Head of People
Company: Automata
Role summary
Head of People is a full-time role at Automata in London, England, United Kingdom (hybrid). Posted 2026-10-12. Experience level: 10+.
- Job title
- Head of People
- Company
- Automata
- Location
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Work arrangement
- hybrid
- Employment type
- full-time
- Category
- Software Engineering
- Experience level
- 10+
- Date posted
- 2026-10-12
This is a fantastic opportunity to lead the People function at a cutting-edge company that's making lab automation accessible to scientists worldwide. You'll be instrumental in shaping the employee experience at a fast-growing innovator, with a competitive salary and a hybrid work model based in London.
Job description
Level : 6
Salary band : Competitive
Location : Hybrid (London office 2 days per week)
At Automata , we're on a mission to transform how scientists work by making automation accessible to every lab in the world. We believe that by giving labs the power to automate, we can unlock discoveries that will shape the future of life sciences—from diagnostics and drug discovery to synthetic biology.
But we’re more than just a company disrupting the industry—we're a team of innovators, problem-solvers, and creators passionate about empowering scientists. Our LINQ platform combines hardware and software to streamline workflows, making lab automation fast, flexible, and affordable. This means our customers can focus on groundbreaking research, while we take care of the rest.
Why Work at Automata?
Impact : Your work will directly contribute to advancements in science and medicine, supporting labs around the globe as they push boundaries in research and innovation.
Innovation : You’ll be part of a team solving complex problems (seriously, no one else has figured out how to do this yet), using cutting-edge technology (we have robots).
Growth : We invest in our people . Whether through hands-on experience, professional development, or collaborative projects, you’ll grow both professionally and personally.
Community : Join a diverse, passionate team that values collaboration (golf on a Thursday, Soccer once a month, movie nights whenever we fancy it).
We're looking for a Head of People to lead our People and Workplace function across the UK, US and Germany. Reporting to the CFO, you'll be the senior people expert in the business: a trusted partner to the CFO and wider executive team on organisation design, culture, capability and people cost, and the accountable owner for every people-related service our employees rely on, from payroll and benefits to offices, events and visas.
This is a player-coach role. You'll set the people strategy and lead a team, but you'll also roll up your sleeves to fix a payroll issue, rewrite a policy or run a complex employee relations case yourself. You'll build the processes, tools and data that let us scale without losing what makes Automata a great place to work.
Why this role matters now
We're a growing scale-up operating across three very different employment markets, each with its own law, payroll rules, benefits norms and expectations. The way we hire, develop, reward and support people over the next few years will shape our ability to deliver for our customers. We need someone who can bring consistency and best practice where it matters, local compliance where it's required, and pragmatism everywhere.
Key accountabilities
1. Business partnering and team leadership
Partner with the CFO and executive team to translate the business strategy into a clear, prioritised people plan covering headcount, capability, organisation design, culture and cost.
Act as a trusted advisor and coach to executives and senior leaders on organisational change, team structures, leadership effectiveness and sensitive people decisions.
Lead workforce planning with the CFO and Finance team, making sure the hiring plan, people budget and organisational design support the commercial and product roadmap.
Guide the business through change such as reorganisations, new market entry, restructures or redundancies, ensuring fair process and compliance in each country.
Own employee relations and casework, including grievances, disciplinaries, performance concerns and exits, handling them fairly, consistently and in line with local law.
Champion and embed Automata's values, building an inclusive culture where diverse teams of engineers, scientists and commercial staff do their best work.
Lead, coach and develop a team of four across People and Workplace, setting clear goals, building capability and creating a high-performing, service-minded function.
Own the people function budget and manage external partners (payroll, benefits brokers, legal counsel, recruitment and immigration providers), ensuring value for money and quality of service.
Report regularly to the CFO, executive team and, where required, the board on people metrics, risks and progress against the people plan.
2. HR operations
Global payroll and benefits: own accurate, on-time payroll in the UK, US and Germany, working with providers and Finance on controls, reconciliations and year-end. Design, benchmark and manage competitive benefits packages in each country, including pension, healthcare and insurance, and run annual renewals.
HR administration: run a smooth employee lifecycle from offer to exit, including contracts, onboarding, changes, leave, right-to-work checks and offboarding, with accurate records and a great employee experience.
Policy and process: maintain a clear, compliant and up-to-date employee handbook and policy set for each country. Track legislative change and keep the business compliant with employment law in all three jurisdictions.
HR tooling and systems: own the HR technology stack (HRIS, ATS, performance and engagement tools), driving adoption, integration and automation so processes are self-service and scalable.
Data management and reporting: make sure people data is accurate, secure and GDPR-compliant. Build dashboards and reporting on headcount, attrition, hiring, engagement, diversity and people cost that leaders actually use to make decisions.
Reward management: build and run a fair, transparent and market-competitive reward framework, including salary bands, levelling, benchmarking, the annual pay review, bonus schemes and equity (share option) administration, working closely with the CFO.
3. Workplace, engagement and communications
Internal communications: lead the internal communications strategy, channel management and key messaging ensuring leadership messaging, people changes, policies and company news are communicated clearly