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We at Focaldata are on a mission to close the "understanding gap" between what organisations believe about people and reality. By leveraging AI, we provide deeper, more accurate insights at a fraction of the cost and time of traditional methods.

We have built an amazing team of research industry expert and great engineers to reimagine what is possible in research. We do impactful work with amazing organisations ranging from well-known brands to life-changing non-profits. Join us!

About the role

We are looking for a Senior People Manager to join our growing team. This is a high-impact generalist role that supports both day-to-day operations and strategic People initiatives. You'll work across the entire employee lifecycle — helping us scale our culture, develop our people, reach high levels of performance, and ensure our People function continues to be a trusted partner to the business.

You'll be embedded in the day-to-day running of the People team, acting as a go-to person for employee relations, onboarding, engagement, development, and operations. This is a brilliant opportunity for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, scaling environment and is passionate about high performance and creating an exceptional employee experience.

What you"ll do

Own the employee experience

• Deliver an exceptional onboarding process that sets new hires up for success
• Act as the first point of contact for employees and managers on People-related queries
• Champion a people-first approach while balancing commercial and operational realities
• Support the welfare and engagement of employees across the business

Drive People operations and compliance

• Ensure smooth running of key People processes (contracts, compliance, documentation)
• Maintain accurate employee data and records
• Help ensure our policies and practices are up to date, legally sound, and reflect our values

Partner with managers and teams

• Collaborate with managers to support team development, performance, and engagement
• Contribute to progression and development frameworks, and promote internal mobility
• Assist in the delivery of key People programmes such as feedback cycles, promotions, and L&D initiatives

Contribute to strategic People projects

• Support the design and rollout of cultural and engagement initiatives
• Work alongside the Operations team to deliver impactful, data-informed People projects
• Assist the COO with resource planning and hiring plans
• Help ensure that People priorities are aligned with company-wide goals

Who you are (skills and experience)

• What excites us most:
• Multiple experiences in a People role, ideally within a high-growth startups or tech scale-ups
• Comfortable with working on both admin tasks and executing high-impact initiatives
• Good understanding of UK employment law
• Highly organised and detail-oriented, with strong operational instincts
• Well practiced in aiding Managers in developing themselves to be better leaders as well as those in their team who may need support
• Comfortable handling sensitive matters with professionalism and discretion
• Tech literate and confident working with HRIS systems and Google Workspace
• Comfortable working solo on multiple projects at once
• Strong communication skills — clear, empathetic, and confident
• Proactive and able to work autonomously in a fast-paced environment
• Low ego and a collaborative mindset — you're excited to roll your sleeves up

What would be great if you had done in addition:

• Exposure to compensation, benefits, and reward programmes
• Background in organisational development or change initiatives
• Experience working alongside talent acquisition to support end-to-end employee experience

What your week may look like

• Monday: Running onboarding sessions, reviewing upcoming policy updates, checking in on employee queries
• Tuesday: Supporting a manager with a performance issue, preparing for an engagement survey
• Wednesday: Helping a team roll out a development framework, reviewing L&D options
• Thursday: Collaborating with the Ops team on a new initiative
• Friday: Catching up on documentation, supporting HRIS data updates, finishing a policy review

Location: Spitalfields, London based 4 days in office

Focaldata is an equal opportunities employer. We believe in the value of a diverse and inclusive workforce for our business, team and customers. We encourage all applications regardless of age, disability, gender, marriage, pregnancy, maternity, race or nationality, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation.

We also understand that certain groups may not feel empowered to apply unless they match every single requirement. Please do apply even if you don"t match 100% of every single requirement!