HR Manager

Job title: HR Manager

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: Shoreditch, London

Reporting into: Group HR Director

Hybrid/ Remote: WFH Monday & Friday. In the office Tuesday-Thursday

Salary: £45,000 -£50,000 per annum (DOE)

About us

Captivate Group is a collective of creative agencies spanning influencer marketing, experiential events, retail design and PR. Our agencies—Seen Connects, Seen Presents, Seen Studios and Stir—work both independently and sometimes collaboratively to deliver impactful, culturally relevant work for our clients.

We are a people-led business, where culture, creativity and performance sit at the core of how we operate. The HR function plays a critical role in ensuring we have the right structure, capability and environment for our teams to thrive.

About the role

We are looking for a confident and capable HR Manager to join our growing group of creative agencies. Reporting into the Group HR Director, this role will support across all agencies, providing hands-on HR delivery while building strong relationships with managers and teams.

This is a key role within a growing business, suited to someone who is comfortable operating at pace, managing multiple priorities, and delivering a consistent, high-quality HR service. You will play a central role in ensuring our people processes are fair, clear, and commercially aligned, while supporting managers to lead effectively.

Key Responsibilities

Employee Relations & Advisory

· Act as a trusted advisor to managers across all Captivate agencies

· Support and lead on ER matters including performance management, disciplinaries, grievances and absence

· Provide clear, pragmatic guidance aligned to UK employment law and ACAS best practice

· Ensure a fair and consistent approach across the group

Performance & Capability

• Support the delivery of the performance review cycle (including appraisals and progress checks)

• Coach managers to have effective, constructive conversations around performance and development

• Support on Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), ensuring structure, clarity and documentation

• Drive accountability and clarity around performance standards across the business

HR Operations & Compliance

• Deliver HR administration across the employee lifecycle (payroll, contracts, onboarding, changes, leavers)

• Ensure all employee records, HR systems and documentation are up to date and compliant

• Maintain and continuously improve HR policies in line with UK legislation

• Support ongoing policy development in line with UK legislation and business needs.

People Experience & Culture

• Support delivery of key people initiatives across the group

• Partner with managers to build strong team cultures across the agencies

• Act as a visible and approachable presence across the business

• Support initiatives that enhance connection across agencies within a shared space

• Support ongoing policy development in line with UK legislation and business needs.

Recruitment & Talent

• Support hiring managers to deliver effective recruitment

• Ensure a high-quality candidate and onboarding experience

Projects & Continuous Improvement

• Contribute to HR projects across the group

• Identify opportunities to improve processes, efficiency and employee experience

• Support the Group HR Director with ad hoc strategic initiatives

Key Skills & Experience

• Proven experience in a HR Advisor / HR Manager role, ideally within a creative agency

• Comfortable working at pace within a fast-moving, evolving agency environment

• Able to operate independently with sound judgement, knowing when to escalate and when to take ownership

• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and HR best practice

• Confident managing employee relations cases end-to-end

• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy, with the ability to consistently deliver high-quality work without reliance on oversight to detail and ability to produce accurate, high-quality work

• Strong communication skills—clear, professional and able to influence at all levels

• Ability to balance multiple priorities and work at pace

• Proactive, solutions-focused and commercially aware

• Able to operate independently with sound judgement, knowing when to escalate and when to take ownership

• CIPD Level 5 (or working towards) preferred

We are committed to providing an inclusive environment where everyone feels seen, heard and celebrated. We welcome applications from everyone. If you are invited to an interview, please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to best accommodate your needs.

The Interview Process

1. If you are shortlisted, we will invite you to join a 30 minute virtual call for us to get to know you better and for us to tell you more about the role and group of agencies, and answer any initial questions.

2. If we think you'd be a great addition, we will then invite you to do a task relevant to the role you've applied for, which we wouldn't expect to take more than one hour.

1. A final decision will be made following this.

Benefits:

• Salary reflective of your experience and in line with internal benchmarks

• Hybrid working, working from our Shoreditch HQ on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and from home on Mondays and Fridays.

• 24 days of annual leave, increasing to 25 after one year and 26 after two years of service

• 3 personal days a year which are days that you can take to give yourself a break and support your wellness and mental health.

• Snacks and drinks in the office

• Private healthcare cover and life insurance

• Cycle to work scheme and annual season ticket loan available

Plus more

We are committed to providing an inclusive environment where everyone feels seen, heard and celebrated. We welcome applications from everyone. If you are invited to an interview, please let us know if there are any reasonable adjustments we can make to best accommodate your needs.