People & Culture Manager

People & Culture Manager – 12-Month Maternity Cover Location: Remote (UK-based) Reporting to: Chief Operations Officer Contract: 12-month fixed-term contract (maternity cover) Start date: Approx. November 2026 About Aveni Aveni is redefining how financial institutions use AI. We build real, production-ready agentic systems that reshape how banks, advisers and financial services firms operate, replacing fragmented processes with intelligent, end-to-end workflows. We’ve been recognised as Fintech of the Year for two consecutive years and awarded Best Specialist Technology Service at the Professional Adviser Awards 2025. Backed by leading investors including Puma Private Equity, and commercially supported by Lloyds Banking Group and Nationwide Building Society, we previously completed one of Scotland’s largest Series A rounds. Since then, we’ve continued to grow rapidly as adoption of AI in financial services accelerates, and we’re scaling our team to meet that demand. The Role We’re looking for an experienced People & Culture Manager to join Aveni on a 12-month fixed-term contract, covering maternity leave. This is a broad, hands-on role with ownership across the full employee lifecycle. You’ll keep our day-to-day People function running smoothly, support employees and managers, oversee our core HR processes and systems, manage our small recruitment team, and continue the delivery of our existing People roadmap. Aveni is a fast-moving, remote-first AI business where priorities can change quickly. You’ll therefore need to be proactive, pragmatic and comfortable taking ownership, balancing BAU HR with projects and adapting your approach as the business evolves. An investment round is likely during this period, so experience supporting a business through investment, due diligence and associated People requirements would be particularly valuable. There is also potential for the contract to be extended beyond the initial 12 months, subject to business requirements. What You’ll Be Doing Own day-to-day HR: Manage the full employee lifecycle, from onboarding through to offboarding, alongside employee relations, absence and other day-to-day People matters. Manage performance and probation: Keep probation and performance management processes running effectively, supporting managers with feedback, performance conversations, development and appropriate next steps. Support our managers: Be a trusted People partner, providing practical HR guidance and coaching to managers and senior stakeholders. Keep us compliant: Stay ahead of UK employment law and regulatory changes, ensuring our policies, processes and manager guidance remain current and effective. Strengthen our culture: Drive engagement and find creative ways to strengthen connection and cross-functional collaboration across our remote-first team. Manage core People operations: Oversee HiBob, payroll alongside Finance and our external provider, benefits, remuneration, employee records and People reporting. Oversee Talent Acquisition: Manage and support our small recruitment team, recruitment budget and processes, including Ashby. Deliver and improve: Execute our People roadmap, manage operational People risks and lead practical improvements to our HR processes and employee experience. Explore AI in HR: Identify practical and creative opportunities to use AI to make our People processes more efficient and effective. Support business growth: Work closely with the COO and Finance on headcount planning and workforce budgeting, alongside supporting People-related requirements for a potential investment round. What We’re Looking For You’ll be an experienced HR generalist who is comfortable operating independently across a broad People remit. You’ll combine strong HR knowledge with practical judgement, empathy and the confidence to work with stakeholders at all levels. You’ll bring: Strong generalist HR experience within a fast-paced, changing environment. Hands-on experience managing the full employee lifecycle and employee relations. Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice. Experience supporting managers with probation, absence and performance management. Confidence advising and coaching managers and senior stakeholders. Experience managing core HR operations, including HR systems, payroll, benefits and employee records. Experience delivering employee engagement, culture or HR improvement initiatives. A proactive, organised approach and the ability to manage competing priorities independently. Sound judgement and a practical, solutions-focused approach to complex People situations. Comfort working with ambiguity and adapting when business priorities change. An empathetic and approachable style, balanced with commercial awareness and the needs of the business. Curiosity about technology and how AI can improve HR processes and ways of working. CIPD Level 5 or 7, or equivalent relevant HR experience. Experience within a start-up or scaling business, technology, SaaS, AI or financial services would be particularly valuable, as would experience working in a remote-first culture. Experience with HiBob, Ashby, IR35 or People-related investment due diligence would also be advantageous. Why This Role Is Different This isn’t a role where you’ll be working within a large HR function or waiting for someone else to set the direction. You’ll have: Broad ownership across Aveni’s People function. Real autonomy in a fast-moving and evolving business. The opportunity to work closely with managers, founders and our Senior Leadership Team. Scope to strengthen our remote culture and cross-functional collaboration. The freedom to bring creativity and AI into our HR processes. Exposure to an exciting period of growth and potential investment. We’re looking for someone who enjoys spotting what could work better and then making it happen. Benefits at Aveni – What You’ll Love Remote-first across the UK, with regular off-sites and in-person gatherings. Work abroad policy. Co-working spaces available. 34 days’ holiday, including flexible bank holidays, plus your birthday off. Company-wide off-sites. Optional Personal Development Plan. Flexible benefits platform. Life Insurance, Income Protection and Critical Illness cover. Pension with up to 5% matched employer contribution, with the option to increase contributions. Private health and dental care. Enhanced family leave. Join Us in Making a Difference At Aveni, we believe that diversity drives innovation. We’ve built our business to ensure an inclusive workplace where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best work. If you’re passionate about people, technology and the opportunity to help a growing AI business thrive, we’d love to hear from you. Even if you don’t meet 100% of the requirements, we’d still like to hear from you if you believe you’d be a great fit. #J-18808-Ljbffr