People & Culture Manager

About Penfold

Hi, we’re Penfold — we’re building the pension of the future! We’re dragging pensions out of the dark ages with a modern, tech‑first platform that makes saving for retirement engaging, accessible, and rewarding. We’re a team of 80+ across London and Tallinn, backed by leading fintech investors. Having raised £20M+, we manage £1BN+ in pensions for over 100,000 savers and thousands of businesses — and we’re on track for profitability next year. As we scale, we’re investing in strong people foundations so our culture and performance grow as intentionally as our product.

Why This Role Matters

One of our core values is being a truly great place to work, a people‑first environment built on trust, ambition, and high standards. As People & Culture Manager, you’ll own the People function end‑to‑end and partner closely with the COO and Leadership team to ensure our culture, structure, and performance frameworks support our next stage of growth. You’ll build on what we have, strengthen it where needed, and scale it proportionally as we grow. The goal isn’t more process, it’s better process. Systems that enable speed, clarity, and accountability. We’re a regulated, high‑growth fintech. We move fast, but we also value discipline and clear expectations. You’ll help us balance culture with performance, raising standards as we scale.

What You’ll Do

• Make Penfold a Genuinely Great Place to Work: Champion our “great place to work” value in practical, visible ways. Partner with Leadership to shape a culture that combines psychological safety with accountability. Create an environment where expectations are clear, feedback is normal, and delivery matters. Reinforce ownership, fairness, and consistency across the business.
• Lead Clear & Confident People Communication: Own communication of key People updates, including policies, performance cycles, engagement outcomes, and cultural initiatives. Translate complex or sensitive topics into simple, human language. Support leaders in setting clear priorities and communicating expectations confidently and consistently. Contribute to quarterly updates and company‑wide moments that reinforce alignment, accountability, and transparency. Design communication rhythms that ensure everyone, whether in London, Tallinn, or remote, is aligned to company goals, expectations, and progress.
• Build & Scale the Foundations: Evolve our HR frameworks thoughtfully as we grow. Partner with Leadership on workforce planning, organisational design, and capability gaps. Ensure processes drive clarity and high standards without unnecessary bureaucracy. Maintain UK employment compliance and coordinate with advisors in Estonia. Oversee contracts, policies, payroll inputs, pensions, and benefits with accuracy and simplicity. Ensure GDPR‑compliant, well‑governed people data practices.
• Drive Development & Growth: Own and refine our performance framework so it is clear, fair, and impact‑driven. Ensure company strategy translates into meaningful team and individual objectives. Support evidence‑based decisions around progression and development. Coach managers, including senior leaders, to address underperformance early and constructively. Strengthen management capability across the business.
• Support Sustainable Performance: Champion high ambition without burnout. Act as a trusted sounding board for sensitive matters. Monitor engagement, workload, and attrition trends as we grow. Ensure wellbeing initiatives support long‑term performance and resilience.
• Bring Us Together: Lead our Lunch & Learn programme to drive knowledge sharing and visibility. Own quarterly company events and our annual off‑site, aligning culture with strategy and celebrating progress. Help make our London and Tallinn offices energising, welcoming spaces. Ensure remote colleagues feel equally included and aligned.

What We’re Looking For

You’ll likely have:

• 5+ years’ HR generalist experience.
• Strong knowledge of UK employment law.
• Experience operating as a standalone HR lead or in a small People team.
• Confidence managing employee relations independently.
• Experience in a scaling, fast‑paced environment, with Fintech being a plus.
• Clear, confident communication skills and the ability to influence at all levels.
• Ability to work from our London office 2–3 days per week and travel to our Tallinn, Estonia office approximately 1–2 times per quarter.

You’re commercially aware, pragmatic, and calm under pressure. You understand that a great place to work and a high‑performing company are not opposites — they reinforce each other.

Our Interview Process

• Hiring manager interview
• Task‑based interview
• Culture fit conversation (this is as much for you to get to know us!)
• Final executive interview

Benefits

• Competitive salary, regularly reviewed to reflect your impact and experience
• Meaningful share options — you’ll own a part of Penfold and share in our success
• 10% employer pension contribution, with no matching required (on top of salary)
• Private medical insurance through Vitality
• Unlimited holiday — we care about outcomes, not counting days off
• Hybrid working — London‑based team members join us in the office a couple of days a week
• Great community office space near Borough Underground station
• Weekly company lunch
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Learning & professional development support
• Quarterly company socials and regular team meet‑ups

Plus a host of other benefits — see more at https://getpenfold.com/careers

We are 100% committed to building a diverse and representative team. Whatever your race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, or disability — we want to hear from you. If you require any reasonable adjustments to the job description, application, or selection process, just let us know — we’d be happy to help. When it comes to hiring, we focus on your skills, experience, and how you live our values. As part of our hiring process, we may record your interview and use AI tools to generate notes. This helps us capture details accurately and ensures a fair review by our hiring panel. By attending an interview with Penfold, you consent to the use of recording and AI‑generated notes for this purpose. If you have any concerns or would prefer not to be recorded, please let us know in advance.