Senior Manager, People

ABOUT LUMINATE

Luminate is a global foundation working to ensure that technology serves our needs and wellbeing. Founded by The Omidyar Group in 2018 and funded by Pierre and Pam Omidyar, we are a US foundation with an independent board of directors, operating through entities in the US, the UK, and Kenya. We ask who benefits from a technology, and who is harmed by it.

Digital technology must serve our needs and wellbeing. We know it has the potential to create connection, spark creativity, and provide a space of freedom and choice, because that was the promise of the early internet. But as state and corporate control tightened their grip on digital tools, that promise has narrowed. We want to change that trajectory, motivated by a radical vision: to restore the liberating potential of technology so that it serves the public good, planet, and people – particularly those historically marginalised.

In the end our pursuit isn’t really about technology at all. It’s about the world we want to live in.

We work in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America, with staff in those regions, including in Nigeria and Kenya, and locations in London, Washington, DC, and Nairobi. A global ecosystems programme strengthens the field as a whole. Since 2018 we have supported more than 500 partners and moved around $370 million to the field, with 252 partnerships live today.

We do not bet on a single route to change. We fund policy engagement, strategic litigation, campaigning, and narrative work at once, and support organisations at every stage, from an idea that needs incubating to an institution that needs sustaining. We fund shared infrastructure that no single grantee would build alone, run our own advocacy where we can add something to it, and convene other funders to bring new resources into the field.

ROLE

As Senior Manager, People, you are Luminate’s senior People practitioner and the day-to-day leader of the People function. You build and steward fair, effective, and scalable people practices for a globally distributed workforce, translating organisational needs, employment requirements, data, and employee insight into clear decisions and dependable practice.

You advise leaders and managers, lead the People team, manage external providers, and balance strategic foresight with hands-on delivery, so that people can do their best work in service of Luminate’s mission.

Primary System focus

Luminate’s people system: the end-to-end employee lifecycle, including workforce planning and organisation design; talent acquisition and onboarding; performance, development, reward, and wellbeing; employee relations; and the data, policies, technology, and operating practices that connect them.

Secondary Systems focus

• Luminate’s internal operating system: the interaction of people, money, processes, technology, legal, and risk in enabling mission delivery.

• Candidate, employee, and manager experience: the journeys of people in their interactions with Luminate’s systems and leadership practices.

Employment type: Full Time

Team: Operations

Location: London, United Kingdom

Reports to: Director, Finance & Operations

Manages: Manager, Compensation & Benefits; Coordinator, People.

Works closely with: COO; Executive and Leadership Team members; all people managers; General Counsel; Finance; Systems & IT; Operations; and external employment, payroll, benefits, EOR/PEO, recruitment, and other People partners.

Salary Range: The recruiting range for this role represents the entry point into the salary band (not the full range). Actual salary will be determined based on skills and experience.

• UK: £100,000–£125,000

Benefits: Visit out Careers page for more information.

HOW TO APPLY

Luminate is being supported in this hire by the executive search firm, Strategic Dimensions in the person of Ralph Finnon: Ralph@strategic-dimensions.co.uk

To apply for this role, click on this link: BeApplied/SeniorManagerPeople

We expect a high volume of interest in this role. Ralph is therefore not able to hold speculative conversations with candidates ahead of application, but he is happy to answer specific questions about the role by email at: Ralph@strategic-dimensions.co.uk.

More information on Luminate can be found on our website: https://luminategroup.com

If you are shortlisted, we will invite you to the next step, which includes formal interviews and meeting select members of the team.

Applications are due by Sundday - 23 August 2026 at 11:59pm (UK time).

HOW YOU CREATE CHANGE: LEVERAGE POINTS

Your role enhances systems through:

• Designing coherent, scalable people systems across the employee lifecycle, and embedding them across the organisation.

• Equipping and challenging managers through clear expectations, practical frameworks, data, and coaching.

• Shaping incentives and behaviours through reward, performance, development, and recognition.

• Using evidence to surface patterns and inform organisational decisions, rather than treating cases and data points in isolation.

• Building trust through fair and transparent decisions, while adapting practice to legal and cultural context.

• Anticipating and managing people risk so that issues are addressed early and organisational change can be delivered responsibly.

MENTAL MODELS WE VALUE

Luminate encourages a leadership approach grounded in key mental models (ways of thinking) that reflect both our core values and global best practices.

Leaders and managers are expected to think strategically at a systems level, demonstrating the humility to challenge their own assumptions and mental models. This means embracing new ways of thinking and taking responsible risks to innovate.

They also continuously learn from experience and feedback to adapt and improve. Effective leaders here foster an inclusive, collaborative environment where diverse perspectives are valued, and they maintain integrity through accountability and high ethical standards in all decisions.

Our leaders combine professional competence with character and compassion. They deeply understand complex social issues and power dynamics, using their influence responsibly to build trust and drive enduring positive change.

The following mental models will enable high performance in this role:

• Value, not cost: you prioritise long-term organisational and mission value (i.e. capability, performance, retention, wellbeing, and fairness), over narrow cost minimisation. You make the value and trade-offs of people investment visible.

• Replicability / scale over individual preference: you design policies, tools, and practices that are fair, clear, and sustainable across the organisation - not around the preferences of particular individuals.

• People insights = organisational insights: you treat workforce data, employee feedback, and case patterns as strategic inputs, not just People reporting, and use them to open meaningful organisational conversations.

• Manager ownership, People enablement: you hold managers accountable for the performance and experience of their teams while equipping them with practical frameworks, coaching, and challenge.

• Transparency with appropriate confidentiality: you explain the rationale, process, and boundaries behind decisions, building trust without compromising privacy or sensitive information.

• Learning over defence: you seek feedback and examine unintended consequences, treating difficult cases, weak processes, or missteps as opportunities to improve rather than assign blame.

• Strategic approach to people risk: you support responsible organisational change and smart risk-taking, managing - not eliminating - employment, employee relations, wellbeing, and compliance risk.

• Cultural fluency: you embed cultural sensitivity into the design and delivery of People practices, adapting implementation without losing purpose, fairness, or consistency.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Individual

You are responsible for:

• Developing and implementing Luminate’s annual People plan in line with agreed organisational priorities, and coordinating delivery across the employee lifecycle.

• Serving as a trusted adviser to the Director, COO, Executive and Leadership Teams, and managers on workforce planning, performance, and people risk.

• Leading employee relations, including complex cases and investigations, with fairness, discretion, timely judgement, and appropriate legal input.

• Owning compensation, benefits, and payroll execution, including market benchmarking, pay equity, annual compensation planning, benefits strategy, accurate administration, clear controls, and communication.

• Leading talent acquisition and onboarding , directing equitable and mission-aligned processes, managing external recruiters, and monitoring pipeline, quality, and time-to-fill.

• Owning performance, development, and succession systems, including goal-setting, review cycles, calibration, manager capability, learning pathways, and team effectiveness.

• Managing Luminate’s global employment and People operations model, including employment compliance, EOR / PEO relationships, leave, policies, handbook, records, data privacy, and offboarding across jurisdictions.

• Maintaining and improving People technology, data governance, and analytics, including delivery of the employee engagement survey and related action planning, using insight to improve decisions, efficiency, controls, and the employee experience, and adopting new tools thoughtfully.

• Leading and developing the People team, setting priorities, service standards, and clear accountability for high-quality delivery.

• Managing external People consultants and service providers, including scopes of work, budgets, performance monitoring, and service quality.

Shared

Together with the Director, Finance & Operations and the Leadership Team, you shape:

• Workforce allocation in line with strategic direction, priorities, and available resources.

• Employee experience, including inclusion, transparency, accountability, wellbeing, and belonging.

• The quality of leadership and management and the organisation’s ability to attract, develop, and retain strong talent.

• Luminate’s agile approach and ability to respond to learning, change, and emerging workforce needs.

• The integration of people, financial, legal / risk, and technology systems so that operations are coherent and scalable.

DAY-TO-DAY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead and mentor the People team, set priorities, allocate capacity, and review delivery against agreed service standards.

• Coach and advise leaders and managers on recruitment, performance, development, team dynamics, change, and employee relations.

• Run the annual People cycle, including workforce planning, recruitment, performance reviews, compensation, benefits, learning, and policy reviews.

• Oversee recruitment processes with hiring managers and search partners, ensuring consistent assessment, equitable practice, and a strong candidate experience.

• Direct employee relations cases, investigations, organisational change, and offboarding, coordinating with legal advisers where required.

• Oversee payroll, benefits, People systems, employee data, EOR / PEO arrangements, and vendor delivery; test controls and resolve service issues.

• Produce people dashboards, workforce and pay analysis, and clear recommendations for leadership decision-making.

• Partner with Finance, Legal/Risk, Systems & IT, and Operations to improve integrated workflows, policies, controls, and employee communications.

• Maintain current knowledge of employment requirements, market practice, and emerging People technology across relevant jurisdictions.

SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE & EXPERTISE

Core

• High judgement, discretion, and ethical decision-making.

• Trusted advisory, influence, and relationship building across cultures and organisational levels.

• Clear and courageous communication, including difficult messages and principled challenge.

• Leadership and people management.

• Translating data, feedback, and market evidence into insight and action.

• Operational rigour, prioritisation, and project delivery in a lean environment.

Essential experience

• Compensation, benefits, and payroll execution, including market benchmarking, and pay equity.

• Workforce planning and performance management.

Desirable experience

• Employment law and compliance across relevant jurisdictions.

• People technology, data governance, and analytics, including the thoughtful adoption of new tools and AI.

• Experience of processes across full employee lifecycle.

• Understanding of international philanthropy or other mission-driven organisational contexts.

TRAVEL

The role is based in London, with flexibility for hybrid working. This role includes travel, with an expected 2-3 trips to other regions of Luminate per year. The candidate should be prepared to travel internationally.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION YOU SHOULD KNOW

Luminate believes that diversity and inclusion make us more successful in our work, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, age, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, veteran status, gender identity or expression, or any other basis protected by local, state, or national law.