Adoption and Embedding Manager

Overview of the Role Change only delivers value when people understand it, adopt it, and make it part of how they work every day. As our Adoption & Embedding Manager, you'll help People Function change land well, be understood, and stick.

Working across a broad range of People, Digital and operational teams, you'll bring a structured approach to adoption and change management, ensuring colleagues understand what is changing, why it matters, and how they will be supported. You'll connect change planning, communications, learning, readiness, adoption tracking and continuous improvement into one practical approach, helping move change from launch through to sustained adoption and business value.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys turning complex change activity into clear, pragmatic plans that improve colleague experience, reduce friction and drive successful outcomes.

Overview of the Team You'll be part of the Enablement Services team, working closely with People Services, Digital Services, People Delivery, Centres of Expertise, Global Data & Process Owners (GDPOs), Global Process Leads (GPLs) and subject matter experts across the organisation.

Together, you'll help ensure People Function changes are implemented consistently, understood clearly and embedded effectively. The team acts as a key connector across multiple stakeholders, supporting change owners and sponsors to drive adoption, improve readiness and create lasting behavioural change.

Office Location Hybrid Working - 3 days per week in our Newcastle office and 2 days from home.

We're looking for someone who combines strong change management expertise with excellent stakeholder engagement skills and a practical, delivery-focused mindset.

What you'll be doing; • Create adoption and embedding plans for People Function change, covering change purpose, impacted groups, readiness activities, communications, learning and reinforcement. • Assess the impact of change on teams, roles, processes, systems, knowledge and ways of working, identifying risks and readiness gaps early. • Partner with change owners, sponsors, GDPOs, GPLs, SMEs, People Services, Digital Services, People Delivery and CoEs to drive engagement and accountability. • Develop clear, inclusive communications that explain what is changing, why it matters and what actions colleagues need to take. • Identify and coordinate training, guidance, self-service content and support materials to build confidence and capability. • Track adoption using data, feedback, usage insights and stakeholder input, recommending actions where change is not embedding as expected. • Support post-launch reviews and continuous improvement activities to strengthen future change initiatives. • Develop practical, reusable tools and templates for impact assessment, stakeholder mapping, change planning and adoption tracking.

Experience you'll bring; • Experience in change management, adoption, communications, service introduction, HR transformation, project delivery or People operations. • Strong planning and organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and stakeholders. • Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to simplify complex concepts for different audiences. • Proven stakeholder engagement and relationship-building capability across diverse teams and functions. • Experience developing practical approaches to readiness, capability building, adoption monitoring and behavioural reinforcement. • Comfortable working through ambiguity and helping teams navigate change. • A structured, action-oriented and inclusive approach to problem solving and delivery.

Useful experience; • Process improvement or process change initiatives. • Knowledge management or governance frameworks. • ServiceNow, SharePoint and Microsoft 365. • Digital adoption programmes. • HR service delivery or People transformation environments.

Success in this role looks like; • Change initiatives have clear adoption plans in place before launch. • Colleagues understand what is changing, why it matters and what they need to do differently. • Adoption risks, readiness gaps and resistance points are identified and addressed early. • Communications, guidance and support materials are clear, consistent and easy to use. • Adoption is actively tracked and reinforced using data and stakeholder feedback. • Post-launch reviews lead to meaningful improvements that make change easier to adopt across the People Function.

Benefits? We have plenty… • Generous bonuses and pension scheme: Up to 8% matched pension contribution plus 2% top‑up by Sage • 25 days of paid annual leave with the option to buy up to another 5 days • 8 bank holiday days • Paid 5 days yearly to volunteer through our Sage Foundation • 50% income protection • Holiday buy + sell • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage • Work away scheme for up to 10 weeks a year • Ongoing training and professional development • Hybrid working • Healthy Mind app membership • Access to various helpful memberships for finances, health and wellbeing

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