People Operations Lead

The People Operations Lead owns how People work in practice.

This role holds end-to-end accountability for global People Operations delivery, ensuring our systems, processes, documentation and benefits are simple, reliable and built to scale.

Our client takes a deliberately lean but considered approach to People. That means eliminating unnecessary bureaucracy, designing for clarity and speed, and building systems that enable ownership and self-service. The People Operations Lead is responsible for keeping our operational foundations strong while continuously modernising and simplifying how they work.

This role ensures the People function operates efficiently and confidently, enabling the VP People to focus on strategic growth and organisational evolution.

Core Responsibilities

End-to-End People Operations

● Own and continuously refi ne the full employee lifecycle: onboarding, role changes, compensation updates and offboarding.

● Ensure contracts, salary memos and lifecycle documentation are accurate, timely and clear.

● Maintain consistent operational standards across the organisation.

● Simplify workflows by removing duplication, bottlenecks and unnecessary approvals.

● Design processes that scale through simplicity, not added layers.

First-Line Employee Relations

● Act as the first point of contact for routine employee relations matters.

● Provide pragmatic, solutions-focused guidance to managers.

● Ensure matters are handled fairly, proportionately and clearly documented.

● Escalate complex or higher risk matters early and with context.

Policy & Documentation

● Own the clarity, relevance and usability of People policies.

● Ensure policies reflect how the organisation actually operates – practical, compliant and easy to apply.

● Remove outdated or overly complex documentation.

● Maintain concise playbooks and guides that enable confident self-service.

Systems, Optimisation & Intelligent Automation

● Own governance and optimisation of core People systems (HRIS, onboarding tools, benefits platforms).

● Maintain strong data integrity and workflow consistency.

● Continuously identify opportunities to automate, streamline and improve.

● Take a forward-facing approach to technology, including thoughtful adoption of AI where it reduces operational load and improves quality.

● Ensure People Operations scales through smarter systems and simplification, not additional process weight.

Global Benefits & Vendor Oversight

● Oversee global benefits administration and vendor relationships, ensuring service quality, compliance, cost-effectiveness and positive employee experience.

● Ensure benefits cycles and enrolment processes run smoothly and predictably.

● Simplify benefits communication and administration wherever possible.

Team Leadership

● Directly manage and develop the People Operations Specialist (Ops & Systems Analyst).

● Set clear priorities aligned to operational needs.

● Maintain high standards across documentation, systems and lifecycle delivery.

● Build resilience and reduce single points of failure within operational processes.

Insights & Continuous Improvement

● Oversee operational reporting and lifecycle metrics.

● Ensure meaningful insights are captured, including exit themes and process trends.

● Use data to improve how People work – not to add unnecessary reporting layers.

● Regularly review processes to remove friction and strengthen scalability.

What Good Looks Like After 12 Months

● People Operations runs smoothly, predictably and with minimal friction.

● Processes are lean, practical and consistently applied.

● Documentation is clear, current and actively used.

● Systems are reliable and increasingly automated.

● Routine employee relations matters are handled confidently and proportionately.

● Operational load is reduced through smarter tooling and automation.

● The People Operations Specialist operates independently and effectively.

● The VP People can focus on strategic priorities because operational foundations are strong.

Experience & Capability

Essential

● Experience leading or owning People Operations in a scaling SaaS or technology organisation.

● Strong understanding of end-to-end employee lifecycle processes.

● Experience simplifying workflows and reducing unnecessary complexity.

● Experience managing and optimising People systems.

● Confidence overseeing employment documentation and compensation processes.

● Experience managing or mentoring an operational team member.

● Strong judgement and the ability to balance compliance with simplicity.

Desirable

● Familiarity with the US employment landscape and employee benefits environment.

● Strong familiarity with the UK employee relations landscape is highly desirable.

● Experience operating in multi-jurisdiction environments.

● Experience overseeing global benefits vendors.

● Experience implementing automation or AI-enabled tools to improve efficiency.

How This Role Operates

● Thinks ahead, in readiness for the future

● Simplifies workflows before introducing new processes.

● Challenges unnecessary bureaucracy constructively.

● Has a strong hunger for continuous improvement.

● Embraces feedback and iterates to strengthen the function.

● Seeks practical ways to improve the experience for employees and leaders.

● Forges strong relationships becoming a trusted partner / advisor for leaders.

● Designs for scale and self-service.

● Uses technology, automation and AI intelligently.

● Escalates risk early and proportionately.

● Operates with calm confidence and clear ownership.

The SR Group (UK) Limited is acting as an Employment Agency in relation to this vacancy.