People Manager in London

Our London studio is seeking a highly professional, detail-oriented, and approachable People Manager to lead and deliver business-critical people initiatives. Based in our vibrant London office alongside 140+ talented BIGsters, you will collaborate closely with our global People teams in Copenhagen, Barcelona, and New York. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will line manage a People Assistant and act as the People Manager for our smaller offices in Riyadh and the UAE.

As a trusted partner to the London leadership team, you will play a pivotal role in shaping a high-performing, inclusive, and engaging workplace. This is a true generalist position, offering the opportunity to influence both strategic direction and day-to-day People operations across the full employee lifecycle.

• Act as a strategic advisor to the London leadership team, driving People initiatives aligned with business goals, including organisational development, employee relations, and retention.
• Oversee the full employee lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, performance management, development, engagement, and offboarding.
• Ensure all People policies and practices are compliant with UK employment and immigration law, providing clear and practical guidance to managers and employees.
• Lead on employee relations matters, including disciplinary and grievance processes, in line with best practice and ACAS guidelines.
• Manage compensation and benefits, People data (GDPR compliance), and immigration processes with accuracy and integrity.
• Design and deliver impactful learning and development initiatives, including internal training programmes.
• Analyse and report on key people metrics (e.g. engagement, absence, performance), providing actionable insights to senior leadership.
• Manage the London People budget and contribute to global People initiatives in partnership with international teams.
• Line manage, mentor, and support the development of the People Assistant.

• Extensive experience in a similar People/HR generalist role, ideally within a creative or fast-paced environment.
• CIPD Level 5 qualified (Level 7 preferred).
• Strong working knowledge of UK employment and immigration law, with the ability to translate regulation into practical solutions.
• Exposure to UAE and/or Saudi Arabian employment law is advantageous.
• Data-driven and analytically minded, with the ability to influence stakeholders through insight.
• Confident communicator with excellent interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Highly organised, detail-oriented, and able to manage competing priorities effectively.
• Calm, proactive, and self-sufficient, with a strong sense of ownership.
• Thrives in a dynamic, collaborative environment with diverse personalities.

This is a fully office-based role. We believe that working together in person strengthens collaboration, communication, and team culture.

This job description outlines the core responsibilities of the role but is not exhaustive. The successful candidate will be expected to take a flexible approach and adapt to evolving business needs.

Please upload your CV and any relevant references. We will contact you if your profile matches our requirements.

Diversity has been part of our DNA since BIG’s foundation. A multitude of cultures and backgrounds creates a new point of reference which leads to amazing insights. At BIG, we value, celebrate and support diversity because it makes our team, work and the built environment better. We are proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and take affirmative action to employ equally regardless of race, colour, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or gender. We are committed to promoting equal opportunities and creating a workplace culture in which diversity and inclusion is valued - if you have any questions about this vacancy (or require any reasonable adjustments to be made to the process due to a disability), please specify this in the designated section of the application form.