People Partner

About Countingup

At Countingup, we’re committed to making it easier to run a small business. We believe that the self-employed should have a simpler way to manage their business. Our solution frees them from financial admin, saves time and money while helping them stay organised with the business insights and tools they need to succeed.

We're a venture-backed fin-tech with ambitious growth plans. Countingup is the leading UK business current account for the self-employed. We’ve helped over 60,000 businesses save time and money with automated accounting and tax.

The Role

This is a standalone People Partner role, ideal for someone who thrives in an autonomous environment and is passionate about supporting teams to do their best work. You’ll be a trusted partner for our SMT and Heads of, providing guidance on hiring, team development, and creating a great employee experience across the full lifecycle. You'll also be a visible and approachable support for all employees, helping to foster a positive and high-performing workplace.

A passion for Learning & Development is key, as developing our people will be a core focus in the next stage of our growth. This is not a highly structured role - you’ll be trusted to proactively identify priorities, provide strategic and hands-on support, and ensure our people processes remain simple, effective, and aligned with our goals.

This role is ideal for someone who has gained experience in a People team within a startup environment and is now ready to take the next step into a standalone role.

Key Responsibilities

• Support leaders and line managers with people challenges, performance management, advising and coaching when needed.
• Champion high performance by embedding best-practice performance management and helping managers develop their teams using our Career Framework.
• Own and refine all the key People processes, including hiring, onboarding, offboarding, and performance reviews.
• Ensure compliance with UK employment law while keeping our people processes lean and practical, including keeping abreast of any changes to legislation (i.e. Employment Rights Bill) and implementing changes where necessary.
• Manage and administer employee benefits including overseeing our ESOP scheme, handling option grants, and coordinating any related processes.
• Assisting Finance with payroll by ensuring accuracy and communicating employee changes.
• Organise team socials, celebrations, and thoughtful perks to bring people together and create moments of joy. Champion initiatives that recognise success and promote inclusivity across the business.
• Manage the office environment, ensuring it remains a great place to work by keeping things organised and running smoothly.

Qualifications and experience:

• CIPD Level 5 (preferred) a with a solid background working as a People/HR professional
• Strong experience in Learning & Development and a passion for helping teams develop their skills.
• Proven experience managing the entire employee lifecycle from recruitment to offboarding whilst working closely with line managers.
• You have a good understanding of employment law, enabling you to navigate and manage most people-related scenarios with confidence.
• Background in working within start-up or scale-up businesses, accustomed to a hands-on, get-stuck-in approach, ideally in a standalone role.
• Familiar with Notion, GSuite, Slack and ATS software

About you:

• You are comfortable with autonomy - you’ll have the freedom to manage your own workload and drive impact
• You’re a self-starter who spots issues before they arise and proactively finds solutions.
• You are an excellent communicator (written and verbal)
• You are a trusted and approachable person who is good at building and maintaining relationships
• You’re able to work independently to solve problems and find solutions, but you also excel in collaborating with others to share ideas, gather feedback, and refine your approach
• You are continuously trying to improve how you work and the results

Behavioural competencies:

• We’re a sociable bunch, and we enjoy each other’s company. So it’s important that you’re a great fit for our company culture. These are some of the things we look for:
• Take pride in the work you do and everything you get involved with
• Strong written and verbal communication skills to articulate business and customer problems clearly
• Think independently and not afraid of suggesting new ideas
• Ambition combined with an appetite to learn and improve
• A healthy amount of curiosity for the unknown with a growth mindset
• Respectful, honest and a kind team player

What will you get in return?

• You’ll be challenged whilst being fully supported by a great team from which you can learn
• Exposure to every area of the business. You’ll be encouraged to get involved and make an impact on ways of working
• A transparent and open company culture where employees are consulted on company decisions and direction
• Competitive salary
• Share options after 6 months probation
• Up to 8% pension scheme
• 26 days holiday (plus UK public holidays) with an option to buy or sell up to 5 more days
• Hybrid working (2 days per week in our Central London office)
• High-spec equipment when you start