We are seeking a proactive and people-focused People Manager to support our rapidly growing team. You will play an important role in running the day-to-day People function, ensuring a positive employee experience, and partnering with teams to foster a thriving workplace culture. This generalist position involves a broad range of responsibilities, including recruitment, employee relations, policy implementation, performance management, and supporting key People initiatives. In addition to supporting Head Office with day-to-day people matters, the role will have primary People responsibility for our Warehouse/Unit.
This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys working across talent acquisition and people operations, understands the unique challenges of a fulfilment center environment, and thrives in a role that combines strategic input with hands-on delivery.
This role will be based in our Lewes Head Office
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Reporting to the People Director you will be responsible for the following:
Strategic Leadership & Team Management
* Manage the People function, ensuring smooth day-to-day operations and excellent service delivery across the business, with the support of the People Experience Assistant
* Drive continuous improvement across all People processes, systems, and policies, ensuring they are fit for purpose and scalable.
* Be a culture champion, embedding our values through leadership, communication, and best-in-class people practices.
Business Partnering & Employee Relations
* Act as a trusted partner and coach to managers and team leads across departments, offering expert support on performance management, ER issues, development planning, and team dynamics.
* Own complex employee relations cases, ensuring consistent application of policies and adherence to employment law.
* Use people data and insights to guide decision-making and support business planning.
Unit/Warehouse People Management
* Act as the primary People Manager for our Warehouse/Unit operations, ensuring all people processes are tailored appropriately while remaining aligned with wider company policies.
* Work closely with the Unit Manager and Supervisor to resolve people issues, manage performance, and build engagement on the ground.
* Support with recruitment and onboarding for the Unit, ensuring a seamless and consistent experience.
People Operations & Compliance
* Oversee the employee lifecycle, from onboarding through to exit, ensuring a high-quality and consistent experience.
* Ensure all employee records, contracts, and policies are accurate, compliant, and well maintained (with support from the People Experience Assistant).
* Responsible for communicating monthly payroll changes to the Financial Controller.
Talent Acquisition & Employer Branding
* Oversee the recruitment process, liaising with our embedded Talent Partner(s) both and external agency relationships.
* Work with hiring managers to design inclusive job descriptions, structure interview processes, and make data-led hiring decisions.
* Champion DEI best practices throughout the hiring and employee experience journey.
Learning, Development & Engagement
* Support the rollout and evolution of our performance management, feedback, and development frameworks.
* Collaborate on internal surveys and engagement initiatives, analysing results and turning insights into action.
* Contribute to our L&D roadmap, identifying development needs and supporting in delivering training programs where relevant.
Systems & Processes
* Act as a superuser for our HRIS (Humanns) and ATS (TeamTailor), ensuring systems are used effectively to support scale and operational excellence.
* Create and maintain Company Wiki on Notion,, making key information accessible and user-friendly.
WHO YOU ARE
* Proven experience in a senior HR or People leadership 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 and able to balance long-term initiatives with fast-paced delivery.
Further, to truly thrive at Ancient + Brave you will need to embody the spirit of our brand and align with our company culture. You will be:
* Hungry: Ambitious, driven with a growth mindset, always seeking ways to learn, develop and be better.
* Humble: No ego, collaborative team player, always acts with integrity and clear sense of accountability, aligned with our B-Corp values
* High Performing - Effective. Efficient, with a solid work ethic. Always operates with self-awareness that enables them to consistently push for exceptional results—while maintaining resilience, balance, and self-care.
* Hustle: Entrepreneurial. Innovative, fast-paced, great communicator. Always adept at solving problems and navigating dynamic, ever-changing situations.