People Partner

Job description

Note: this role is 5 days a week onsite ABOUT LIGHT Light is the AI-native finance platform built for hypergrowth. Founded in 2022, we've reimagined finance software from the ground up—processing hundreds of millions of records in under a second and automating multi-entity accounting across global jurisdictions. We're trusted by companies like Lovable and Legora, and backed by world-class investors including Balderton Capital, Atomico, Cherry Ventures, and Seedcamp. In summer 2025, we raised $30M in Series A funding, bringing total funding to $43M. While traditional ERPs bolt AI onto legacy systems, Light was built AI-first—from database design to user experience. The result: finance teams reduce operational workload by 84% and expand into new countries in days, not months. We’re expanding globally across London, Copenhagen, and soon New York. Join us as we build the finance platform that hypergrowth companies have been waiting for. THE ROLE We’re hiring a People Partner to own and evolve critical People systems & processes as Light continues through rapid scaling and growing across teams, geographies and complexity. This is a high ownership IC role, focused on continuous improvement and enabling a high performance organisation. Over the last 6 months we’ve gone from 40 → 90 and we are looking to make an additional 30+ hires this year. You will report directly to the Head of Finance & Core Ops, and work closely with the wider leadership team, acting as a key partner on people related decisions, while also building and executing within all pillars of HR WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & FEEDBACK SYSTEMS - Own the design, execution, and iteration of Light’s performance review and feedback cycles - Ensure performance processes are rigorous, consistent, and drive high-performance behaviours - Work with leadership to maintain clear expectations, accountability, and promotion decisions COMPENSATION & PROGRESSION FRAMEWORKS - Own compensation review cycles, benchmarking, and internal alignment processes - Build, maintain and evolve role levels and progression frameworks across the company - Ensure compensation and promotion decisions are structured, fair, and consistently applied ORG DESIGN & LEADERSHIP PARTNERING - Partner with leadership on org structure, scaling decisions, and team effectiveness - Advise on organisational changes during growth, ensuring clarity and operational effectiveness - Identify and resolve structural bottlenecks as the company scales HIRING & TALENT PARTNERING - Partner with Finance and leadership on workforce planning and headcount allocation across teams and geographies - Support definition and structuring of roles to ensure clarity of scope, level, and organisational fit - Provide input into hiring prioritisation and sequencing as the company scales PEOPLE OPERATIONS & SYSTEMS - Own core People processes including onboarding, offboarding, and employee lifecycle moments - Improve HR systems and tooling (e.g. HiBob) to ensure scalability and accuracy - Build operational clarity across People processes as the company grows CULTURE & WAYS OF WORKING - Shape and reinforce effective ways of working as Light scales - Identify cultural and organisational friction points and drive improvements with leadership - Strengthen communication rhythms, alignment, and operational cadence across teams COMPANY WORKPLACE & EVENTS - Own the day-to-day workplace experience across Light’s London office, ensuring it is functional, well-run, and aligned with company culture - Own planning and execution of company offsites and key team events - Design experiences that strengthen alignment, trust, and cohesion across global teams YOUR QUALIFICATIONS - 5+ years experience in a People Partner, People Manager or HRBP role in a high-growth environment - Ownership of people systems (performance, compensation, hiring, onboarding) - Exposure to scaling SaaS companies through scaling phases - Strong business acumen and ability to translate company priorities into people systems - High agency and comfort operating independently in fast-moving environments - Strong stakeholder management experience with senior leadership exposure - Structured, analytical thinking and ability to operate in ambiguity - Working knowledge of UK and European employment frameworks BONUS POINTS - Experience across both Talent Acquisition and broader People/HR systems - Experience designing or significantly evolving performance or compensation systems - Experience owning company-wide events or offsites at scale