Senior Manager - Lead - People Support (Talent, Operations & Capability)

Role Purpose

The Senior Manager – People Support will serve as the operational and cultural anchor of pcl.’s people ecosystem during the transition to the 2026 model.

This role leads across three core areas

• Talent & Culture
• People Operations, HR Tech & People Analytics
• Learning, Leadership & Organisational Capability

The role ensures that pcl.’s workforce strategy, performance discipline, learning architecture and people systems actively enable delivery across the Transformation, Capability & Learning, Client Market and Digital Engines.

This is not an administrative HR role. It is a performance-enabling, culture-shaping, execution-support role that strengthens leadership capability, workforce discipline and organisational coherence.

Initially, the role will operate across all three areas. As the function scales, specialisation may occur.

1. Talent & Culture Leadership

• Lead structured performance routines across the firm (goal-setting, quarterly reviews, feedback cycles).
• Ensure all consultants have defined role clarity, growth expectations and performance documentation.
• Reinforce pcl.’s ways of working and behavioural standards during the operating model transition.
• Identify and address early signs of team health issues, burnout or misalignment.
• Coach Managing Consultants and Senior Consultants on delegation, leadership behaviours and team management.
• Provide structured evidence and calibration inputs for progression and reward decisions.
• Support hiring processes aligned to Engine/Pillar capability needs.
• Strengthen onboarding processes to reinforce identity: “who a pcl. person is.”
• Support retention actions through structured check-ins and issue resolution.

2 . People Operations, HR Tech & People Analytics

• Execute performance, promotion and appraisal cycles with discipline and documentation quality.
• Ensure accurate role definitions, reporting lines and progression pathways are reflected in people systems.
• Support implementation and adoption of HR tech tools and workflow automation.
• Maintain data integrity across people systems (role data, utilisation signals, skills tagging, team allocation).
• Use people analytics outputs to flag workload, engagement and capacity risks.
• Provide structured people insights to Chiefs and Partners for workforce planning decisions.
• Support workforce planning aligned to pipeline forecasts and strategic priorities.
• Escalate employee relations and wellbeing risks early and appropriately.
• Ensure compliance with internal governance and statutory people requirements.
• Embed consistent documentation standards across teams.

3 . Learning, Leadership & Organisational Capability

• Lead internal learning cohorts aligned to consulting capability and digital enablement priorities.
• Ensure internal learning aligns with live delivery needs (3×3 model, transformation methodologies, digital adoption).
• Promote consistent playbook usage and knowledge reuse across the firm.
• Support skills tagging and capability assessment processes.
• Track learning impact and engagement metrics; recommend improvements.
• Coach consultants on development plans aligned to role expectations and future skills.
• Support leadership capability development across levels (Leading Self, Leading Others, Leading the Business).
• Embed capability uplift as a structured part of performance cycles.
• Strengthen succession planning inputs in partnership with Chiefs and Partners.

1. Workforce Strategy & Organisational Alignment

• Support firm-wide workforce planning aligned to the Client Market Engine pipeline.
• Identify capability gaps across Transformation, Capability & Learning, and Digital Engines.
• Support hiring and associate ecosystem decisions.
• Provide structured insight into deployment imbalances and productivity risks.
• Ensure clarity of authority, reporting and role boundaries during transition.
• Reinforce alignment between People, Finance and Operations to support delivery discipline.

1. Leadership & Advisory Contribution

• Act as a trusted internal advisor to Engine and Pillar leads on people risk and capability readiness.
• Influence performance discipline without creating bureaucracy.
• Support structured conversations around underperformance and accountability.
• Provide evidence-based people insights for leadership decision-making.
• Contribute to strengthening a performance culture rather than policy-driven compliance.
• Balance empathy and standards — protecting both delivery quality and human sustainability.

Success Measures

T alent & Culture

1. 100% completion of performance and appraisal cycles with high documentation quality.
2. Clear differentiation in performance outcomes and progression decisions.
3. Reduction in unmanaged burnout or silent disengagement risks.
4. Stronger leadership behaviour scores in internal feedback.

People Operations & Analytics

1. Accurate and up-to-date role data and reporting structures across all engines.
2. Workforce planning insights regularly used in leadership forums.
3. Reduction in performance-cycle slippage or documentation gaps.
4. Increased adoption of HR tech and self-service workflows.

Learning & Capability

1. Internal learning programmes aligned to live client needs.
2. Increased consultant participation in capability uplift programmes.
3. Clear linkage between development plans and role progression.
4. Documented improvement in skill tagging and capability visibility.

Organisational Impact

1. Improved clarity of accountability across the firm.
2. Stronger retention of high-performing consultants.
3. Reduced dependency on Chiefs/Partners for routine people management.
4. Recognition of the People Support function as a performance enabler.

Requirements

Experience & Skills Required

• 8–12 years’ experience in talent management, people operations, organisational development or HR leadership within professional services or consulting.
• Strong understanding of consulting operating models and utilisation dynamics.
• Experience running structured performance management cycles.
• Exposure to HR tech systems and people analytics dashboards.
• Demonstrated ability to coach mid-level leaders.
• Strong documentation and governance discipline.
• Analytical mindset with ability to translate data into insight.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across senior leadership levels.
• Ability to balance culture-building with performance accountability.
• Experience operating in high-growth or transformation environments preferred.