Head of People Operations

Head Of People Operations

We're looking for a hands-on Head of People Operations who loves making things work well, every single day. The foundations are already here: our HR systems, policies, and core processes are in place. What they need now is someone who'll sharpen them, make them consistent across every country we operate in, and keep them running smoothly as we grow.

This isn't a pure strategy role. You'll spend most of your time close to the work: advising managers on tricky employee relations cases, checking that a contract in Kenya meets local law, fixing the onboarding step that keeps tripping people up, and finding ways AI can take the admin off everyone's plate. You'll also own our yearly company offsite, from the agenda to the moment you open it on day one.

Equally vital, you will champion and embody our company culture. You will safeguard our core values, model them in daily interactions, and comfortably lead challenging discussions when expectations aren't met. Acting as a trusted advocate for employees with leadership, you will champion their interests while thoughtfully balancing staff needs, corporate values, and business priorities.

Job Details

• Job Title: Head of People Operations
• Reporting To: Chief Operating Officer
• Grade: M7 (Head of)
• Location: Remote in United Kingdom (but open to GMT +/- 3 hours time zone if you have UK HR Experience)
• Compensation: 60,000-70,000 GBP but this will be adjusted to a local benchmark if you are based outside of the UK
• Contract Structure: Permanent

Key Responsibilities

• Culture carrier. You'll protect and live our culture and values every day, and hold others to them too. You'll run engagement surveys, turn the results into specific actions, and follow through, keeping our culture strong across a remote-first, multi-country team.
• Employee relations. You'll be the go-to person for managers and staff regarding grievances, disciplinary matters, performance concerns, absences, and exits. You handle cases fairly, document them properly, and close them out, and you know when to bring in local counsel.
• Multi-country compliance. You'll make sure our contracts, handbooks, and policies comply with employment law in each country where we hire, whether through our own entities or an Employer of Record. That means tracking legal changes, keeping country-specific terms up to date, and flagging risk early. As a project-based business, you'll also make sure people are classified correctly (permanent, fixed-term, project-funded, consultant or contractor) as projects start and end, with the right contracts, notice terms and exit processes for each.
• Refining systems and processes. Most of what we need already exists. Your job is to audit it, spot the gaps, and tighten it up: onboarding, offboarding, probation, performance reviews, leave, contract changes, etc.
• Using AI to work smarter. You'll look for practical ways AI can save time and improve quality across the people function, such as drafting initial versions of letters and policies, answering routine employee questions, cleaning up HR data, or summarising survey results. You'll roll these out safely, with clear guidance on data privacy.
• People operations and HR data. You'll own the accuracy of our HRIS and people data, support payroll and benefits administration across countries, and produce clean, reliable reporting for the leadership team. Every process should be documented, owned, and easy to follow.
• Annual company offsite. You'll lead the yearly offsite end-to-end: shaping the agenda with the leadership team, managing the venue, travel, visas, budget, and logistics, and hosting the sessions on the day. People should leave feeling more connected and clearer on where we're going.
• Supporting managers. You'll coach managers through the people side of their jobs and give them simple tools, templates, and training so they can handle more on their own.
• Clear, warm communication. You write clearly, explain policy in plain language, and can handle difficult conversations with empathy and directness.

What Success Looks Like

• First 3 months: you've reviewed every core people process and policy, met each manager, most of the company, and shared a prioritised list of fixes with the leadership team.
• By 6 months: the top-priority processes are refined, documented, and owned. Open employee relations cases are handled consistently, and managers and employees feel supported
• By 9 months: at least two AI-supported workflows are live and saving the team measurable time, with guidance in place on how to use them safely.
• By 12 months: you've delivered a well-run annual offsite that people rate highly, and managers say HR is fast, clear, and easy to work with.