Salary: Up to £60k + Bonus

Location: Central London

Working pattern: Onsite

Hawkwood is partnering with one of the fastest-growing quantitative and systematic investment managers – a technology-driven firm implementing a scientific approach to financial investments. This organisation has experienced significant growth, expanding from 750 to 1500 employees over the past 18 months, with ambitious plans to grow to 3000 employees in the next few years.

To support this growth, they are building a high-performing People, Culture, and Talent team to deliver a world-class employee experience that supports their continued success and innovation.

To support this continued expansion, the firm is investing heavily in its People function and is hiring an HR Operations Specialist to play a critical role in delivering a seamless, high-quality employee experience at scale.

About the Role

This is a highly visible role within a fast-paced, data-driven environment where operational excellence is essential. You will sit at the heart of the HR function, ensuring the smooth running of the full employee lifecycle while continuously improving processes that support a rapidly scaling global organisation.

Working closely with HR Business Partners and specialist teams across Compensation, Payroll, Global Mobility and Talent Development, you will help drive efficient, scalable HR operations while maintaining an exceptional standard of employee support.

This role offers a unique opportunity to combine hands-on operational delivery with process improvement and automation initiatives that will shape how the HR function evolves as the business continues to grow.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage operational processes across the employee lifecycle including onboarding, offboarding, internal transfers, background checks, immigration coordination and HRIS updates
• Provide high-quality operational support to employees and HR Business Partners across a broad range of people-related queries
• Partner closely with Compensation, Payroll, Global Mobility and Talent Development teams on cross-functional initiatives and projects
• Maintain high standards of HR data integrity, regularly reviewing and improving data quality across employee systems
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, implement automation and support the scaling of HR operations globally
• Contribute to projects that enhance the employee experience and improve the effectiveness of HR service delivery

About You

• Experience within fast-paced, high-growth tech/financial services environments is essential
• Strong understanding of HR operations across the employee lifecycle within a complex organisation
• Awareness of multi-jurisdictional employment law, particularly across the EMEA region
• Experience using modern HR tools across HRIS platforms, ticketing systems and workflow automation
• Highly organised with exceptional attention to detail
• Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to navigate ambiguity in a fast-paced environment
• Collaborative mindset and comfortable working cross-functionally with multiple HR teams
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

We recognise how competitive the current market is for senior People professionals, and Hawkwood is committed to providing a confidential, fair and positive candidate experience throughout.

If you’re interested in exploring this opportunity, please apply via this LinkedIn advert rather than by email or direct message. This ensures every application is reviewed fairly and consistentl y.