Head of People

We’re looking for a hands-on People Operator to manage a small global team of generalists, implementing and overseeing all people-related activities and partnering for our c.270 employees, in line with our Smart, Kind, Maker values. The role has a sizable US focus. 

We want to create a seamless, professional and thoughtful experience for all our people that looks to progressive people practices to inform our focus and activities. We are looking for somebody to roll their sleeves up and get stuck in, acting as a span breaker for the Chief People Officer and to deliver people best practice across international territories. 

If you love supporting and developing an ambitious  team, partnering with the business, have a keen eye for process improvement, and find company growth and change exciting, this role is for you!

Responsibilities- what you’ll be doing 

• You’ll be responsible for the people team delivering all operational “people '' things across all territories, providing guidance on the day-to-day people matters and processes at key stages of the employee journey to help the business operate seamlessly, from recruitment to benefits, to employee relations, to business partnering.
• As an inspiring people manager, you’ll ensure your team is supported and encouraged to contribute their best self, fostering a continuous learning environment. Receiving fantastic stretch and development opportunities bringing out the best out of them. With the Chief People Officer you will inform strategic initiatives and prioritise team bandwidth.
• Reporting to the Chief People Officer, you’ll take on a global philosophy, local implementation mindset, and think proactively about how to strengthen our togetherness and create seamlessly cohesive teams across the UK, US and Ukraine. 
• Dialling up business partnering, you will work with managers and key stakeholders providing guidance and coaching to help them lead high performing and happy teams. You will lead and oversee all local HR routines (benefit implementation, salary benchmarking, performance reviews etc) delivering the best in-house experience.
• You’ll champion a strategic talent management approach to recruitment and internal talent development. You’ll be creative in solving hiring challenges across the globe, headhunting and supporting senior hire recruitment. In collaboration with the Learning & Development manager, you will drive progression, development and engagement across our teams to enhance our talent pipeline.
• With the People team, you will drive policy development and implementation across all territories
• You’ll own all people related compliance across all territories. Making sure systems, policies, practices are up to date, legally sound, compliant and fit for purpose as well as educating your team.
• You’ll support the relationships the team has with our 3rd party providers including contractual obligations, renegotiation of terms and / or subsequent tender processes as necessary.
• Working closely with the Learning and Development Manager you will provide insightful feedback and based on needs analysis, propose learning interventions that drive people performance and development.  
• Working closely with the Employee Experience Lead you’ll support the roll out of engagement and experience initiatives and work closely with the team to gain insight into their impact on engagement and performance. 
• You’ll work closely with the Chief People Officer, to audit and develop a roadmap for areas of possible M&A integration, improvement or streamlining across systems technology (including HRIS, ATS) vendors (such as Benefits and Payroll portals), policies, processes and routines, from across multiple existing procedures
• With all people operations, you will ensure people practices are aligned with Diversity and Inclusion initiatives, promoting equity, opportunity and representation in all people processes and at all stages of the employee journey. 

Who you are

• You have a passion for and experience of, managing a team in a Values-led, authentic way and build fantastic, lasting relationships with the people you work with
• You’ll be a true HR Generalist, a confident business partner and hands-on operator, with relevant experience in a similar role
• You’ll have experience of and sound working knowledge of US employment law, benefits, healthcare, payroll and tax, including experience of HR across different states 
• Preferably, you’ll have experience working remotely and with a distributed workforce (i.e. company with multiple locations, working from home etc).
• Preferably you’ll have professional qualifications in HR or related fields.  
• You’ve got some experience of working in a start-up environment, a growth business environment or at least, you will have ‘startup DNA’ - you’re flexible with an “all hands on deck” mentality, self-motivated, and require little managerial direction
• You will be confident in talent acquisition, handling ER cases, coordinating annual benchmarking, reward processes and performance cycles
• You are seen as the credible expert with a good dose of common sense, and people trust you
• You remain positive, enthusiastic and solutions-focused in the face of challenges and great superb communication skills – we’re a dynamic working environment and you’ll need to be able to create and maintain great relationships across the business to get things done
• Excellent knowledge of Google-suite, remote collaboration tools (Slack, Zoom, Asana etc.), HRIS, ATS applications,  Benefits portals applications, and a quick learner with new systems
• You are self-led and able to prioritise well in a fast-paced environment with changing demands. 
• You will have an eye for detail and high standards when it comes to your work 
• You’ll have a growth mindset and be truly flexible when priorities change

What we’re offering

• Competitive salary to reflect your skills and experience plus benefits: pension plan, private healthcare, cash plan and some other great perks!
• 25 holiday days pro rata + a day off for your birthday.
• Smart colleagues and supportive team- you will join a fantastic team of really bright, motivated, and driven individuals who will support you at every stage of your journey
• Working environment that values excellence
• Central London Location, although working remotely through the COVID pandemic and will continue with a hybrid-remote approach post pandemic

About us

At LoveCrafts we’re building online communities for crafters: homes for makers where they can find inspiration for their latest projects, learn new techniques, easily source all their supplies and share their creations with like-minded makers around the world.

Since launching in 2012, we’ve grown incredibly quickly. Our membership in the prestigious Future Fifty and 20th place on the FT’s list of fastest growing European companies is thanks to the hard work of our team of smart, kind makers based in London, Kyiv and in the USA.  We’ve been fuelled by investment from Europe’s leading venture capital firms; Balderton Capital (LoveFilm, The Hut) funded our Series A round, followed by Highland Europe (Photobox, WeTransfer) and most recently Scottish Equity Partners (SkyScanner, Matches Fashion).

We’re playing with the very best in web, mobile, social, commerce and media technology as we create the perfect digital business for all things craft related.  Our team is filled with ambitious, curious, entrepreneurial and occasionally kooky makers. We hire and nurture inquisitive, creative minds looking to flourish in a supportive and collaborative environment.

Diversity is important at LoveCrafts. We aim to attract the widest range of talent into our business to enable us to create an inclusive working environment, and to reflect and understand our customers and their needs. We welcome applications from all individuals, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexuality, social background, religion and/or belief. We aim to create a modern, flexible work environment that supports everyone to do their best work and therefore, we are open to having conversations about flexible working for all roles, unless operational requirements prevent otherwise. We are committed to providing a working environment where everyone’s individuality and unique contributions are recognised, valued and respected and where all of our employees have equal opportunity to grow and attain their full potential.