Job Description

Hello, we're Starling. We built a new kind of bank because we knew technology had the power to help people save, spend and manage their money in a new and transformative way. We're a fully licensed UK bank with the culture and spirit of a fast-moving, disruptive tech company. We're a bank, but better: fairer, easier to use and designed to demystify money for everyone. We employ more than 3,500 people across our London, Southampton, Cardiff and Manchester offices.



Reporting to our CPO, we are looking for an exceptional People Operations leader for this newly created position within our people team. You will be responsible for scaling our people operations department, driving innovations and efficiencies, whilst delivering the best in class service to our internal stakeholders. You will need to be analytically minded with a keen eye for detail and a passion for leveraging technology and AI to enhance operational efficiency and elevating employee experience.



The way to thrive and shine within Starling is to be a self-driven individual and be able to take full ownership of everything around you: From building things, designing, and discovering to sharing knowledge with your colleagues and making sure all processes are efficient and productive to deliver the best possible results for our customers. Our purpose is underpinned by five Starling values: Listen, Keep It Simple, Do The Right Thing, Own It, and Aim For Greatness.

What you'll be doing:

Key member of the People Leadership team Scale People Operations Infrastructure: Build and optimise core HR processes (e.g., onboarding, offboarding, benefits administration, compliance) to support rapid UK and international growth. Cross-Border HR Operations: Manage and harmonise people operations across multiple countries, ensuring compliance with local laws and smooth employee experience. HR Systems Strategy & Implementation: Take ownership of the holistic HR technology landscape, leading the implementation and continuous optimisation of Workday and other HR systems. Drive Innovation & Efficiency: Explore and implement AI-driven solutions and automation to improve people operations efficiency, reduce manual workload, and enhance data accuracy. Partnership with the People team: Work closely with Talent Acquisition, People Partners, and senior leadership to align operational capacity with hiring plans and organisational priorities. Compliance: Own employment law compliance, data protection (e.g., GDPR), People Analytics & Reporting: Build and lead the development of a people analytics function from the ground up - designing advanced workforce metrics, operational KPIs, and insightful dashboards that empower leadership to make strategic, evidence-based decisions. Establish robust data governance and reporting standards to ensure accuracy, consistency, and actionable insights across the organisation. Team leadership: Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing People Operations team that can deliver with agility and precision. Ownership of operational policies, procedures and controls: Ensure that every process has the required documentation to ensure that it is undertaken correctly and without error Risk Management: First line of defence key risk management role within the People team. Responsible for identifying risks and issues, designing, implementing and testing associated controls to mitigate risks and issues across operational processes. Identifying and raising any operational events and breaches in relation to operational processes. Management of the actions to address risks and issues raised.

Requirements:

Proven experience in People Operations, ideally within a scale-up environment, with a clear understanding of what "best-in-class" People Operations looks like. Highly analytical mindset, ideally supported by a STEM degree or equivalent; a consulting background is a strong advantage. Exceptional attention to detail and a commitment to operational excellence. Demonstrated expertise in process design, project management, and HRIS systems implementation, particularly Workday or similar platforms. Passionate about leveraging technology and AI to enhance operational efficiency and elevate the employee experience. Skilled at balancing strategic vision with hands-on execution in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. Excellent collaboration and influencing skills, with the ability to engage and partner effectively across multiple stakeholders, including Finance, Risk, Compliance, and Legal. Strong leadership presence with proven experience in inspiring, developing, and growing high-performing teams.

Success Metrics

Successful rollout of Workday on schedule and within budget Number of automated HR workflows implemented to improve efficiency Reduction in average time to resolve HR queries and issues Regular delivery of a comprehensive People Analytics dashboard Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) related to People Operations Zero compliance breaches in employment law, and data protection Timely completion of all audits and regulatory requirements

Benefits:

25 days holiday (plus take your public holiday allowance whenever works best for you) An extra day's holiday for your birthday Annual leave is increased with length of service, and you can choose to buy or sell up to five extra days off 16 hours paid volunteering time a year Salary sacrifice, company enhanced pension scheme Life insurance at 4x your salary & group income protection Private Medical Insurance with VitalityHealth including mental health support and cancer care. Partner benefits include discounts with Waitrose, Mr&Mrs Smith and Peloton Generous family-friendly policies Incentivised refer a friend scheme Perkbox membership giving access to retail discounts, a wellness platform for physical and mental health, and weekly free and boosted perks Access to initiatives like Cycle to Work, Salary Sacrificed Gym partnerships and Electric Vehicle (EV) leasing

About Us

You may be put off applying for a role because you don't tick every box. Forget that! While we can't accommodate every flexible working request, we're always open to discussion. So, if you're excited about working with us, but aren't sure if you're 100% there yet, get in touch anyway.

We're on a mission to radically reshape banking - and that starts with our brilliant team. Whatever came before, we're proud to bring together people of all backgrounds and experiences who love working together to solve problems.

Starling Bank is an equal opportunity employer, and we're proud of our ongoing efforts to foster diversity & inclusion in the workplace. Individuals seeking employment at Starling Bank are considered without regard to race, religion, national origin, age, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, marital status, medical condition, ancestry, physical or mental disability, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

By submitting your application, you agree that Starling Bank may collect your personal data for recruiting and related purposes. Our Privacy Notice explains what personal information we may process, where we may process your personal information, its purposes for processing your personal information, and the rights you can exercise over our use of your personal information.