Head of People Operations

We're looking for a hands-on Head of People Operations who loves making things work well, every single day. The foundations are already here: our HR systems, policies, and core processes are in place. What they need now is someone who'll sharpen them, make them consistent across every country we operate in, and keep them running smoothly as we grow.

This isn't a pure strategy role. You'll spend most of your time close to the work: advising managers on tricky employee relations cases, checking that a contract in Kenya meets local law, fixing the onboarding step that keeps tripping people up, and finding ways AI can take the admin off everyone's plate. You'll also own our yearly company offsite, from the agenda to the moment you open it on day one.

Equally vital, you will champion and embody our company culture. You will safeguard our core values, model them in daily interactions, and comfortably lead challenging discussions when expectations aren't met. Acting as a trusted advocate for employees with leadership, you will champion their interests while thoughtfully balancing staff needs, corporate values, and business priorities.

Job Details

• Job Title: Head of People Operations
• Reporting To: Chief Operating Officer
• Grade: M7 (Head of)
• Location: Remote in United Kingdom (but open to GMT +/- 3 hours time zone if you have UK HR Experience)
• Compensation: 60,000-70,000 GBP but this will be adjusted to a local benchmark if you are based outside of the UK
• Contract Structure: Permanent 

Key Responsibilities

• Culture carrier. You'll protect and live our culture and values every day, and hold others to them too. You'll run engagement surveys, turn the results into specific actions, and follow through, keeping our culture strong across a remote-first, multi-country team.
• Employee relations. You'll be the go-to person for managers and staff regarding grievances, disciplinary matters, performance concerns, absences, and exits. You handle cases fairly, document them properly, and close them out, and you know when to bring in local counsel.
• Multi-country compliance. You'll make sure our contracts, handbooks, and policies comply with employment law in each country where we hire, whether through our own entities or an Employer of Record. That means tracking legal changes, keeping country-specific terms up to date, and flagging risk early. As a project-based business, you'll also make sure people are classified correctly (permanent, fixed-term, project-funded, consultant or contractor) as projects start and end, with the right contracts, notice terms and exit processes for each.
• Refining systems and processes. Most of what we need already exists. Your job is to audit it, spot the gaps, and tighten it up: onboarding, offboarding, probation, performance reviews, leave, contract changes, etc.
• Using AI to work smarter. You'll look for practical ways AI can save time and improve quality across the people function, such as drafting initial versions of letters and policies, answering routine employee questions, cleaning up HR data, or summarising survey results. You'll roll these out safely, with clear guidance on data privacy.
• People operations and HR data. You'll own the accuracy of our HRIS and people data, support payroll and benefits administration across countries, and produce clean, reliable reporting for the leadership team. Every process should be documented, owned, and easy to follow.
• Annual company offsite. You'll lead the yearly offsite end-to-end: shaping the agenda with the leadership team, managing the venue, travel, visas, budget, and logistics, and hosting the sessions on the day. People should leave feeling more connected and clearer on where we're going.
• Supporting managers. You'll coach managers through the people side of their jobs and give them simple tools, templates, and training so they can handle more on their own.
• Clear, warm communication. You write clearly, explain policy in plain language, and can handle difficult conversations with empathy and directness.

What Success Looks Like

• First 3 months: you've reviewed every core people process and policy, met each manager, most of the company, and shared a prioritised list of fixes with the leadership team.
• By 6 months: the top-priority processes are refined, documented, and owned. Open employee relations cases are handled consistently, and managers and employees feel supported
• By 9 months: at least two AI-supported workflows are live and saving the team measurable time, with guidance in place on how to use them safely.
• By 12 months: you've delivered a well-run annual offsite that people rate highly, and managers say HR is fast, clear, and easy to work with.

Requirements

• Solid HR generalist experience. You've got 7+ years in HR, with at least 2 years leading the people function or a significant part of it, including managing a small team. You'll lead 3 direct reports here.
• Employee relations know-how. You've handled a wide range of ER cases yourself, from the first conversation to the final outcome, and you're confident, calm, and fair under pressure.
• Labour law across multiple countries. You've worked with employment law in the UK but also in more than one jurisdiction and understand how contracts, notice periods, leave and termination rules differ between them. You know your way around Employer of Record models and when to call local counsel.
• Project-based business experience. You understand how people work in organisations funded by projects or grants. You know the difference between permanent, fixed-term, project-funded and contractor roles, how to classify people correctly in each country, and how to manage contract renewals and endings when funding changes.
• A process builder with an eye for detail. You can take a messy or inconsistent process and turn it into something simple and reliable. You notice the typo in the offer letter and the missing step in the leaver checklist, and you fix them.
• Comfort with HR systems and AI tools. You're confident using an HRIS and comfortable experimenting with AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude or Copilot to make work faster and better. You can show us examples of where you've done it.
• Event planning experience. You've planned and run in-person events, ideally a company offsite or retreat for 50+ people, including agenda design, logistics, budget and facilitation.
• Clear, warm communication. You write clearly, explain policy in plain language and can handle difficult conversations with empathy and directness.
• Happy to travel. You're comfortable travelling occasionally to our sites in Africa 

Nice to have

• Experience working in Africa. You've supported teams or employed people in African countries such as Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and Ethiopia, and you understand local labour law, payroll and cultural context there.
• Global health or NGO background. You've worked in a mission-driven organisation
• CIPD Level 5 or above, or an equivalent HR qualification. Not required, but a plus.
• UK-based. The role is fully remote, but a UK base would be ideal.

Benefits

5 Reasons to Join Simprints

Life is short. We believe work should be inspirational, meaningful and fun. At Simprints, we’re taking on global development’s biggest challenges, powered by an amazing culture and incredible people. Work with us, and you will grow faster, learn more, and take on great responsibilities with the potential to make lasting change.

1. Genuine Impact. Work directly with our partners and users to deliver technology that has the potential to impact millions of lives across the globe. At Simprints, you’ll be part of a team that is passionate about driving real change.

2. An incredible, diverse team. Our work is at the intersection of technology and global development, and we’ve managed to build an amazing team drawn from all over the world. But don’t take our word for it—we’re an externally recognised as a Great Place to Work, and a 2025 Best Workplace for Women amonst many other accolades.

3. Mutual Flex. We champion a work culture where autonomy and trust are paramount, steering clear of mere face-time metrics. Whether it's managing life's essentials like healthcare appointments or adapting work hours to match your peak productivity times, we've got you covered. In return, we count on your reciprocal flexibility when mission-critical moments arise, like stepping up for a crucial client discussion on a Friday or tackling unexpected technical glitches beyond regular hours. 

4. Ultimate work-life balance. As long as you're driving results and fostering teamwork, we encourage you to strike that perfect balance between your professional and personal life. Our commitment to this model's success is solidified through semi-annual productivity assessments with our board, ensuring that our high standards of performance are consistently met.

5. Professional development. We promote continual learning and put our money where our mouth is with development plans and access to global experts through the GLG network. We also have a generous professional development budget for each colleague – “Eduprints”. Is there some training you’d like, or maybe you could benefit from professional coaching? Simply provide a business case that shares your aspirations and the resources you need, and we'll do our best to support you.  We care about both your development in Simprints and your holistic long-term career goals. Simprints Alumni have gone on to work for Google, World Bank, Gavi, Save the Children, and other top players.