HR Project Manager (Internal Only)

Are you an experienced project manager who enjoys making sense of complex challenges, bringing people together and turning strategic priorities into meaningful change?

We are looking for an HR Project Manager to join our Learning & Development team and play a key role in delivering strategic projects across Human Resources and the wider University.

This is not simply a project administration role. You will work at the intersection of strategy, organisational change, learning, performance and implementation, helping us turn ambitious ideas into practical improvements that make a difference to colleagues and the University.

You will lead projects from initial thinking and planning through to implementation, embedding and benefits realisation. You will work across organisational boundaries, bringing together different perspectives, managing complex interdependencies and helping colleagues navigate change. You will need to be comfortable with both structure and ambiguity: knowing when robust project disciplines are needed, while also recognising that in complex organisations the best route is not always clear at the outset.

The role will contribute to important areas of our HR strategy, including our ambition to develop a stronger learning culture, improve performance, support continuous improvement and respond effectively to emerging organisational challenges and opportunities.

What you will do:

- Lead complex HR projects from initial development through to implementation, ensuring that strategic priorities are translated into clear, achievable action.
- Develop proportionate project approaches, plans and governance arrangements, adapting them to the nature and complexity of each project.
- Bring together diverse stakeholders and project teams, creating shared understanding, maintaining momentum and enabling effective collaborative decision-making.
- Manage dependencies, risks, issues, resources and budgets, ensuring that projects remain focused on the outcomes they are intended to achieve.
- Work across organisational boundaries, influencing and negotiating with colleagues and stakeholders where you do not have direct authority.
- Help identify emerging problems, opportunities and unintended consequences, using evidence, insight and stakeholder feedback to shape practical solutions.
- Support effective engagement and communication, including working constructively with Trade Unions and staff groups where appropriate.
- Monitor not just whether activity has been delivered, but whether change is being understood, adopted and embedded, and whether the intended benefits are being realised.
- Capture learning from projects and use it to improve future approaches, contributing to a culture of continuous improvement across HR.
- Work collaboratively with colleagues across HR, including HR Business Partners, Organisational Development, Learning & Development and Employee Relations, helping us provide more integrated support to the University.
- Contribute to the operational management and continuous improvement of the Learning & Development team.

About you:

We are looking for someone who combines strong project management discipline with curiosity, judgement and the ability to work effectively with people. You will be comfortable operating in a complex organisation where priorities can compete, circumstances can change and the solution is not always obvious. You will bring structure without becoming overly rigid, and you will be able to move confidently between strategic thinking and practical delivery.

You will have:

- Proven experience of leading strategic projects and/or organisational change initiatives within a large or complex organisation, using an appropriate project management methodology or framework.
- Strong planning, organisation and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage multiple projects, dependencies and competing demands.
- Excellent relationship-building, communication, facilitation, influencing and negotiation skills, with the confidence to work with stakeholders at all levels.
- Experience of working effectively through matrix arrangements and influence rather than formal authority.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to make sense of complex information, identify risks and opportunities, and develop practical, fit-for-purpose solutions.
- The ability to understand the wider organisational context in which projects are taking place and to recognise how people, culture, processes and systems interact.
- The confidence to work with ambiguity and adapt plans and approaches as understanding develops.
- A strong focus on outcomes and impact, with the ability to distinguish between successful delivery of project activity and successful implementation of change.
- A commitment to learning and continuous improvement, including the ability to reflect on experience, use evidence and stakeholder insight, and adapt approaches where something is not working as intended.

Experience of working in Higher Education, HR or a people-related environment would be advantageous, but we are particularly interested in the quality of your project and change experience and the way you work with others.

Why join us:

This is an opportunity to play a significant role in shaping how Human Resources supports the University through a period of substantial change and opportunity. You will work on projects that matter, with exposure to senior stakeholders and complex organisational challenges. You will have the opportunity to work across the HR portfolio rather than being confined to a single area of specialism, developing a broad understanding of how strategy, people, culture, capability and organisational change come together.

Our ambition is not simply to deliver more projects. We want to become a more connected, reflective and learning-oriented HR function, where we learn from experience, share knowledge, continuously improve and focus on the difference our work makes. This role will be an important part of making that ambition real.

This permanent position is offered on a full-time basis (36.25 hours per week). This vacancy is open to employees of the University of Nottingham only.