ARIA
People Operations Associate
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People Operations Associate
Application Deadline: 23 July 2026
Department: People Operations
Employment Type: Fixed Term - Full Time
Location: London
Compensation: £36,750 / year
Description
About ARIA
ARIA is a R&D funding agency created to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible.
From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.
Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK’s future generations? Whether that’s a life-changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role.
Learn more about how we work here.
Role Summary
People Operations sits at the centre of the organisation. Our remit spans hiring, onboarding, learning and development, culture initiatives, internal communications, and the day-to-day processes that help the organisation run smoothly.
As a People Operations Associate, you'll often be the first point of contact for the wider team. You'll coordinate processes, solve practical problems, and ensure employees have a positive experience throughout their time at ARIA.
While the role involves a lot of administrative work, you'll also have the opportunity to contribute ideas, improve processes, and get involved in projects that shape how our organisation grows. You’ll be a central point of contact for our team, fostering positive working relationships and supporting effective communication across ARIA.
What you’ll do
The scope of the role will evolve as ARIA continues to grow, but will broadly involve the following:
Onboarding and employee experience
- You'll play a central role in ensuring every new employee has a positive and productive start. From the moment someone accepts an offer, you'll coordinate the practical and human aspects of their arrival, helping them feel informed, welcomed, and connected.
- You'll oversee the coordination of pre-employment screening processes, helping ensure we meet our compliance requirements while providing a smooth experience for candidates.
- You'll help continuously improve what could be a routine administrative process into a thoughtful and memorable experience that sets people up for long-term success.
Learning and Development
- We value our people highly. Our people will drive our success and impact, and we seek to value that in our learning and development practices, helping our team grow their skills, confidence, and professional growth.
- You'll take responsibility for the ongoing development of our induction programme, ensuring it equips new joiners with the knowledge, skills, context and connections they need to succeed.
- You'll lead the coordination and organisation of learning resources, creating a searchable library of training materials, guides, recordings, templates, and external content. You'll work with subject matter experts across the business to capture knowledge and make it accessible, helping employees find the information they need.
- You'll act as a key point of contact for learning and development activities, helping teams identify relevant training opportunities and ensuring employees can access the resources they need to grow.
- You'll help ensure our learning programmes remain relevant and effective by gathering feedback, tracking engagement, and analysing participation data. Using these insights, you'll make recommendations for new resources, improvements to existing programmes, and areas where additional support may be beneficial. You'll contribute to building a learning function that evolves alongside the organisation's needs.
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Administration and Support
- You'll be responsible for ensuring our people's data is accurate, up to date, and well organised across our HRIS (HiBob). You'll proactively follow up with employees and managers to obtain outstanding information, helping the organisation maintain high standards of compliance and record keeping.
- You'll help coordinate the administration of employee benefits, acting as a point of contact for routine queries and ensuring employees have access to accurate information about the benefits available to them.
- You'll keep our organisational charts and team structures up to date, ensuring employees have a clear understanding of how the business is organised and where responsibilities sit.
- As a growing organisation, we're continually refining how we work. You'll help identify opportunities to improve administrative processes, reduce manual tasks, strengthen documentation, and increase efficiency across People Operations.
- You'll support a variety of ad hoc People Operations activities and projects, responding to emerging priorities and helping colleagues across the organisation. The role offers broad exposure to all aspects of People Operations.
Who you are
We are open to candidates for whom this is their first People Ops role, or candidates who have some experience. We’re not looking for a degree or established experience. For us, this is about having the right person in post who is open to getting stuck in.
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A successful candidate will bring the following skills/experience:
Essential criteria
- Very strong administrative skills, highly organised and with excellent attention to detail.
- A creative thinker who is able to challenge how things are done.
- Ability to use sound judgement and initiative, thinking multiple steps ahead to solve problems and address blockers proactively.
- Excellent written and verbal communication.
- Strong stakeholder management skills.
- Diplomacy and ability to remain discreet and confidential.
- Strong IT skills.
- Team player willing to jump in where needed and excited by the idea of working in a fast-paced, early-stage startup work environment.
Desirable criteria
- Comfortable navigating and utilising Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Drive, etc.).
How to apply
Please submit your current CV and a cover letter detailing your suitability. We pride ourselves on reviewing every application personally.
Note: A cover letter is required to be considered.
Benefits
- 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days
- Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home
- Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities
- Enhanced family leave arrangements
- A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme
- Life Assurance
- 2 days of paid volunteer days
- 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension
- Cycle to Work scheme
- An excellent office location in Kings X, London
Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Don’t worry! If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We want to attract the broadest array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to the field, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interests and what you hope to bring to this role.
If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Disclosing any requests are intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process.
ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. You can read our policy here. Our research and development activity will abide by the 3Rs principle. You can read about those here.
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