalability of the People Operations function through process optimisation, technology, data and strong leadership.
Key Responsibilities
People Operations & Payroll
- Lead a large, high-volume payroll function, ensuring accuracy, compliance and exceptional service delivery.
- Drive operational excellence across all people administration and payroll processes.
- Lead payroll transformation, restructuring and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Improve payroll governance, controls and operational efficiencies.
- Standardise and streamline processes across the People Operations function.
HR Systems, Data & Analytics
- Own the HRIS and payroll systems landscape, ensuring systems are fit for purpose and support business growth.
- Drive automation and digital transformation initiatives across People Operations.
- Build meaningful workforce dashboards and reporting.
- Ensure high levels of data integrity and governance.
- Leverage people data to support strategic business decisions.
Financial Management
- Take ownership of personnel cost reporting and analysis.
- Partner with Finance to manage headcount budgets, labour costs and workforce forecasting.
- Analyse payroll trends, variances and cost drivers.
- Support annual budgeting and forecasting processes.
- Deliver meaningful financial insights relating to workforce expenditure.
Process Improvement & Transformation
- Continuously review existing people processes to identify opportunities for increased efficiency and effectiveness.
- Lead large-scale operational improvement initiatives.
- Drive organisational change across payroll, systems and people operations.
- Build scalable processes that support future business growth.
Leadership
- Lead, coach and develop the People Operations team.
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and operational excellence.
- Build trusted relationships across HR, Finance, IT and Executive leadership.
Essential Requirements
Industry Experience (Non-Negotiable)
Candidates must come from one of the following sectors:
- FMCG
- Manufacturing
- Retail
Experience gained in these industries is essential due to the complexity of managing large employee populations, multiple payroll cycles, labour-intensive operations and sophisticated workforce planning requirements.
Experience Required
- Minimum 8–12 years' experience within People Operations, Payroll or HR Shared Services.
- Proven experience managing payroll for a large, complex organisation with a substantial employee base.
- Demonstrated experience leading payroll restructuring or transformation projects.
- Strong experience managing personnel costs, labour budgets and headcount planning.
- Experience partnering closely with Finance on budgeting, forecasting and workforce planning.
- Extensive experience with HRIS and payroll systems.
- Proven success driving operational efficiency through systems, automation and process improvement.
- Strong people management experience with the ability to lead and develop high-performing teams.
Ideal Candidate
The successful candidate will be a strategic and commercially minded People Operations leader who understands that payroll is far more than processing salaries.
They will have extensive experience using systems, analytics and workforce data to improve operational performance, optimise labour costs and support business decision-making. They will have successfully led teams through change, redesigned payroll operating models, improved organisational effectiveness and implemented scalable processes that support large, complex businesses.
Most importantly, they will have built this experience within large FMCG, Retail or Manufacturing organisations, where operational complexity, workforce scale and continuous improvement are central to the role.
If you have not heard from us in two weeks please consider your application unsuccessful. We encourage you to keep an eye on our social media for future opportunities.