People & Culture Manager

About Kinetic

At Kinetic we’re redefining operational excellence in higher education, conferencing, and events. As the leading provider of software solutions for student accommodation, event management, catering, and residential services, we help institutions streamline operations, elevate customer experiences, and unlock their full potential. With over 25 years of experience and trusted by more than 350 institutions worldwide, our software empowers universities and venues to run smarter, faster, and more collaboratively. Our culture is built on empowerment, community, and continuous growth. We believe in giving people the tools, support, and freedom to do their best work — and have fun while doing it.

The Role

We are looking for a commercially-minded People & Culture Manager to join Kinetic as a trusted partner to the CEO and senior leadership team. The role reports directly to the CEO. Kinetic is in an active phase of growth and transformation - scaling across UK/EMEA and North America, investing in engineering and product leadership, and sharpening our commercial operating model. This role is focused on building the people capability and culture required to sustain that momentum, while running the day-to-day people function with rigour.

What You'll Be Doing

• This is a hands-on business-partnering role. You'll balance credible challenge to senior leaders with operational discipline across the people function, leading a team of three spanning Talent Acquisition, Office Management, and People & Culture.
• Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and senior leadership team on people decisions that materially affect business performance - organisational design, workforce shaping, leadership capability, and reward.
• Translate commercial priorities into clear people plans, balancing growth ambition with cost discipline and risk management.
• Bring a commercial lens to retention, headcount, and employee relations discussions, flagging people risk before it becomes business risk.
• Support transformation and organisational change work, including sequencing, communications, and capability implications.
• Partner with Finance on workforce cost planning, people budget governance, and capacity decisions.
• Use people data to inform senior decisions - attrition, cost-to-hire, productivity, engagement, and diversity - surfacing the ‘so what’ not just the numbers.
• Provide pragmatic people-dimension input into strategic choices such as location strategy, market entry, and operating model changes.

Talent, Performance & Capability (25%)

• Lead the Talent Acquisition team and own the end-to-end hiring experience with a focus on quality, speed, and cultural fit.
• Run performance management, goal setting, and development planning across the business, ensuring alignment to our strategic priorities and OKRs.
• Design and deliver talent development and succession planning activity, including leadership development pathways and Emerging Managers Programmes (EMPs).
• Partner with senior leaders on talent reviews and capability gaps, identifying successors and stretch assignments against future business needs.

People Operations & Compliance (20%)

• Oversee day-to-day people operations across employee relations, performance, benefits, payroll coordination, and employment compliance.
• Lead complex ER cases including disciplinary, grievance, welfare, and appeals, combining fairness and pragmatism with legal rigour.
• Maintain accurate employee records and ensure compliance with right to work, referencing, audit and reporting obligations.
• Run our HRIS, engagement, and learning platforms efficiently and drive proactive usage across the business.
• Manage onboarding and offboarding to ensure a consistently high employee experience, including exit interviews and continuous improvement.

Culture & Engagement (20%)

• Steward a culture that reflects our values in everyday practices and interactions, including across office-based, hybrid, and remote-working colleagues.
• Design and run engagement, recognition, and all-company activity that builds connection across geographies, functions, and working patterns.
• Lead diversity, inclusion and belonging activity focused on measurable outcomes rather than performative activity.
• Own the people contribution to our Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) agenda, and act as a trusted sounding board and culture carrier through your own behaviour.

What You'll Bring

• Proven generalist HR / People & Culture experience, with meaningful time as a trusted business partner to senior leaders in a commercial environment.
• Track record of managing a small team across the full people lifecycle, including hands-on people operations.
• Strong commercial instinct - comfortable holding your own in discussions with finance, operations, and engineering leaders.
• Confident handling complex ER matters including dismissals, appeals, and transformation or restructuring work.
• Working knowledge of UK employment law, with exposure to US employment practice an advantage.
• Data-literate and proficient in HRIS and productivity tooling - comfortable using people metrics to frame commercial choices.
• Able to be on-site in Milton Keynes on Mondays and Wednesdays.

• Experience supporting a CEO or executive team in a scaling, PE-backed, or strategic-investor-backed business.
• Experience of organisational redesign or large-scale change programmes.
• Higher education or SaaS sector familiarity.
• CIPD Level 5 or 7, or working towards it.
• Experience designing or running leadership development or Emerging Managers Programmes.
• Experience managing culture and engagement across remote or hybrid workforces.
• Track record of improving measurable engagement outcomes such as eNPS, retention, or inclusion and belonging indicators.

• Commercially curious - you want to understand the business, not just the people processes.
• Credible with senior leaders - able to challenge constructively and hold the line where needed.
• Pragmatic - you prioritise what matters and don't over-engineer.
• Composed under pressure - ER cases, organisational change, and executive dynamics don't rattle you.
• Discreet and trustworthy, and a culture carrier through your own behaviour as much as through policy.

What other great things come with the role?

• 25 days holiday (plus bank holidays) – with extra days the longer you’re with us.
• Two paid wellbeing days each year, with a budget to enjoy some time out with someone important to you.
• Enhanced pension contributions to support your future.
• Two paid days a year to give back through volunteering, charity work, or sustainability projects with our Green Team.
• Salary sacrifice schemes for electric vehicles and cycle-to-work.
• 24/7 access to our Employee Assistance Programme for confidential advice and support.
• A full annual health check to keep you at your best.
• A flexible benefits platform – from life assurance and learning opportunities to retail discounts and cinema tickets.
• A genuine people-first culture where your growth and wellbeing come first.
• Performance-related bonus scheme to reward your contribution.
• Regular socials – from team get-togethers to all-company celebrations, with each department owning a budget for their events.
• The opportunity to attend group conferences, away days and learning forums both in the UK and abroad – network with other talent.

Kinetic is an equal opportunity employer, fostering diversity and committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.