People & Operations Manager

We are seeking an experienced People & Operations Manager to support our people, HR and operational functions, ensuring high standards across recruitment, onboarding, employee experience, compliance and business operations.

This is an exciting opportunity to join a growing consultancy working with a diverse range of clients and make a significant impact as the business continues to expand.

Who we are

We are a people intelligence company.

We support organisations to build environments where their integrity, inclusion, innovation and purpose thrive and their people risk is low.

We specialise in

• Investigations
• Culture & Sustainability
• DEEI (diversity, equity, equality & inclusion)
• Training, coaching & facilitation
• Connected Communications
• Advisory (legal, HR, employee relations, governance, culture)
• Independent Speak Up services (employee relations triage services)

We are a first-of-its-kind UK people intelligence company regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

About the Role

We are looking for a proactive and experienced People & Operations Manager to support and enhance our HR and operational functions.

The successful candidate will help deliver key people processes across the employee lifecycle, ensuring compliance, operational efficiency and an excellent employee experience.

They will bring strong HR expertise, sound judgement and a collaborative approach, contributing innovative ideas and practical solutions that support the continued growth and success of Howlett Brown.

The successful candidate will

• People
• Conduct and coordinate relevantall staff meetings and People & Operations team meetings.
• Manage and oversee the onboarding process of new joiners ensuring a positive new joiner experience, creating and designing induction itineraries and packs, meet and greets, policy/procedure induction sessions, meeting compliance, employment and regulatory standards.

Coordination and oversight of background screening for new joiners ensuring full compliance and practice with Howlett Brown standards and protocols.

• Set up, coordinate, execute and ensure staff compliance of the annual and biannual mandatory training programmes.
• Manage and coordinate core people cycles such as talent development, annual leave and absence tracking. Managing people management systems such as Sage HR.
• Support the coordination and administration of employee relations matters, including probation reviews, performance concerns, absence management, flexible working requests and other people-related processes, ensuring matters are handled with discretion, consistency and appropriate escalation where required.
• Maintain accurate and compliant HR records, contracts, personnel files, right to work documentation, training records, policy acknowledgements and employee lifecycle documentation, ensuring strong data integrity and confidentiality across all people systems.
• Support the implementation, review and communication of operational and HR policies, processes and guidance, helping to ensure employment practices remain clear, consistent, legally compliant and aligned with Howlett Brown’s values and standards.
• Oversee and coordinate the recruitment process, application and candidate screening, coordination and interview management and support.
• Develop job descriptions, job ads and competency practices for Howlett Brown’s interviewing framework.
• Support workforce planning and recruitment activity by maintaining visibility of vacancies, recruitment priorities, candidate progress and onboarding readiness, ensuring recruitment processes are well organised, inclusive and aligned to business needs.
• Line manage and develop administrators and other junior staff within People & Operations function.

Operate as the point of contact for all staff regarding workplace practices, policies and queries.

• Manage and oversee offboarding of staff, ensuring practice and compliance standards are completed and recorded.
• Provide practical HR support to managers and staff on day-to-day people queries, applying sound judgement, confidentiality and care while identifying risks, gaps or areas requiring senior input from the Head of People & Operations.
• Support Head of People and Operations with motivating and advancing the team members and overseeing their training and development in the People & Operations team.
• Oversee, manage and coordinate internal team events and team building activities, collaborating with the Head of People & Operations.
• Demonstrate an awareness of workplace culture, trends and practices, as well as a keen passion and commitment to be a thought leader for the People & Operations department.
• Operations
• Manage and conducting diligence and compliance, client onboarding and due diligence processes at Howlett Brown.
• Manage and oversee the standards, coordination and practices of booking travel.
• Manage and conduct client and vendor billing process from end to end including building relationships with client and vendor finance teams, chasing for payments and reconciling business transaction through our systems.

This includes management and oversight of Howlett Brown time recording, narratives and activity mapping.

• Manage and oversee the VAT returns process which includes coordinating with our accountants and suppliers where needed to ensure that compliance deadlines are met.
• Oversee and monitor the health and safety practices at Howlett Brown, conducting checks and ensuring compliance, as well as anticipating health and safety needs, resolving areas of concern that require attention promptly.
• Have office management oversight and responsibility.

This includes ensuring that office standards of safety, cleanliness, compliance and coordinating with external service providers to Howlett Brown standards.

• Liaise and coordinate on IT and systems queries with staff, as well as be a point of contact for Howlett Brown’s IT suppliers and systems updates.

Oversee the assigning of licenses and onboarding of new products and licenses.

• Collaborate and support external and client facing events for Howlett Brown.
• Have supplier oversight and management, ensuring a record of terms and practices as well as addressing standards and expectations of suppliers with guidance and support of the Head of People & Operations.
• Support the management and oversight of the Howlett Brown rate table building knowledge and responsibility over time.
• Core Skills & Standards

The successful candidate will have

A minimum of 5 years’ experience working in HR, people operations or people and operations related roles, with demonstrable experience supporting core HR processes, employee lifecycle administration, recruitment, onboarding, performance management, absence management, HR systems and people compliance.

Relevant HR qualifications or equivalent practical experience are desirable.

Have a strong working understanding of HR policies, employment lifecycle processes and people compliance requirements, with the ability to apply these consistently and elevate more complex or sensitive matters appropriately.

• Have good problem-solving skills, resilience and be able to work at pace.

Be able to think logically, ability to evaluate and simplify complex issues, as well as exercise good and independent judgement.

Have the ability to communicate effectively at all levels of the company, prioritising needs with speed and attention to detail.

• Have a high level of attention to detail and the ability to identify errors, inconsistencies and discrepancies, particularly when reviewing large volumes of data, financial records, invoices, payroll information, tax-related documentation and operational reports.

Be comfortable working with numerical and compliance-sensitive information, taking care to ensure accuracy and completeness, and escalating any issues identified where appropriate.

Be emotionally intelligent and have a well-balanced commercially strategic and empathetic management style.

• Have confidence and courage to operate in a managerial role, including the ability to handle sensitive HR and workplace matters with discretion, professionalism and sound judgement, and to raise potentially sensitive or tense issues with managers at all levels in a constructive and solution-focused way.
• Be a business champion internally by sharing thought leadership and best practices of Howlett Brown, can improve, evolve and continuously raise standards in people and operations.
• Foster effective collaboration and communication with internal stakeholders, managers, leaders and other departments to identify and resolve business integrity needs or concerns promptly while driving excellence, upholding high-performance standards, and maintaining a positive culture that meets company and client needs.
• Demonstrate exceptional customer service practices and behaviours with a solution focussed attitude and approach.
• Role model values and standards of Howlett Brown. Demonstrate respect, dignity and professionalism at all times to colleagues, clients and third parties.

What we offer you

• Hybrid working – Monday and Wednesday mandatory in office days, third day of your choosing and two days working from home.
• Permanent
• Private Health Care
• Sick pay
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