People Partner

About Pencil

Pencil is advancing advertising technology with a SaaS platform powered by Generative AI, designed to transform content creation while keeping creative professionals at the center of the process. The company’s goal is to make AI a standard part of advertising for major brands and global enterprises, helping them reshape marketing and creative operations at scale.

The company is looking for its first Senior People Partner to help establish strong people leadership from the ground up. With a team of 100+ and growing quickly, Pencil has already introduced version one of several people processes and is now looking for someone who can own, refine, and scale them.

This role suits someone who naturally improves systems and processes, balancing efficiency with a strong employee experience. The position combines coaching, strategy, and hands-on execution across performance, management capability, retention, and culture.

What you'll do

• Run the entire performance management cycle, including 360 reviews, formal review rounds, calibration, and compensation processes.
• Support and develop managers across the business, from first-time team leaders to senior leaders.
• Handle employee relations matters with care and structure, including difficult conversations, performance improvement plans, and exits.
• Take ownership of people systems and core infrastructure such as onboarding, the HRIS platform (HiBob), policies, and the employee handbook.
• Work closely with the leadership team on organizational structure, headcount planning, and broader talent strategy.
• Strengthen retention and succession planning by identifying risk early and putting practical plans in place.
• Lead engagement and culture initiatives, including experimental and non-traditional approaches where appropriate.
• Ensure the company remains aligned with UK employment law and current HR compliance requirements.

What we're looking for

• Strong working knowledge of UK employment law and employee relations.
• Experience creating or improving people infrastructure in a scaling organization.
• Confidence in handling difficult conversations and supporting people to improve or move on when needed.
• The ability to think at a strategic level while still delivering practical day-to-day execution.
• Experience in a product-led company, ideally within SaaS.
• Exposure to both fast-growing startups and larger, established organizations.
• Practical HRIS experience, with HiBob considered an advantage, especially for data quality, adoption, and feature rollout.
• Experience with international hiring or employer-of-record arrangements.
• Background working with distributed or remote teams.

Why Pencil

This is not a role where everything is already built; you will create and shape the function yourself. The leadership team is deeply committed to people, so this role sits close to decision-making rather than operating as a support-only function.

Pencil embraces AI across the business, including in people processes, and welcomes thoughtful experimentation in performance, culture, and employee experience. The role also offers a clear progression path toward team leadership as the company continues to grow.

Benefits

• 25 days of paid time off plus public holidays, with a Flexible Time Off approach in practice.
• Private health insurance or medical cover.
• A monthly allowance for wellness, fitness, and learning and development.
• Remote working from anywhere in your home country.
• Enhanced parental leave for birth, adoption, or surrogacy.
• Access to the company office in The Shard, London for UK employees.
• Flexible working hours.

Values

• Fast: decisions are made quickly using the information available.
• Surprising: the team looks for better alternatives rather than defaulting to obvious ones.
• Simple: unnecessary complexity is removed in favor of clarity.
• Human: the company is built for people and treats them well.
• Owners: responsibility is taken seriously, and commitments are followed through.