HR Systems Manager

About us

Hello, we’re Reach. Every day, our trusted news, stories and content connect with millions of people where they live - whether that’s on their social feed or at their neighbourhood newsstand; through their local community or their take on the hot topic of the day.

We're home to more than 120 brands - from household names like the Mirror, Express, Daily Star and Daily Record, to local titles like MyLondon, BelfastLive, and the Manchester Evening News, and brands making a splash in the US like the Irish Star.

It's our ability to understand people and the things that matter to them that makes us Britain and Ireland's largest commercial news publisher. We reach around 70% of the UK's online population, 10% of the US online population, and over 100 million social followers around the world, connecting with them on who they are, where they live and what they love.

Your story, with Reach

As a modern media organisation, we're much more than just news. And it takes a wide range of people and skills to serve diverse audiences, customers and communities like we do.

We know everyone has their own story to tell, so we’ve built an environment where every background is respected and every day is a day to explore.

We’ll help you build a career that works with your life, while giving you the space to create and grow.

What the role involves

As our People Systems Relationship Manager, you’ll own the HR tech landscape end to end ensuring our tools and systems are intuitive, reliable and well adopted. You’ll partner with HR, IT, Finance and our 3 party vendors to deliver a seamless experience across onboarding, performance, compensation and more. You’ll lead a small, capable team to keep systems running smoothly while pushing continuous improvement.

What you’ll do

• Set and deliver the HR systems roadmap, aligning to business strategy and value.
• Oversee configuration, maintenance, upgrades and change control across all HR systems.
• Drive user-centred improvements that boost efficiency, data quality and experience.
• Manage vendors: SLAs, service delivery, commercials and issue escalation.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of two (Systems Advisor and Systems Administrator).
• Establish robust testing practice for releases, patches and new functionality.
• Resolve complex, escalated issues and remove recurring root causes.
• Build practical training, guides and comms that grow capability and adoption.
• Lead change management for new implementations and major rollouts.
• Use approved AI tools to enhance accuracy, speed and insight.

What you'll need to succeed

You’re a relationship‑led operator who builds trust across HR, IT, Finance and frontline users, while partnering effectively with external system vendors.

Externally, you cultivate constructive relationships with vendors negotiating SLAs, holding partners to account and collaborating to achieve outcomes that are right for the business and the people who use the tools every day.

You translate business needs into smart, scalable HR tech solutions by getting under the skin of requirements, understanding technical specifications, configuring modules and shaping best‑practice processes that land well in the real world. 

Your communication is clear and confident  in writing, face‑to‑face and when presenting helping you align expectations, influence decisions and keep everyone moving in the same direction.

You plan and prioritise across multiple stakeholders and deadlines, managing dependencies without losing sight of the bigger picture.

How we'll look after you

We take good care of our people - and that means more than just a pay packet. Whatever your role, you'll get a range of benefits, including:

• 25 days' holiday (plus bank holidays), as well as an extra day after you've been with us for three, five and 10 years. We also have a scheme to help you buy extra holiday if you want to.

• An extra day's paid leave each year to volunteer for a cause close to your community or your heart.

• Big moment day - an extra day’s paid leave for a moment that matters to you - like getting married, moving house or welcoming a new addition to the family (human or furry!)

• Bonus scheme - you'll get a stake in our success and a chance to add to your annual earnings.

• Help saving for your retirement - we'll match your company pension contributions up to 6% and you can contribute through salary sacrifice.

• Supportive and progressive people policies - we’re proud to have a range of policies to support people in their lives in and outside work, including enhanced family leave and policies to promote flexibility, inclusion and progression. We believe you shouldn’t have to wait to join us to know what to expect from us, which is why we share this overview of the policies we have in place to support families and carers. If there's something you want to understand more about, just ask - it won’t make a difference to your application.

• A healthcare cash plan - giving you money back for a range of medical expenses and fast access to doctor's appointments.

• Car lease scheme - you can buy a brand new electric or hybrid car through our leasing partner, and pay for it through salary sacrifice.

• Wellbeing support - including a 24/7 assistance programme for you and your family.

• Access to lots of discounts - including 15% off with Reach's very own online marketplace, Yimbly, where you can buy everything from homewares to beauty products.

• Interest-free loans - including for season tickets and technology.

Reach plc believes diversity brings benefits for our customers, our business and our people. This is why we are committed to being an inclusive employer and encourage applications from all suitable applicants irrespective of background, circumstances, age, disability, gender identity, ethnicity, religion or belief and sexual orientation.