Human Resources Manager in Reading

ActiveOps is a listed Decision Intelligence business serving 100+ enterprise customers in regulated industries, with £42m ARR and a clear path to £100m. Hiring the right people and managing them well is central to delivering that ambition. The People function is growing to meet that challenge, and this role sits at the heart of it.

This is a genuine generalist HR Manager role. You will manage a small team comprising an HR Advisor, HR Coordinator and HR Systems Analyst, and will be responsible for the full breadth of operational HR across the global regions in which ActiveOps operates. From employee relations and employment life-cycle management to people data, compliance and benefits administration, this role touches every part of the HR agenda.

This is not a purely transactional role. You will shape and improve processes, coach and develop your team, and advise managers with confidence. You will be equally at ease moving between managing junior team members and hands-on operational involvement, engaging with the detail wherever it adds value.

Working under the direction of the Group HR Director, you will play an integral role in translating the people strategy into everyday operational practice, championing a consistent and commercially grounded approach to people management, and ensuring the function is genuinely proactive and responsive to the needs of a scaling global business.

Skills and Qualifications

• Experienced HR professional with a strong, demonstrable track record of managing complex, multi-jurisdiction ER caseloads
• Proven experience in a commercial, fast-paced business environment; experience in a SaaS or technology company is an advantage
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law; experience across multiple jurisdictions and knowledge of employment law in some or all of our other six regions would be an advantage.
• Experience managing, coaching and developing direct reports
• A hands-on approach: comfortable and willing to get involved in operational and transactional HR work alongside strategic contribution
• Proven ability to run HR operations independently, comfortable owning multiple workstreams simultaneously in a growing business
• Experience working with HRIS platforms; HiBob experience is an advantage
• Confidence using people data to inform recommendations and decisions

Qualifications

• CIPD qualified (minimum level 5), or similar, or equivalent demonstrated experience
• Degree-level education or equivalent

Role Responsibilities

Operational HR Management

• Responsible for line management and development of direct reports (currently HR Advisor, Coordinator, Systems Analyst), setting clear objectives, actively developing their capability and managing performance with care and rigour
• Be a strong business partner to support the operational teams, ensuring a joined-up and consistent approach to cross-border people matters, acting as the first point of escalation for the team on complex cases, policy questions, ensuring high-risk issues are escalated promptly
• Drive continuous improvement across all HR processes and systems, working with the Systems Analyst to ensure data quality, automation and reporting.
• Support the HR Director in developing and rolling out people programmes performance cycles, engagement initiatives, manager training

Employee Relations

• Working closely with the HR Advisor, lead day-to-day ER caseload disciplinaries, grievances, performance management, absence, redundancy across all jurisdictions
• Coach, support and advise line managers on fair, consistent, commercially sound people decisions
• Manage cross-border ER complexity, engaging local legal counsel where required, and escalating high-risk cases to the HR Director
• Maintain ER case tracker and produce monthly ER summary for the HR Director

Employment Lifecycle & Compliance

• Oversee the day-to-day delivery of onboarding, induction and probation processes across all regions, providing guidance and stepping in where needed
• Oversee a consistent and compliant bi-annual Performance and Development Review process, stepping in to provide guidance where needed
• Responsible for accurate employee records, contracts, documentation, handbooks and offer letters are maintained in the HRIS and remain current, compliant and jurisdiction-specific
• Oversee the day-to-day delivery of the HR operations calendar, probation reviews, contract renewals, right-to-work compliance and annual policy updates, providing guidance where needed
• Support the HR team on SOC 2 and ISO 27001 HR controls, ensuring evidence is gathered and procedures are maintained

HR Systems & People Data

• Work closely with the HR Systems Analyst to maximise HRIS capability and ensure monthly HR KPI reporting is accurate and timely
• Oversee payroll inputs and reconciliations in partnership with Finance across all active pay jurisdictions
• Use people data to surface trends and recommendations including, but not limited to, attrition risk, absence patterns, and ER themes, escalating findings to the HR Director as appropriate

Recruitment Support

• Partner with the Talent Acquisition Manager to support hiring activity where needed, offer management, contracts, pre-boarding
• Support the candidate experience for recruitment and onboarding

Reward & Benefits

• Support the annual bonus and pay review process, from data preparation to manager communications

Policy, Projects & Continuous Improvement

• Support the Group HR Director in delivering strategic people initiatives and projects, providing operational input and execution
• Maintain and update the HR policy suite, handbooks and policies across jurisdictions, within the framework set by the Group HR Director
• Identify gaps or inefficiencies in current HR processes and propose pragmatic solutions through to execution
• Working closely with the Talent Acquisition Manager and Comms & Engagement Manager on a variety of People-related projects where required.