People Operations Associate in London

ARIA is a R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible.

People Operations sits at the centre of the organisation. Our remit spans hiring, onboarding, learning and development, culture initiatives, internal communications, and the day‑to‑day processes that help the organisation run smoothly. As a People Operations Associate, you’ll often be the first point of contact for the wider team. You’ll coordinate processes, solve practical problems, and ensure employees have a positive experience throughout their time at ARIA. While the role involves a lot of administrative work, you’ll also have the opportunity to contribute ideas, improve processes, and get involved in projects that shape how our organisation grows. You’ll be a central point of contact for our team, fostering positive working relationships and supporting effective communication across ARIA.

What you’ll do

• Onboarding and employee experience: You’ll play a central role in ensuring every new employee has a positive and productive start. From the moment someone accepts an offer, you’ll coordinate the practical and human aspects of their arrival, helping them feel informed, welcomed, and connected. You’ll oversee the coordination of pre‑employment screening processes, helping ensure we meet our compliance requirements while providing a smooth experience for candidates. You’ll help continuously improve what could be a routine administrative process into a thoughtful and memorable experience that sets people up for long‑term success.
• Learning and Development: You’ll take responsibility for the ongoing development of our induction programme, ensuring it equips new joiners with the knowledge, skills, context and connections they need to succeed. You’ll lead the coordination and organisation of learning resources, creating a searchable library of training materials, guides, recordings, templates and external content, and work with subject‑matter experts to capture knowledge and make it accessible to employees. You’ll act as a key point of contact for learning and development activities, helping teams identify relevant training opportunities and ensuring employees can access the resources they need to grow. You’ll help ensure learning programmes remain relevant and effective by gathering feedback, tracking engagement and analysing participation data, and making recommendations for new resources, improvements and additional support. You’ll contribute to building a learning function that evolves alongside the organisation’s needs.
• People Data & Administration: Ensure people’s data is accurate, up to date, and well organised across our HRIS (HiBob). Coordinate the administration of employee benefits, acting as a point of contact for routine queries and ensuring accurate information about available benefits. Keep organisational charts and team structures up to date, ensuring employees understand how the business is organised and where responsibilities sit. Identify opportunities to improve administrative processes, reduce manual tasks, strengthen documentation and increase efficiency across People Operations. Support a variety of ad‑hoc People Operations activities and projects, responding to emerging priorities and helping colleagues across the organisation.

Who you are

We are open to candidates for whom this is their first People Ops role, or who have some experience. We’re not looking for a degree or established experience. For us, this is about having the right person in post who is open to getting stuck in.

Essential criteria:

• Very strong administrative skills, highly organised and with excellent attention to detail.
• A creative thinker able to challenge how things are done.
• Ability to use sound judgement and initiative, thinking multiple steps ahead to solve problems and address blockers proactively.
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
• Strong stakeholder management skills.
• Diplomacy and ability to remain discreet and confidential.
• Strong IT skills.
• Team player willing to jump in where needed and excited by the idea of working in a fast‑paced, early‑stage startup environment.

Desirable criteria:

• Comfortable navigating and utilising Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc.).

Benefits:

• 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days.
• Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home.
• Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities.
• Enhanced family leave arrangements.
• A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme.
• Life Assurance.
• 2 days of paid volunteer days.
• 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension.
• Cycle to Work scheme.
• An excellent office location in Kings X, London.

Equal Opportunity Statement: If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Disclosing any requests is intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process.

Ethical & Social Responsibility: ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. Our research and development activity will abide by the 3Rs principle.