People Operations Manager in Manchester

People Operations Manager in Manchester

Manchester Full-Time 42000 - 45000 £ / year (est.) No working from home possible
Solar on steroids

At a Glance

  • Tasks: Coordinate recruitment, onboarding, and day-to-day people operations in a fast-paced environment.
  • Company: Join a dynamic team at Solar on Steroids, focused on growth and culture.
  • Benefits: Competitive salary, opportunities for professional development, and a vibrant workplace culture.
  • Other info: Exciting opportunity to shape processes and make a real impact in a growing business.
  • Why this job: Be at the heart of scaling a company while maintaining its unique culture and agility.
  • Qualifications: Experience in People Operations or Talent Acquisition is a plus; strong organisational skills required.

The predicted salary is between 42000 - 45000 £ per year.

Reports to

COO

Department

Operations

Salary

£42,000 - £45,000

The Role

We’re looking for a highly organised People Operations Manager to own the coordination of recruitment, onboarding and day-to-day people operations.

You’ll work closely with the COO, founders and team leads to ensure every hire follows a structured process, every employee has a consistent onboarding experience and leadership has complete visibility over workforce planning and capacity.

This role sits at the heart of the business and will play a key part in helping Solar on Steroids scale without losing the culture, quality and agility that have driven our growth so far.

Key Responsibilities

Recruitment & Talent Acquisition

Own the operational recruitment process from approval through to offer.

Responsibilities include

  • Managing recruitment pipelines
  • Posting vacancies
  • Screening applications
  • Scheduling interviews
  • Coordinating interview stages
  • Managing candidate communications
  • Preparing offers and contracts
  • Maintaining recruitment trackers
  • Building talent pools
  • Delivering an outstanding candidate experience
  • Workforce Planning

Support the COO with workforce planning and hiring coordination.

Including

  • Hiring plans
  • Capacity tracking
  • Recruitment forecasting
  • Annual leave visibility
  • Upcoming onboarding requirements
  • Probation tracking
  • Weekly workforce reports
  • Headcount planning support

You’ll help ensure hiring remains proactive rather than reactive.

Hiring Readiness

Before any offer is made, you’ll coordinate the company’s Hiring Readiness Checklist.

This includes confirming

  • Reporting line
  • Functional trainer
  • Onboarding owner
  • Start date
  • Equipment requests
  • System access
  • Capacity confirmation

No new hire progresses until every stage has been completed.

Onboarding

Coordinate a structured onboarding experience for every employee.

Including

  • Welcome communications
  • Contracts and documentation
  • Equipment and access
  • Company induction
  • Click Up setup
  • Training schedules
  • Probation planning
  • First-week experience
  • 30/60/90-day planning

You’ll work closely with functional trainers to ensure every new starter has a clear path to becoming fully productive.

People Operations

Own the day-to-day administration of the people function.

Including

  • Annual leave
  • Sickness management
  • Payroll preparation
  • Personnel records
  • Contracts
  • Policies
  • HR documentation
  • Probation administration
  • Performance review scheduling
  • Employment references
  • Leadership & Operations Support

Support the COO by maintaining visibility across the people function.

Including

  • Recruitment dashboards
  • Workforce planning reports
  • Capacity reporting
  • Hiring metrics
  • People KPIs
  • Probation tracking
  • Leadership meeting preparation
  • Action tracking
  • Recruitment forecasting

You’ll help ensure leadership always has accurate, up-to-date information to support decision-making.

Continuous Improvement

Help improve how the business recruits, onboards and develops people.

Including

  • Improving onboarding
  • Simplifying recruitment processes
  • Building and maintaining SOPs
  • Improving documentation
  • Supporting AI and automation projects
  • Working alongside the Systems Architect
  • Supporting Click Up and operational workflow improvements
  • Decision Authority

This role owns the operational coordination of recruitment and people operations.

Responsible for

  • Recruitment coordination
  • Candidate communication
  • Interview scheduling
  • Onboarding coordination
  • People administration
  • Workforce planning support
  • Capacity reporting
  • Recruitment tracking
  • Maintaining HR documentation
  • Leadership reporting

Final decisions remain with the COO and Founders for

  • Headcount approval
  • Organisational structure
  • Reporting lines
  • Salary decisions
  • Promotions
  • Final hiring decisions
  • Probation outcomes
  • Workforce strategy
  • What Success Looks Like

Within your first six months

  • Recruitment follows one consistent operating process.
  • Time-to-hire has reduced through better coordination.
  • Every new starter completes a structured onboarding programme.
  • 100% of new hires have documented 30/60/90-day plans.
  • Weekly workforce planning and capacity reports are delivered consistently.
  • Leadership has complete visibility over recruitment, onboarding and workforce capacity.
  • Recruitment administration no longer sits with the founders.
  • Managers understand their responsibilities throughout the employee lifecycle.
  • You’ll Be Great If You…
  • Love bringing order to fast-moving environments.
  • Enjoy building processes rather than working around them.
  • Can manage multiple priorities simultaneously.
  • Communicate confidently with people at all levels.
  • Naturally identify problems before they become issues.
  • Thrive in growing businesses where no two days are the same.
  • Want to help build a company, not just work within one.

Experience

We’re open to different backgrounds, but you’ll likely have experience in one or more of the following:

  • People Operations
  • Talent Acquisition
  • Internal Recruitment
  • HR Operations
  • Operations Coordination
  • Executive Support
  • Recruitment Agency or In-house Recruitment

Experience within a scaling SME or high-growth business would be highly advantageous.

Skills

  • Excellent organisational skills
  • Strong written and verbal communication
  • High attention to detail
  • Commercial awareness
  • Strong prioritisation skills
  • Confidence working with multiple stakeholders
  • Comfortable using technology and AI tools
  • Ability to improve and document operational processes
  • Nice to Have
  • CIPD Level 3 or Level 5 qualification (or working towards one)
  • Experience in an in-house People Operations or Talent role
  • Experience recruiting across marketing, sales or technology functions
  • Experience supporting a scaling SME or startup
  • Familiarity with UK employment law and HR best practice
  • Experience using HRIS or ATS platforms (e. g. Rippling, Bamboo HR, Workable or Teamtailor)
  • Experience using Click Up, Notion, Monday. com or similar workflow tools
  • Experience producing people metrics and leadership reporting
  • Experience coordinating onboarding, probation and performance review processes
  • Interest in AI, automation and operational improvement

People Operations Manager in Manchester employer: Solar on steroids

As a Business Development Manager at our company, you'll be part of a dynamic team that thrives on innovation and collaboration, driving significant growth for our clients in the home services sector. We offer a supportive work culture that prioritises employee development, with ample opportunities for professional growth and advancement, all while being located in a vibrant area that fosters creativity and networking. Join us to make a meaningful impact and enjoy the unique advantage of working with a company that has successfully generated over £25M for its clients.

Solar on steroids

Contact Details:

Solar on steroids Recruitment Team

We think you need these skills to ace People Operations Manager in Manchester

Organisational Skills
Written Communication
Verbal Communication
Attention to Detail
Commercial Awareness
Prioritisation Skills
Stakeholder Management