People Operations Manager
Posted 6 hours 3 minutes ago by Sideways 6
Department: People & Culture
Employment Type: Full Time
Location: Manchester, UK
Reporting To: Lucie Williams
DescriptionInteract provides enterprise grade intranet software that connects over three million employees to leading global names like Levi's, Domino's, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Technicolor. Our team of customer focused problem solvers are passionate about helping organisations to communicate better. We do this together by constantly working to improve every service and product we offer. With offices in Manchester, New York, Dubai, Tulsa, and Manila, we operate across North America, EMEA, and Australia.
Click on any of our vacancies and you'll see one thing in common - they all begin with this message. Why? Because at Interact we treat everyone with respect and honesty. Whether you're a developer fresh out of college or a seasoned salesperson, we live the motto that we uphold for our customers: our people are our most valuable assets.
We are looking for a People Operations Manager at Interact who will be responsible for leading and continuously improving the delivery of high quality, scalable, and compliant People Operations services across a global workforce. In this role you will ensure operational excellence across the full employee lifecycle, providing strong leadership to the People Operations team while acting as a trusted expert in employee relations, payroll, and policy governance.
You will play a critical role in enabling a consistent and positive employee and stakeholder experience across multiple jurisdictions (mainly UK, US and EMEA), ensuring local compliance while supporting global alignment. Through effective leadership, process optimisation, and project delivery, you will ensure People Operations is a strategic enabler of business performance, growth, and employee engagement.
A little about you- Proven experience in a People Operations, HR Operations, or HR Manager role within a fast paced, scaling environment
- Demonstrated experience managing and developing a team
- Strong experience in employee relations case management, including complex cases
- Proven ownership of payroll processes, ideally across multiple countries
- Experience managing global or multi jurisdictional workforces
- Track record of delivering HR operational improvements and projects
- Strong experience with HRIS systems (ideally Workday)
- Experience managing end to end employee lifecycle processes at scale
- Experience working closely with Finance and external vendors (e.g., payroll providers, EORs)
- Strong, up to date knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practices
- Working knowledge of international employment practices (mainly UK and US)
- Deep understanding of employee relations frameworks and risk management
- Strong knowledge of payroll processes, compliance, and controls
- Understanding of GDPR and data protection requirements
- Knowledge of HR systems and data management best practices
- Highly organised with exceptional attention to detail
- Proactive and solution oriented approach to challenges
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written and verbal
- Empathetic and approachable, fostering trust and open communication
- Strong ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks effectively
- Lead and continuously improve end to end People Operations processes across the employee lifecycle (onboarding, changes, offboarding)
- Ensure delivery of a high quality, efficient, and scalable HR service with strong SLAs and stakeholder satisfaction
- Drive operational excellence through process standardisation, automation, and optimisation
- Lead, coach, and develop the People Operations team (4 direct reports), ensuring high performance and engagement
- Set clear objectives, monitor performance, and support career development within the team
- Allocate resources effectively to balance workload and priorities across operational and project work
- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and service excellence
- Own and manage complex employee relations cases including disciplinary, grievance, performance management, absence, and investigations
- Provide expert advice and guidance to managers on ER matters, ensuring fair, consistent, and legally compliant outcomes
- Mitigate organisational risk by ensuring adherence to UK employment law and supporting international ER considerations
- Partner with legal advisors where required on high risk or complex cases
- Identify ER trends and proactively recommend interventions
- Own and oversee payroll operations across UK and US (through PEO), ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely delivery
- Partner with Finance and external providers to manage UK and US payroll processes
- Ensure compliance with local payroll regulations, tax requirements, and reporting obligations
- Oversee benefits administration across regions, ensuring competitiveness and compliance
- Continuously review payroll and benefits processes for efficiency and accuracy
- Develop, review, and maintain HR policies and procedures in line with UK legislation and international requirements
- Ensure policies are consistently applied across the organisation while allowing for local nuances
- Lead policy updates in response to legislative changes and business needs
- Promote understanding and adoption of policies across the business
- Oversee People Operations processes for a geographically dispersed workforce across the UK, US, Poland, Philippines, Dubai, and wider Europe
- Ensure compliance with local employment laws, contracts, and working practices in each jurisdiction
- Partner with external providers (e.g., EORs, legal advisors) where applicable
- Support mobility, international hiring, and global workforce structuring
- Own HRIS (Workday) ensuring data integrity, system optimisation, and effective utilisation
- Ensure accurate record keeping and audit readiness at all times
- Produce and analyse HR metrics (e.g., attrition, ER trends, payroll data) to inform decision making
- Leverage data to identify opportunities for improvement
- Lead and deliver People Operations projects (e.g., system implementations, process redesign, compliance initiatives)
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance efficiency, scalability, and employee experience
- Support broader People & Culture strategic initiatives
- Ensure compliance with all relevant employment legislation, including UK employment law and international equivalents
- Maintain GDPR compliance and data protection standards across all HR processes
- Proactively identify and mitigate people related risks
- 25 days annual leave (with the option to buy and sell additional days)
- Cycle to work scheme
- Access to Learning & Development platform
- Life Insurance
- Auto Enrolment Pensions
- Healthshield (Cashback on dental check ups and fillings, eye tests, physiotherapy, prescriptions and much more)
- Reimburse for usage of personal mobile phone
- Free Gym membership and Free Friday lunch for office based staff