Vice President of People, Zinc Work
£95-100k
+ Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
2 days a week in office
Automated employee reference and background checking software
Posted today
Automated employee reference and background checking software
101-200 employees
Posted today
£95-100k
+ Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
2 days a week in office
101-200 employees
Company mission
To change the way people prove their work identity.
Role
Who you are
- You've operated at VP or Director of People level in a SaaS or tech business, ideally at the 200–500 people stage
- You've worked on real org design decisions, not just advised from the outside
- You understand startup culture as a competitive asset, not a thing to be managed away
- You're comfortable in a room of opinionated, high-performing leaders and you push back when it matters
- You're data-informed, not data-dependent you know when to trust your read on a room
What the job involves
- We're hiring our first VP of People, a genuine leadership role that sits in the companies leadership team from day one and owns the strategy that takes Zinc from 150 to 200+ without losing what makes this place work
- You'll partner directly with our COO and the wider leadership team on org design, culture, and manager capability, and build the infrastructure that lets every person at Zinc do their best work
- This isn't a support function role or a glorified HRBP. It's a seat at the table, a voice in the room, and real ownership of one of the most critical levers in a scaling business. If that sounds like the role you've been looking for, we'd love to hear from you. 🎉
- People strategy: define the 2-year plan for how we attract, develop and retain the talent we need to hit our growth targets. Translate business strategy into people priorities and present it to leadership quarterly
- Culture and EVP: take ownership of what makes Zinc a great place to work and make it defensible as we grow
- Reporting To: Sam Norman
- People strategy: the 2-year plan, owned by you, shaped with the business
- Org design: advising the leadership team on structural decisions as we scale: layers, reporting lines, team evolution
- Culture and EVP: defining what makes Zinc a great place to work and driving the initiatives that keep it real as we grow
- Learning and development: building a framework that works at 200+ people
- Performance and progression: owning the philosophy and cadence that sits above our existing frameworks
- Leadership partnership: sitting in leadership team as a peer, not a support function
Application process
- Application Deadline: August 01, 2026
- Stage 1: Applied
- Stage 2: Review
- Stage 3: Talent Discovery Call ✨
- Stage 4: Google Meets Interview 💻
- Stage 5: Final In-Person Interview 🧍♀️🧍♂️
- Stage 6: Hired
Salary benchmarks
Our take
The existing processes for referencing and background checking suffer from notable inefficiencies, marked by biases, time-consuming procedures, and an intimidating experience for candidates. Addressing these challenges, Zinc Work aims to solve these processes by introducing an automated reference and background-checking solution.
Setting itself apart in the market, Zinc Work focuses on the user-friendly design of its solution, its swift integration into existing Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS), and its high level of customisation. With a vision to offer a solution for background checks, Zinc covers a spectrum from criminal record checks to financial, education, identity, employment, and reference checks.
Funding secured in 2023 was led by esteemed financial services investor AVP (AXA Venture Partners) and supported by Seedcamp, and will facilitate the launch of groundbreaking industry initiatives. These include the introduction of the first reusable global Right To Work check, the first Employment verification reference integrated with HMRC, and a background check template library collaboratively contributed to by over 40 Zinc Work customers. This financial injection underscored Zinc's commitment to innovation and reinforced its position as a trailblazer in the realm of automated reference and background checking solutions.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
43% female employees
Company
Employee endorsements
Team energy
"Team energy is great, there is lots of positivity and support. Because we only come in 2-3 days a week, when we are in everyone is engaged and happy..."
Funding (last 2 of 3 rounds)
Jul 2023
$6.7m
SERIES A
Mar 2022
$1.4m
SEED
Total funding: $8.6m
Company benefits
- 24 days holiday + Bank Holidays + your birthday off
- Apple laptop and latest tech gear for your home workstation
- £1200 annual benefits allowance (ThanksBen, from month 2)
- Early finish Fridays (16:00)
- Yearly company Retreat
- Enhanced Maternity, Paternity, and Adoption Leave (2 months full pay, then statutory)
- Statutory pension with NEST (3% employer, 5% employee)
- Zinc shares, issued through the EMI Scheme
- Unlimited access to MoreHappi coaching
Company values
- Empathy: Seeking to understand your perspective first
- Collaboration: We will work teogether to solve problems
- Empowered: Empowering candidates with information and data
- Speed: We will work to deliver at pace
- Integrity: We are truth seekers, providing transparent information
- Pragmatic: We're a solutions oriented team that seeks to solve
Company HQ
London, UK
Articles
Leadership
Charlotte Lucy Hall
(Co-Founder)Previously a Marketing Manager at Superscript, Podcast Producer at Talent Hacks for Scaleups, and a Marketing Executive at ILTM.
Luke Shipley
(Co-Founder)Previously EMEA Head of Technology at Intelletec for 1 year. Has also co-founded stitch Leggings and Lean Lychee.
People progressing
He was a regular soldier in the Army, after leaving and studying he joined Zinc as an SDR (After a spell gold diving in FLorida). Having come in with no experience he has promoted fast through Zinc.
Tiasha joined Zinc way back in 2021, she highlighted that she wanted to work in Account Managment and has worked hard to make this career change happen.
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at Zinc Work
- We currently do not record LGBTQIA+ status: our team is small, which means data is hard to anonymise.
- As of January 2024, 48% of the Zinc team are Ethnic Minorities.
- We offer flexible working for everyone from day one.
- Accommodations are available for everyone, regardless of status and never need to be justified: this is outlined in our DEI Statement which is accessible to all employees.
- We offer prayer space at our co-working offices, and flexible diary arrangements for employees to keep their faith.
- We’ve created a ‘Manual of Me’ page in our company Notion: to help foster understanding and allow team members to advocate for their communication style and work patterns.
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