Head of People Operations, Kooth
Personalised digital mental health care platform
Be an early applicant
Personalised digital mental health care platform
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
201-500 employees
Company mission
To create easy to access online mental health services that work alongside you to provide compassionate and effective support.
Role
Who you are
- Proven experience leading a People Operations function and developing high-performing teams
- Experience supporting employees and leaders across both the UK and US, with the ability to work effectively across teams and time zones
- Strong experience owning and managing HR systems, including HRIS implementations, automation, and continuous process improvement
- Strong knowledge of UK and US employment law, regulatory requirements, data governance, and payroll controls
- Experience using automation and AI to simplify processes, improve efficiency, and reduce manual work
- Strong people data and reporting capability, with experience identifying and communicating trends across areas such as attrition, absence, performance, and engagement
- Experience designing, reviewing, or managing employee benefits and reward programmes using relevant market data
- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to translate complex information into clear, practical guidance
- Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills
- Strong project management, strategic thinking, and prioritisation skills, with the ability to manage competing demands
- High levels of adaptability, flexibility, resilience, and attention to detail
- CIPD or SHRM accreditation is required
- Experience working with Rippling is highly preferred
What the job involves
- The Head of People Operations will lead and continuously evolve the People Operations function across the UK and US, building consistent, efficient, and compliant practices that support Kooth’s people and enable the organization to scale effectively.
- This role will shape a seamless and supportive employee experience, use people data and insights to strengthen business performance, and oversee the systems, processes, and operational foundations that help our teams do their best work
- Develop and deliver the People Operations strategy, ensuring it supports business objectives, growth and employee experience across the UK and US
- Set the priorities, operating model and service standards for the People Operations function
- Own the HRIS (Rippling) and key People systems across the UK and US, acting as the subject matter expert
- Continuously improve user experience and adoption of HR systems by automating processes, simplifying workflows, integrating systems, increasing self-service, and using AI where it adds value
- Manage relationships with system vendors and implementation partners, including contracts, service levels and budgets, ensuring value for money
- Own end-to-end payroll accuracy, timeliness, and compliance across UK and US, including third-party payroll providers/vendors and annual tax documents
- Oversee benefits administration including assessing plan design, managing broker/vendor relationships and renewals for both UK and US plans
- Coordinate employee communications and education around benefits
- Partner with Finance to administer variable compensation plans
- Lead, develop and inspire a team of three People Operations Generalists supporting employees across the UK and US
- Build a high-performing team through clear objectives, coaching, feedback and development
- Create a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement
- Ensure the team has the skills and resources to meet changing business needs and deliver an excellent employee experience
- Ensure accurate, well-governed People data across HR systems through effective controls and audit processes
- Ensure compliance with UK and US employment legislation, GDPR and US data privacy, and internal governance requirements
- Provide people analytics and reporting that support business decisions and workforce planning
- Develop reporting standards and dashboards that provide timely, accurate insights for business leaders
- Lead health and safety across the UK and US, ensuring compliance with relevant legislation and a safe working environment
- Partner with stakeholders to identify and manage health and safety risks, promoting continuous improvement and a positive safety culture
- Oversee the investigation and resolution of health and safety incidents, ensuring appropriate reporting and compliance
Salary benchmarks
Our take
Kooth offers free-at-the-point-of-access mental health care to more than 5.4 million people via NHS commissioners, corporates, social workers, GPs and schools across the UK. It provides a mix of community-created content, forum sessions with other community members, and one-to-one counselling via online chat.
All users sign up anonymously for the service and there's no digital tracking of session IP addresses - thereby providing a safe space where people can get the support they need. As a pioneer in online counselling, Kooth brings together emerging technologies with innovation in clinical practice and evaluation to create new models of care in mental health.
Kooth’s 2020 IPO came at a time when London listings were sparse. This was a testament to the important contribution its services made at a time when people and businesses wanted to prioritise well-being. Another point of success for the company was its 33% soar in share prices after a contract was announced to serve 13 to 25-year-olds in California.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
10% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company benefits
- 28 days (plus Public Holidays)
- Yearly professional training programmes structured around you
- Pension contributions
- Remote Working
- Healthshield Care plan
- EAP programme, 24/7 Telephone Mental Health & GP
- Annual company share option awards
- Life Assurance (up to four times the amount of your annual salary)
- Cycle to Work Scheme
- Incapacity Income Protection
Company HQ
Paddington, London, UK
Leadership
Kate Newhouse
(CEO)Also a SUpervisory Board Member of the European Dental Group. Previously Member, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care's Health-tech advisory board, CEO of Blenheim Chalcot and Doctor Care Anywhere.
Sanjay Jawa
(CFO)Previouslt Operating Partner at ScaleUp Capital and CFO at QualiTest Group.
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