Director of People Operations

The Opportunity

The Director of People Operations is the architect and operator of a globally scalable, technology-enabled People infrastructure designed to support the next phase of HeliosX’s rapid growth. Having scaled from 300 to 1,200 employees in a short timeframe, and operating across the UK, US, Canada and Germany - with further international expansion ahead - the business requires a People Operations function that is intentionally designed for scale, with automation and efficiency as first principles. This role exists to define and execute the strategic vision for People Operations, ensuring that systems, processes, compliance frameworks, and service delivery models are not only fit for today, but built for where the organisation will be in the long term, as we continue on our incredible growth journey.

Part of the People Leadership team, the Director of People Operations will design and deliver a globally integrated People technology ecosystem, eliminate fragmentation across tools, embed AI and automation into core workflows, and enable data-driven decision making across the department. At the same time, they will ensure robust compliance and governance across multiple markets, enable seamless international market entry as part of cross-functional working groups, and lead a high-performing team of ten People Operations and ER specialists that deliver operational excellence at scale. This is both a strategic design role and a hands-on transformation mandate, including upwards management on key People initiatives to the senior leadership team and board.

It is a full time, permanent position. The successful candidate will have a hybrid working arrangement, with one to two days per week expected on site at our London HQ.

What you'll do

People Operations Strategy and Operating Model

• Create and articulate a long term People Operations vision aligned to business growth and international expansion.
• Redesign the People Operations operating model to support a multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction organisation.
• Define clear service levels, ownership boundaries, governance frameworks and measurable success metrics for the function.
• Build scalable infrastructure capable of supporting a large, globally distributed employee base (1,200+ people).
• Establish clear SLAs and service standards to ensure consistent, high-quality delivery.

Technology, Transformation, and Reporting

• Own the full People technology ecosystem (HRIS, onboarding, performance, payroll, ER/case management, reporting) and system integrations.
• Lead system selection, implementation, integration and continuous optimisation.
• Embed automation and AI into core lifecycle workflows (onboarding, lifecycle changes, reporting, compliance tracking, case management).
• Create a single source of truth for People data with strong governance and integrity.
• Drive measurable improvements including reduced manual processing, lower error rates, increased employee self-service adoption and reliable global reporting on performance, output, and efficiency.
• Establish, measure, and report on clear People KPIs across compliance, ER, service delivery, and operational efficiency.
• Support in the delivery of executive-ready dashboards and leadership reporting, in collaboration with the People Insights Lead.
• Ensure strong data governance and integrity across all systems.

Global Compliance, Risk, and ER Leadership

• Own operational compliance across the UK, US, Canada, Germany, and future markets.
• Ensure policies, processes and employment practices are legally robust, scalable and commercially pragmatic.
• Own and maintain right-to-work and pre-employment check processes, as well as related statutory obligations across markets.
• Build proactive risk frameworks and compliance monitoring mechanisms.
• Strengthen case management frameworks and use ER data to identify systemic risk and improvement opportunities.

International Expansion

• Lead the People Operations roadmap for new market entry.
• Oversee entity setup, EOR partnerships/performance, and localisation of policies, payroll, and benefits at the market level.
• Develop scalable frameworks and repeatable playbooks for efficient country launches in collaboration with our VP International.
• Ensure infrastructure and compliance readiness are built ahead of growth and ready for scale.

Team Leadership and Operational Excellence

• Lead and develop a high performing People Operations team, setting standards and clarifying structure, roles, and accountability.
• Build capability in systems thinking, automation and operational rigour.
• Identify inefficiencies and redesign processes to eliminate friction.
• Foster a culture of ownership, continuous improvement, and high delivery standards, ensuring initiatives are fully embedded and delivering measurable impact.

What you'll bring to HeliosX

Experience

• Extensive leadership experience in People Operations/HR Service Delivery roles.
• Demonstrated experience scaling People Operations in a high-growth business (ideally rapidly growing start/scale ups and/or technology businesses).
• Clear evidence operating at scale; multiple markets, large employee populations (500+).
• Proven ownership of HRIS and People systems strategy, implementation, and integration, as well as a track record of leading significant systems transformation programmes.
• Proven and credible in upward and downward management; leading high performing teams and interfacing into SLT as a trusted partner.
• Deep understanding of UK employment law; strong working knowledge of US and other international frameworks highly desirable.
• Experience supporting international expansion and multi-entity operations from a People/compliance perspective.
• Experience leading broader People functions such as ER, Payroll, etc.
• Strong data literacy and reporting capability.

Capabilities

• Strategic systems thinker; you know how systems, policy, process, and data interconnect
• Transformational leadership; you balance future-state thinking with fast operational execution in the here and now
• Commercial mindset; you understand risk but handle in proportionally with business-minded decisions
• Operational excellence; you set the standard and drive measurable impact at scale
• People leadership; you build, lead, and develop high performing teams

Life at HeliosX

At HeliosX, we want to improve healthcare for everyone, and to do this we need a team of brilliant people who share that ambition. We are currently a diverse team of engineers, scientists, clinical researchers, physicians, pharmacists, marketeers, and customer care specialists committed to our mission - but we need more talented folks to join us, if we want to achieve our global ambitions!

Aside from working with our all-star team, here are the other benefits of coming on board:

• Generous equity allocations with significant upside potential
• 25 Days Holiday (+ all the usual Bank Holidays)
• Private health insurance, along with extra dental and eye care cover
• Pension scheme
• Enhanced parental leave
• Cycle-to-work Scheme
• Electric Car Scheme
• Free Dermatica and MedExpress products every month, as well as family discounts
• Home office allowance
• Access to a Headspace subscription, discounted gym memberships, and a learning and development budget (alongside a free Kindle and audible subscription)

#LI-Hybrid #LI-Director