Operations & People Lead

Job title: Operations & People Lead
Contract: 1.0 FTE - 1 year fixed-term contract with the possibility to become permanent
Location: Hybrid working: office base is at Somerset House, London: we are flexible on approach, within a hybrid model of in-person & virtual. This can be discussed at interview ( )
Salary: £45k to £50k p.a. (pro rata), depending on experience
Reporting to: CEO
Start date: ASAP - depending on candidate s notice period
Normal hours: Office hours are 9.30 - 5.30pm, Monday Friday. As this is ideally a 0.8 FTE role, there is flexibility on how the time is spread across the week. Please state how you would intend to allocate your time when you apply. (requests for flexible working hours will be considered)

Other:

• Annual leave is 25 days per year (pro rata) plus standard bank holidays
• Cultural entitlement of £250 per annum (pro rata) to spend on arts/cultural events & activities
• All employees are able to claim 1 hour a week for personal wellbeing
• Pension scheme enrolment and 6% employer contributions (reviewed annually)

( ) Access to office space in London is always available to staff who can't or don't want to work from home.

Some travel is involved in this role, to visit organisations and run programme activities.

If you would like this application pack in a different format (e.g. large print or audio file), please email us (information in the link provided).

About Julie s Bicycle (JB)

JB unites culture, creativity and climate action to drive change. For nearly two decades, we ve been at the forefront of the creative climate movement - one of the first to position culture as a powerful force for radical change. Our mission is to mobilise the creative sector, equipping thousands of artists, cultural organisations, and creative leaders with the tools, knowledge, and confidence needed to transform their practice into climate action. We focus on tackling the root causes of the climate, nature, and justice crises by shaping thinking, informing policy, and scaling practical solutions. Together, we can turn creativity into a powerful force for a just and regenerative future.

Role summary

As our new Operations and People Lead, you will help us continue to build and nurture a strong, can-do, and empowering operational culture that is rooted in collaboration, equity and care. You will support the CEO in ensuring the right systems and processes are in place for the smooth running of the organisation and support the Head of Programmes in the seamless delivery of our programs during a period of rapid change. You will collaborate with the whole team to continue to strengthen our equitable foundations and ensure our internal structures fully reflect and sustain our core values of justice and care.

Your goal will be to balance operational efficiency with team well-being, optimising people and teams allocations and implementing new approaches and processes so that we deliver outstanding work, while our people thrive. You will allow the leadership to focus on high-level strategy while you support us in continuing to nurture our supportive, empowering, and equitable working environment.

Key Responsibilities

People strategy - (Approx 40%)

• Operations strategy and ways of working: Work with the CEO and SLT, co-design and implement a robust operations strategy and clear ways of working for effective allocation of team and resources to achieve the organisation's objectives, strengthening further our principles of deep collaboration, equity and care.
• Equitable recruitment and retention strategy: Building on our existing progress in inclusive hiring, you will work closely with the CEO and SLT to evolve and champion our recruitment and retention strategy. You will continue to refine our processes, ensuring we remain at the forefront of removing access barriers and nurturing a diverse, flourishing, and long-term workforce. You will be responsible for timelining, creating Job Descriptions; advertising strategy and budget; liaise with hiring manager; referencing; offer letters & contracts.
• People development & care: Working closely with the CEO and SLT, contribute to the development and lead on the implementation of training, continuous professional development processes and policies that enable transparency, peer to peer feedback, psychological safety, professional development and empowerment.
• Delivery strategy: Working closely with the Head of Programmes, design and drive a capacity planning strategy for the team across 20+ projects to ensure impact delivery as well as balanced workloads.
• Cross-cutting principles: Working closely with the CEO, leading internal policy work, you will steward and expand our internal policy framework, ensuring that our established principles of wellbeing, diversity, accessibility, and anti-racism continue to be deeply woven into the fabric of every new and existing policy.

Operational excellence (Approx 30%)

• Systems improvement: Enhance and adjust systems, processes, and best practices to ensure they are flexible enough to respond to the lived realities of a diverse team.
• Digital access: Lead the planning and implementation of IT and digital strategies that facilitate accessible and collaborative remote/hybrid working.
• Compliance and safety: Maintain and communicate health, safety, and security protocols through a lens of collective care and team protection.
• Process standardisation: Working with the CEO and Finance Manager, drive consistency across HR, admin, and finance to reduce cognitive load and administrative friction for the team.

HR & financial administration (Approx 20%)

• HR:
  • HR Software & data ownership, maintenance and ensuring consistency in colleagues use of the software.
  • Act as the primary point of contact for HR enquiries, accessibility requests, and leave calculation.
  • Act on behalf of the CEO in handling confidential issues with care and restorative intent & liaising with external HR advisor.
• Financial support: In partnership with our Finance Manager, coordinate confidential finance administration, including payroll, pensions, and audit preparation, ensuring all team members are supported by stable financial operations.
• Resource management: Manage IT and Operations budgets.
• Contract management: Oversee the administration of employment contracts and agreements and NDAs for freelancers, as well as internship placements to ensure fair and clear working agreements.

Executive support & governance (Approx 10% of the time)

• Leadership partnership: Support the SLT in strategic direction, planning, and workforce development so they can focus on fundraising, advocacy and high-level impact work.
• Support the CEO on internal communications, business travel, scheduling, diary management, technical assistance.
• Board: Manage all JB Board administration, including arranging quarterly meetings, minutes, etc.
• Funding & tenders: Provide necessary operational and organisational information for funding applications and manage portal processes for payments and offers.
• Office Management: Lead on the management of JB s office, ensuring that the office is a comfortable working environment and equipment is maintained. Be the first point of contact for Somerset House, facilities, and for office related issues.

Person Specification

Essential

• HR Expertise: Six to eight years of demonstrable practical experience in designing and implementing People centred strategies with a focus on collaborative leadership rooted in inclusion, equity, diversity and care (six to eight years of experience). We re particularly interested in someone experienced and/or genuinely interested in participatory design methods that incorporate the lived experiences of a diverse team.
• Operational excellence: Six to eight years of demonstrable practical experience of developing and implementing effective operations strategies and effective systems and processes that enable organisational excellence and staff wellbeing.
• A genuine, demonstrable commitment for the role of culture in addressing the climate, environment and justice crises, preferably with experience of working with values-led teams working on systemic issues especially working across climate, environmental and justice issues.
• Demonstrable experience of planning and implementing streamlined digital operations, bringing a seamless and cohesive approach to IT and software solutions.
• Strategic thinking with an eye for detail: Ability to contribute to high-level strategy while maintaining excellent attention to detail.
• Excellent communication skills: Ability to communicate key messages effectively across various written and verbal forms.
• Broad familiarity with financial and business principles.
• Effectively manage competing priorities and adapt and respond as business needs require
• Experience of planning using organisational and project management skills with the ability to work under pressure and manage time and resources effectively.
• Creative problem solving skills
• A proactive, flexible approach, and ability to progress work independently in a fast paced environment.

Why Join Us?

At Julie s Bicycle, you ll join a passionate team working at the intersection of creativity and climate action . click apply for full job details