People Operations Manager

About the role

Health Navigator is looking for a People Operations Manager to be the in-house operator of our HR function. You will own our HRIS, run compliance reporting, coordinate recruitment and onboarding, support line managers, and act as the first point of contact for team members on HR matters.

You will be fluent with technology and digital tools. You pick up new systems quickly, get the most out of our HRIS, and use AI tools day to day to cut administrative load and free up time for the work that matters.

Terms

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• Reports to: COO
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• Location: Hybrid and Flexible: Remote and Central London, with a working pattern to be agreed
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Key responsibilities

1. Operate

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• Provide advice and guidance to the Leadership Team and line managers
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• Manage HRIS as the HR system of recor
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• Liaise with Finance on payroll
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• Issue contract variations to a defined SLA
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• Run ongoing compliance and produce reports
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• Own HR policy and team handbook adherence and management
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• Manage Health Navigator team benefits
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• Support workplace Health and Safety
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• Support HR data governanc
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• Organise All Hands
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2. Hire and onboard

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• Support recruitment and interviewing as required by teams and line managers
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• Run pre-employment checks
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• Support onboarding as required by teams and line managers
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• Support the probation period process
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3. Protect and improve

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• Support the Leadership Team in ensuring team members are treated fairly and consistently
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• Support team members and line managers to defuse and de-escalate issues before they become formal cases
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• Formal employee relations: own the grievance procedure end-to-end
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• Support line managers in addressing underperformance
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• Wellbeing, safeguarding, and accessibility
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• Support Equality, diversity, and inclusion
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• Take the temperature of organisational sentiment, escalate appropriately, and propose improvements
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• Run redundancy processes as they arise
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• Run off-boarding
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4. Improve processes and apply technology

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• Own continuous improvement across the HR function
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• Set and track process measures (cycle times, SLA adherence, error rates, completion rates) and use them to target improvement
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• Get the most out of HRIS
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• Automate repeatable admin
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• Use AI tools day to day to draft, summarise, and check documents, cutting administrative load and freeing time for higher-value work
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• Build self-serve routes for common queries and requests
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• Move reporting from manual pulls to templated, repeatable reports
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• Document processes and hold one source of truth
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Person specification

1. Experience

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• 2 to 4 years in an HR Officer, HR Administrator, or People Operations role in a fast-moving organisation
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• Day-to-day operation of an HRIS, including responsibility for data quality
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• Direct involvement in the end-to-end recruitment cycle
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• Direct involvement in employee relations matters
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• Demonstrable improvement to at least one HR process
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• Track record of stretch
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• Exposure to clinical workforce considerations such as NMC registration
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• Experience supporting payroll cycles in liaison with Finance
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• Experience in a regulated sector, or healthcare setting
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• Exposure to ISO 27001 or NHS DSPT-style evidence requirements
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2. Knowledge

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• Working knowledge of UK employment law fundamentals
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• Familiarity with the Acas codes of practice and the structure of grievance and disciplinary processes
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• Familiarity with right to work checks
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• Familiarity with DBS checks
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• Awareness of UK GDPR
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• Awareness of Equality Act 2010 duties, including reasonable adjustments
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• Familiarity with basic visa / sponsorship concepts
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• Awareness of safeguarding obligations in a healthcare context
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• Understanding of ISO 27001 and NHS DSPT evidence requirements for HR processes
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3. Skills and capabilities

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• Strong written English. Drafts team communications, routine policy updates, and standard letters competently. Receptive to feedback on more complex drafting
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• Numerate. Produces and interprets basic HR analytics (turnover, time-to-hire, training completion)
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• Active listening. Consciously hears what team members have to say and checks understanding before acting
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• Administers HR systems: configures fields, builds reports, maintains templates
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• Fluent in AI tooling. Uses it to reduce administrative load
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• Operations mindset: holds to SLAs, maintains version control, delivers without follow-up
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• Holds a clear view in rooms with senior decision-makers
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• Distinguishes between escalation and decision. Engages difficult conversations directly. Does not act unilaterally on questions with legal exposure
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• Supports All Hands and quarterly offsite logistics, with attention to cost
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4. Personal attributes

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• Empathetic.Is interested in how team members are feeling and understands the value in giving them room to feel heard and understood
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• High integrity and high discretion. Handles sensitive information appropriately without becoming a process bottleneck
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• Fair-minded and consistent. Applies the same standard regardless of seniority or relationship
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• Driven. Seeks growth, requests feedback, takes on stretch work
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• Calm under pressure. Emotionally steady in difficult conversations
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• Resilient. Comfortable owning a wide remit independently, and keeps a level head and a forward focus when things get busy.
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• Pragmatic. Prefers workable answers to perfect ones
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• Interested in how technology can improve HR. Curious about how tools, automation, and AI can cut admin and give team members a better experience
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• Curious about the business. Takes time to understand how Health Navigator operates and what different team members do
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• Operates effectively in an evolving organisation where process is continuously being shaped, and contributes to that evolution
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About Health Navigator

We help people take control of their health and stay out of hospital.

If you are passionate about helping patients and enabling healthcare systems to move from a reactive to a proactive model of care, please get in touch.