Overview
Ancient + Brave is a mission-driven wellness brand offering an award-winning range of collagen, blends and supplements. We are shaping the future of wellness with simple daily rituals, sustainably designed to support women’s health. As a B-Corp, we meet high standards of social and environmental impact. This role is based at our Lewes Head Office with one day per week at our Unit/Warehouse in Barcombe Mills.
We are seeking a proactive People Manager to support our rapidly growing team. You will run day-to-day People function activities, ensure a positive employee experience, and partner with teams to foster a thriving workplace culture. The role covers recruitment, employee relations, policy implementation, performance management, and supporting key People initiatives. Primary People responsibility for our Warehouse/Unit will be included.
This role combines talent acquisition and people operations experience, with the ability to contribute strategically while delivering hands-on results.
Reporting to the People Director, you will be responsible for the following areas: strategic leadership, business partnering, employee relations, unit/warehouse people management, learning and development, compliance, systems and processes.
Responsibilities
* Manage the People function, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and excellent service delivery across the business, with support from the People Experience Assistant.
* Drive continuous improvement across People processes, systems, and policies to remain fit for purpose and scalable.
* Be a culture champion, embedding values through leadership, communication, and best-in-class people practices.
* Act as trusted partner and coach to managers and team leads on performance management, ER issues, development planning, and team dynamics.
* Own complex employee relations cases, ensuring consistent policy application and compliance with employment law.
* Use people data and insights to guide decision-making and support business planning.
* Act as primary People Manager for Warehouse/Unit operations, tailoring processes to unit needs while aligning with company policies.
* Collaborate with Unit Manager and Supervisor to resolve people issues, manage performance, and build engagement on the ground.
* Support recruitment and onboarding for the Unit, ensuring a seamless and consistent experience.
* Oversee the employee lifecycle from onboarding through exit, ensuring a high-quality and consistent experience.
* Ensure all employee records, contracts, and policies are accurate and compliant (with support from the Talent and Onboarding Executive).
* Communicate monthly payroll changes to the Financial Controller.
* Support the rollout and evolution of performance management, feedback, and development frameworks.
* Collaborate on internal surveys and engagement initiatives, analysing results and turning insights into action.
* Contribute to the Learning & Development roadmap and support delivery of training where relevant.
* Act as a superuser for HRIS (Humanns) and ATS (TeamTailor), ensuring systems support scale and operational excellence.
* Create and maintain the Company Wiki on Notion and ensure information is accessible and user-friendly.
Requirements / Qualifications
* Proven experience in a Senior People Advisor or People Manager role, ideally in a high-growth, multi-site environment (e.g., scale-up, FMCG, logistics, or manufacturing).
* Strong understanding of both operational and strategic HR.
* Strong knowledge of UK employment law and best practices across ER, performance, and engagement.
* Hands-on experience with HRIS and ATS systems (e.g., Humanns, TeamTailor).
* Confident working with senior stakeholders and operational teams, including warehouse/fulfilment functions.
* Strong project management skills with ability to balance long-term initiatives with fast-paced delivery.
Working, Benefits & EEO
This role requires full-time work at our Lewes offices. We are not seeking recruitment support for this role at this time. We are an equal-opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace culture.
We offer discretionary bonus based on company and individual performance, annual salary reviews, ESG-invested pension, private medical insurance, Medicash with 24/7 virtual GP and health services, Mintago for financial wellbeing, and salary sacrifice options. We provide a laptop and equipment, a well-equipped office, wellbeing days, continuous training and development, and opportunities to engage in charities and social events. Our standard annual holiday allowance is 25 days plus bank holidays, plus one Wellbeing day.
Important note: as a fast-paced scale-up, we value in-person collaboration; the preferred arrangement is full-time in the Lewes office. We expect all joiners to be in the office. This description reflects current roles and responsibilities and may be updated as needed to support business needs.
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