People Operations Specialist

About Phorest

Phorest powers 11,000 hair and beauty salons using our software across the globe. Our aim is to capture 25% of the market globally – that’s one million salons and a billion-dollar company. We are growing and would like to add a new member to our team. You will join a group of highly motivated individuals, to help us grow Phorest faster.

The Opportunity

We’re hiring a People Operations Specialist who will be primarily responsible for:

• Shaping how technology (people systems, automation, and AI) can enable our People team in partnership with the Head of People Operations
• Owning and running the People team tech stack (including HiBob)
• Designing and enhancing people processes
• Managing our Compensation structures
• Managing our global Benefits offering and providers
• Helping to deepen analytics-enabled People Partnering

This is an individual contributor role and is at the centre of building a technology-enabled, data-informed function that supports the business in a practical, meaningful way. It will include scoping challenges, vendor research, selection, and potentially implementation, as well as learning to build AI solutions using tools already available to us. You’ll own the management of our people tech stack, which currently includes HiBob but is about to expand with an additional focus on how AI can enable the People Team. You will lead People Operations improvements across the employee lifecycle, and drive automation and self‑service with end users across the organisation. This is a hands‑on role with real ownership for someone who loves building, technology, thinks in systems, is excited about solving problems, and working with a fantastic, forward‑thinking People Team. You’ll improve how things work today while building strong foundations for scale, and help us move from more manual operations to a more scalable way of working.

What You’ll Do

• HR systems & automation
• Own our HRIS (HiBob) end‑to‑end and lead ongoing improvements, integrations, and data quality
• Lead HR systems implementation, optimisation, and audits with support from the Head of People Operations
• Drive automation across People processes and explore how AI and tools can improve efficiency and employee experience
• People processes
• Design and improve scalable, globally relevant People processes
• Reduce friction and manual work, while keeping things simple and easy to use
• Data, reporting & insights
• Own People data integrity and governance
• Build and maintain clear, useful reporting and dashboards for leadership (or build a tool to do this!)
• Compensation & benefits
• Support and improve compensation cycles and structures
• Own global benefits management, including providers and renewals
• Operational excellence
• Reduce reliance on manual work and ad hoc requests
• Improve how employee and manager queries are handled, with a focus on self‑service and access to information

Who You Are

• 5+ years of experience in People Ops, HR Ops, HR Systems, or a similar role
• Strong experience owning and improving an HRIS (HiBob or similar), with a solid understanding of configuration
• Experience building scalable People processes in a growing, multi‑region environment
• Comfortable working with People data, reporting, and metrics
• Experience supporting compensation and benefits operations
• Think in systems and naturally look for ways to simplify and improve how things work
• Curious about AI and new technologies, and proactive in testing, learning, and applying them
• Proactive, positive, and solution‑focused, with a strong sense of ownership
• Enjoy working in a collaborative team and are comfortable working independently when needed
• Flexible and adaptable, with the ability to bring clarity to ambiguity and think creatively
• Able to balance attention to detail with the bigger picture
• Build a strong understanding of the business and ensure People Ops is aligned, relevant, and adding value

Benefits

• Your wellbeing is important to us – we provide private healthcare, 2 Wellness Days, an employee assistance program and a free online GP service.
• As part of our Financial Wellbeing, we provide competitive Compensation, an Employee Share Purchase Scheme, Pension, and Life Assurance.
• We help you travel by providing a bike to work scheme as well as tax‑saver transport tickets.
• We support the women who work in Phorest by offering 2 weeks leave for Fertility Treatment, Pregnancy Loss and Menopause.
• We care for your family and provide Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Benefits.
• We grow our own timber! We provide a great learning environment and extensive development opportunities. We run development programs and provide access to many online resources including LinkedIn learning.
• Moving house? Phorest employees get 3 moving days.

Phorest is an equal opportunity employer. For this position, flexi‑time and working from home is possible. We are also open to remote work. Get in touch to ask for more information or to chat about your future with Phorest!

Research shows that while men apply to jobs when they meet an average of 60% of the criteria, women and other marginalised folks tend to only apply when they check every box. So if you think you have what it takes, but don’t necessarily meet every single point on the job description, please still get in touch. We’d love to have a chat and see if you could be a great fit.