HR Business Manager

Position Title: HR Business Manager
Location: London
Reports To: Chief of Staff / General Partner (CoS)
Job Type: Part-time 3 or 4 days (Ideally 3 days in office - not a Friday)

What We’re Looking For

We are seeking an experienced, hands-on HR Business Manager at Illuminate Financial to lead the HR Function across multiple regions alongside running the day-to-day HR operations. This varied and hands-on role blends strategic, operational, and tactical HR, with a particular focus on process implementation, employee relations and compliance across the UK, USA, and Singapore. The ideal candidate will be confident advising leadership on employment law and best practice, supporting policy development, and building a strong, inclusive workplace culture. You'll work in close partnership with our Chief of Staff / General Partner on the strategic people agenda, with a regular cadence of updates on day-to-day operations.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK; Illuminate Financial is unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role.

Key responsibilities

HR Leadership

Act as a trusted advisor to our Partners, aligning HR initiatives with our corporate goals
Lead or support change initiatives, including talent planning, engagement and organisational development
Identify continuous improvement opportunities across HR processes and practices alongside regularly updating and monitoring those in place
Advise on employment law matters and best practice for UK, US and Singapore, escalating to external counsel where appropriate, and help maintain compliance across all three jurisdictions
Stay current on global legal developments and update leadership accordingly
Conduct audits, handle complex Employee Relations matters (e.g. grievances, disciplinaries), and ensure processes follow legal and internal standards
Provide data-driven insights on HR metrics and prepare reports to help guide decision making processes
Support our Partners and Finance with compensation planning and benefits administration whilst bench-marking salaries to ensure accurate payroll updates
Occasional Portfolio support when in your field of expertise

HR operations and benefits

Administer, manage and communicate employee benefits programmes with our CoS
Review and enhance benefits packages globally with external vendors
Manage and coordinate the visa and immigration processes for applicable employees working with relevant external lawyers and complying with local regulation
Maintain and oversee day to day HR functions, ensuring HR processes, employee records and documentation are maintained accurately and in line with legal requirements
Use HRIS tools (currently BambooHR and Talos Perform) to manage employee data and insights
Support Finance in managing payroll and payroll related queries ensuring alignment with compensation and benefits

Employee Relations & Workplace Culture

Serve as the primary contact for employee relations issues alongside our CoS
Manage investigations and mediate conflict resolution fairly and thoroughly
Encourage open communication and support a healthy organisational culture
Foster an inclusive culture across the firm, and support the design of inclusive policies and measurable DEI initiatives, with a particular focus on the UK
Promote a positive work environment, employee wellbeing and engagement
Communicate changes & updates on our weekly team meeting fostering engagement
Be an Ambassador for Illuminate’s cultural values

Hiring, Talent Management & Development

Identify and coordinate training needs, especially around legal and compliance topics and professional employee development
Guide and educate our Partners and managers on HR policies and ensure consistency across the organisation
Deliver sessions on key areas such as anti-harassment and employment rights
Support recruitment processes, including job descriptions, candidate selection, visa coordination and preparing contractual documentation
Lead on-boarding to ensure seamless integration and cultural alignment
Support the whole employee life-cycle from on-boarding, reviews, leavers and exits

What You’ll Bring

Experience

5+ years in an HR Manager/Business Partner role, preferably within financial services
Working knowledge of UK employment law and international regulations (US, Singapore)
Proven experience handling complex Employee Relations matters, advising on employment law and best practice, and working with external counsel where needed
Familiarity with HRIS, payroll systems, and employment contracts
Comfort using AI tools to improve and modernise HR processes and infrastructure

Qualifications

Essential: CIPD, SHRM, or similar professional certification
Optional: Legal qualification or formal employment law training

Key Skills & Attributes

Clear, concise communicator with sound judgment and advisory skills
Strong analytical thinking and excellent attention to detail
Capable of managing competing priorities independently
High integrity, empathy, and emotional intelligence
Business-minded and adaptable team player with a hands-on, proactive approach

About Illuminate

Illuminate Financial is a specialist venture capital firm investing in early-stage Enterprise AI & Fintech companies. With a 22 person team across London, New York, and Singapore, we combine capital with unmatched connectivity to global financial institutions, helping visionary founders build and scale.

Illuminate operates at the centre of the global financial services ecosystem. We connect founders with investors, financial institutions, and strategic partners, giving our portfolio companies direct access to insight, demand, and decision-makers. From this unique vantage point, we identify critical market needs and back the solutions best placed to solve them, creating a virtuous cycle that drives transformation across the industry.

We are a thesis-led investor, focusing on transformative themes that affect financial services, including topics such as:

AI & Enterprise Tech
Payments & CFO Stack
Digital Assets Infrastructure
Financial Markets Infrastructure
Private Markets, Wealth & Asset Management
Energy and Climate Fintech

Founded in 2014, Illuminate Financial manages more than $550m across the platform, with 60+ investments and 16 exits to date. Our first ventures fund is ranked #1 among 2015-vintage European VC funds for DPI by Cambridge Associates. Our LP base includes more than a dozen global financial institutions - among them JP Morgan, Citi, Barclays, S&P Global, Jefferies, BNP, HSBC, and Deutsche Börse Group - who collectively represent a significant share of global financial services technology spend and help us identify, validate, and win deals.

Illuminate’s Core Values

Curiosity – We foster innovation, inquisitiveness, the ability to enable and unlock solutions and a thirst for knowledge.
Challenge – We encourage positive dissent and people who challenge decisions to ensure multiple perspectives and diversity of thought. These values allow us to stay adaptable and nimble and in turn make informed and better decisions.

Commitment –
We believe in accountability and long-term relationships and partnerships. Ownership, goal alignment and helping to raise the Illuminate game are paramount.

Collaboration – We are a team, and we only succeed as one. Communication and combining our mutual knowledge are paramount.

Continuous Learning - We embrace a mindset of perpetual growth, constantly seeking to expand our knowledge and skills. Learning is not a phase but a core part of who we are, enabling innovation and adaptability. The journey should be fun and educational.

Diversity & Inclusion

We are committed to fostering a culture where everyone regardless of background, ethnicity, or gender feels welcome. If you are excited about this role, but do not 100% meet all the qualifications listed above, we would still encourage you to apply. We recognise that a variety of different skills, strengths, and experiences can add a lot of value to our team

Illuminate Financial

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HR Business Manager