People & Operations Manager in Ulverston

Hours: 24 hours per week. Location: Ulverston, Cumbria. Reporting to: Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Citrus-Lime is an exciting high-growth tech business providing a Cloud-based POS system to small and mid‑sized retailers. We compete and win against large tech giants. We are profitable and growing fast. Our customers are retailers in the outdoor sector, from Cycle through to Equestrian. We’re revolutionising the way the UK cycle retail works, and helped small companies compete and beat larger businesses. Now at the early stages of internationalisation, and having secured a solid customer base in Ireland, we are poised to push out into mainland Europe and beyond.

Purpose and Key Objectives

The People & Operations Manager is a pivotal role within Citrus‑Lime, responsible for building and sustaining a people function that genuinely supports the company’s growth and ambitions. This is not an administrative HR role; it is a strategic position for someone who believes that a well‑led, well‑supported team is the foundation of every successful business. The People & Operations Manager will own the full employee lifecycle, from the moment a candidate first encounters Citrus‑Lime through to the ongoing development and retention of talented individuals across the company.

At the heart of this role is a commitment to meritocracy, working closely with the Management team to establish clear, consistent performance standards across every part of the business, ensuring that learning is actively encouraged, underperformance is addressed fairly and constructively, and those who consistently perform have a visible path to progress. Beyond performance, the People & Operations Manager will be the custodian of Citrus‑Lime’s culture and employee experience, shaping how the company hires, how new people are welcomed and onboarded, and how employees feel day to day. This is an opportunity to build something meaningful; to create policies, processes, and a culture that people genuinely feel proud to be part of.

Key Responsibilities

• Performance Standards & Meritocracy: Partner with the Management team to define and embed clear, consistent performance standards across all teams and functions. Design and oversee a performance management framework that supports regular, meaningful conversations about expectations, development, and progress. Promote a culture of meritocracy in which high performance is recognised and rewarded, learning and growth are embedded into everyday working life, and underperformance is addressed promptly, fairly, and supportively. Support managers in building the confidence and capability to have honest, constructive performance conversations. Work with leadership to ensure that career progression pathways are transparent, equitable, and tied to demonstrated performance and contribution.
• Hiring & Onboarding: Own the end-to-end recruitment experience, ensuring Citrus‑Lime attracts high-quality candidates through a consistent, professional, and values‑led process that moves with real pace and velocity. Partner with hiring managers to define role requirements, design effective selection processes, and make confident, well‑informed hiring decisions. Continuously review and improve the candidate experience, ensuring every applicant, successful or not, leaves with a positive impression of Citrus‑Lime. Design and deliver an onboarding programme that sets new starters up for success from day one, building on our 30, 60, and 90 day plans, ensuring they feel welcomed, informed, and clear on expectations from the outset. Monitor early‑tenure engagement and performance to identify any risks or support needs within a new employee’s first few months, ensuring only high‑quality team members who strengthen the business are retained after trial periods.
• Culture & Employee Engagement: Work with the CEO to define and articulate Citrus‑Lime’s company culture, ensuring it is lived and not just stated, visible in how decisions are made, how people are treated, and how the company communicates. Act as the guardian of Citrus‑Lime’s culture across the organisation. Champion psychological safety, a fail‑fast‑and‑learn approach, and employee wellbeing, ensuring people feel safe to speak up, ask for support, and be themselves at work, with appropriate resources and signposting in place when needed. Design and implement employee engagement initiatives that foster a sense of belonging, motivation, and pride in working at Citrus‑Lime. Develop and manage regular mechanisms for gathering employee feedback, including surveys, forums, and informal channels and ensure insights are acted upon meaningfully. Work with leadership to celebrate achievements, recognise contributions, and build a positive, energising place to work. Work closely with the Management team to understand the people needs of each area of the business and ensure the people function is proactively supporting operational and strategic goals. Build trusted relationships with managers across the company, acting as a coach and thought partner on people matters. Collaborate with relevant stakeholders on organisational design, team structure, and workforce planning as the business evolves.
• HR Policy, Documentation & Compliance: Develop, implement, and maintain a comprehensive suite of HR policies, procedures, and documentation that are legally compliant, clearly written, and accessible to all employees. Ensure policies are reviewed and updated regularly to reflect changes in employment law, best practice, and the evolving needs of the business. Act as the primary point of expertise for all HR‑related matters, providing consistent guidance to managers and employees across the company. Maintain accurate and confidential employee records in line with GDPR and data protection requirements. Manage employee relations matters including disciplinaries, grievances, and absence, ensuring fair, consistent, and well‑documented processes are followed. Continuously review and improve HR processes to reduce administrative friction and ensure the people function operates efficiently and to a high standard. Identify opportunities to use technology and tooling, including AI to improve the employee experience and the effectiveness of the HR function. Track and report on key people metrics, including turnover, time‑to‑hire, engagement, and absence, using data to inform decisions and identify trends.
• General: Represent the company’s values and people‑first ethos in everything you do. Stay current with developments in employment law, HR practice, and people management, bringing relevant insights and recommendations to the business. Undertake any other reasonable duties within the remit of the role as required.

Behavioral Commitments

The People & Operations Manager commits to:

• Act with integrity and consistency at all times, being someone that both employees and managers trust to be fair, honest, and discreet.
• Lead by example in championing a meritocratic culture where effort, performance, and growth are genuinely valued.
• Approach every interaction, whether a difficult conversation or a celebratory one, with empathy, professionalism, and care.
• Be proactive rather than reactive, anticipating people challenges before they become problems and bringing solutions to the table.
• Communicate clearly and without unnecessary jargon, making HR accessible and relevant to everyone in the business.
• Continuously develop their own knowledge of employment law, people practice, and business leadership to ensure the function remains progressive and effective.
• Hold a high standard for everything produced under the people function, from a policy document to an onboarding experience, and take pride in quality.
• Treat sensitive matters with the utmost confidentiality and exercise sound professional judgement at all times.

What Success Looks Like (6‑12 Months)

• A written definition of Citrus‑Lime’s culture is in place, understood by the team, and increasingly visible in day‑to‑day working life.
• A clear, structured performance management framework has been implemented, with all managers equipped and confident to conduct regular, meaningful performance conversations.
• Recruitment processes are consistent, efficient, and delivering high‑quality hires, with measurable improvements in time‑to‑hire and candidate experience.
• A structured onboarding programme is in place that receives consistently positive feedback from new starters and demonstrably reduces early attrition.
• Employee engagement is being measured regularly, feedback is being acted upon visibly, and there is a positive trend in how employees report feeling about working at Citrus‑Lime.
• All employees have clear training plans to support their skills progression.
• Managers across the business view the People & Operations Manager as a trusted, valuable partner, proactively seeking their input on people matters rather than engaging only reactively.
• Underperformance is being addressed across the business in a fair, timely, and consistent manner, with clear documentation and appropriate support in place.
• Key people metrics are being tracked and reported to the COO and Management team on a regular cadence, with clear commentary and recommendations.
• A comprehensive, up‑to‑date suite of HR policies and documentation is in place, communicated across the business, and consistently applied by managers.

About you

Background: 3–5 years HR Manager level experience, with varied generalist exposure i.e. not just Talent Acquisition or L&D. Experience working in an SME or scale‑up before, or wants to explicitly move toward that environment. Been a builder, not a maintainer i.e. has built or significantly redesigned people processes, not just inherited them. Comfortable with ambiguity and things themselves, not just directing others (because they would have HR support but not a team). Potentially a strong Senior HR Manager ready to step up or someone from a larger business looking for their first autonomous leadership role.

Skills & Experience: Proven experience in a senior HR or People role, operating at HR Manager or Business Partner level and above. Demonstrable experience designing and implementing HR policies, procedures, and frameworks from the ground up. Experience managing employee relations matters including disciplinaries, grievances, and absence. HR competence – the ability to advise managers confidently on difficult situations without needing to escalate. Recruitment strategy design – covering how the company attracts and selects talent, including creating a workforce plan i.e. what do we need our people to look like in 3 years? Strategic and commercially mindedness – understanding that people strategy serves business goals, have ability to develop a people strategy. People strategy creation – including resource recruitment, development and retention across the company, directly supporting the overall business strategy. Stakeholder management – ability to influence managers who’ve never had HR before, which requires credibility and pragmatism. Experience working in a technology, SaaS, or fast‑growth SME environment. Employee experience oriented – passionate about driving positive culture development. Experience working as a standalone HR function without a broader team. Familiarity with US employment law or willingness to develop this knowledge quickly.

Technical Skills: Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice. Competent in producing clear, professional written documentation including policies, letters, and reports. Ability to analyse and interpret people data and present findings clearly to a non‑HR audience. Familiarity with HRIS or applicant tracking systems. Experience designing or delivering manager capability programmes. Knowledge of reward, recognition, or compensation benchmarking practices. A curious and proactive approach to the use of AI in HR processes.

Attributes: High degree of personal integrity, discreet, trustworthy, and consistent in how they treat people and information. A genuine passion for building high‑performing, engaged teams and investing in people development. Confident and credible communicator, able to influence and challenge at all levels including senior leadership. Pragmatic and commercially minded, able to balance people‑centric values with the practical needs of a growing business.

Willingness to: Design, implement, lead and improve people processes and practices. Support managers with HR issues (it’s not just carrying out HR admin). Have strategic and operational ownership, not just advisory influence. Own Reward, L&D, TA, EDI, Org design, HR – we want someone comfortable being the whole function and employee lifecycle. Embrace a standalone role, building something from the ground up.

What’s in it for you? Part‑time position, 24 hours per week, based in Ulverston, Cumbria. 31 days holidays including Bank Holidays and time off at Christmas pro rata. Regular 1:1 meetings with line manager and annual pay reviews. Private healthcare, including dental, optical, and mental health support. Work alongside passionate and experienced people.