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 isnt really about technology at all. Its 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 Luminates 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 Luminates mission.

Primary System focus

Luminates 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

• Luminates 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 Luminates 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:

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:

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:

More information on Luminate can be found on our website:

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 Luminates 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 Luminates 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 organisations ability to attract develop and retain strong talent.

• Luminates 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 receiveconsideration for employment without regard to race national origin age sexreligion disability sexual orientation marital status veteran status gender identity orexpression or any other basis protected by local state or national law.

Required Experience:

Senior Manager