I. At a Glance
● People & Culture Manager
● Part-Time - 4 days a week
● Fixed-term Maternity Cover (9–12 months)
● London – Hybrid
● £50,000 - £70,000
II. About CLOSER
CLOSER is a Creative Agency and Brand Incubator. We collaborate with global luxury and lifestyle brands to achieve visionary creativity, culture, and craft across marketing campaigns, customer experiences, brand design, product design, and new media technologies.
While we are a team of sixty primarily centered in London, New York and Thessaloniki.
III. About the Role
We’re looking for an experienced and people-driven professional to join Closer Group on a fixed-term basis as People and Culture Manager, covering a period of maternity leave. This role is perfect for someone who thrives working independently, takes ownership of projects, and is excited about laying the foundations for a future People team.
The People & Culture Manager will manage administration and advisory across the entire employee lifecycle. You will facilitate onboarding, from offer letters to induction, monitor probation periods, set-up probation and performance reviews and maintain records in our HRIS, and escalate issues as needed. You will also provide guidance to line managers and employees on work policies, and be the go-to person for people matters in close partnership with the leadership team.
Due to the nature of this role we would be looking for someone London-based who could be in person at our studio around three times a week.
IV. About You
You are someone who has worked in a HR or People Operations role for at least 4-5 years, ideally within a small or growing team where you’ve worn many hats. You're a true generalist with a people-first mindset, equally comfortable crafting policies as you are improving day-to-day touchpoints across the employee lifecycle.
You’ll be working independently as the sole People and Culture Manager, so being proactive and highly organised is essential. We’re a hybrid business, with a mix of in-person collaboration and remote flexibility, so you’ll be confident navigating both worlds and keeping communication flowing.
As the face of our culture, you’ll confidently represent who we are and what we stand for bringing warmth, clarity, and creativity to everything from candidate experience to onboarding.
Most importantly, you’ll play a key role in building the people infrastructure that allows us to scale. If you’re excited by the idea of shaping the People function from the ground up in a creative business where strategy meets hands-on delivery, we’d love to hear from you.
You’re kind but direct, fun but professional, and above all, dependable.
What You'll Be Doing
People Operations & Compliance
* Own the full spectrum of People operations, from contracts and policies to systems and data.
* Ensure compliance with employment laws and HR best practices across all regions.
* Manage relationships with EOR (Employer of Record) partners for team members based overseas.
* Oversee the full employee lifecycle, ensuring a consistent and thoughtful experience.
* Handle and process all aspects of employee leave (annual, maternity, paternity, sick, etc.)
* Maintain our HRIS (HiBob) and ensure accurate, secure data management.
* Coordinate leave and payroll-related updates in collaboration with Finance.
* Build scalable, people-focused processes to support our future growth.
* Carry out exit interviews, record outcomes and highlight areas of concern
Culture & Engagement
* Champion a high-trust, inclusive, creatively-driven culture that reflects our values.
* Lead employee engagement and wellbeing initiatives.
* Design and run employee engagement surveys
Talent Development & Performance
* Design and run a fair, structured performance review process.
* Support continuous development through coaching, learning resources, and training.
Hiring & Employer Branding
* Support hiring managers in recruitment administration including posting advertisements, shortlisting CVs, and scheduling interviews between candidates and hiring managers
* Help communicate and shape our employer brand to attract brilliant people.
Employee Support & Relations
* Be a trusted, empathetic advisor to employees and managers.
* Handle employee relations matters with professionalism, discretion, and care.
VI. Requirements
Below is what we will be looking for in reviewing your application.
● 4-5 years of Experience in a Human Resources or People & Culture role
● In depth knowledge of people principles and practices; ideally with a CIPD, HR degree or similar
● Strong organisational and multitasking abilities, with exceptional attention to detail
● Excellent written and verbal communication skills
● Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion
● Highly empathetic and understanding in interpersonal matters
● Proficiency in HRIS software, Google Workspace, and MS Office Suite
● Deep understanding of the importance of creativity, culture, and craft