People Operations Lead

About 9fin

9fin is the AI platform powering global debt markets — the world’s largest asset class at over $145 trillion.

Debt markets are vast, global, and mission-critical, yet still run on fragmented data, PDFs, and manual workflows. 9fin replaces this broken infrastructure with a single platform that centralises proprietary credit data, deep analysis, and high-value workflows across global markets.

Today, 9fin powers teams at 300+ blue-chip institutions worldwide, including global banks, asset managers, private equity firms, law firms, and advisors. The business is scaling at exceptional speed, with rapid expansion in the US and best-in-class retention driven by deep workflow adoption.

We’re at a defining inflection point. With proven product-market fit and strong, global market pull, 9fin is accelerating toward becoming the category-defining platform for debt markets worldwide.

The role

We're looking for a People Operations Lead to set the standard for how People Ops runs in Belfast, and to own the workplace experience in our Belfast office. You'll be the senior specialist responsible for compliance, policy, process design and strategic projects, and the person who makes sure the Belfast team has a workplace that supports how they do their best work.

This is a senior individual contributor role not a people manager. You'll report to the People Operations Manager and partner closely with our London People Operations Lead, London Workplace Manager, and with Talent, People Partners, Legal and Finance. You'll set the standard for operational excellence across the team and be the People and Workplace face of 9fin in Belfast.

What you'll own

• Operational excellence in Belfast: Own the day-to-day running of People Operations for our Belfast population. Set the bar for accuracy, timeliness and employee experience across the full lifecycle - joiners, leavers, changes, probation, right-to-work, background screening, leave and absence.

• Compliance & audit-readiness: Keep 9fin compliant with UK employment law, statutory requirements and internal audit standards. Maintain audit-ready records, run periodic control checks, and flag risks early. Partner with Legal to interpret and apply changes in employment law.

• Policy & handbook: Own the Northern Ireland policy set - the NI-specific policies, handbook annexes and local variations that reflect how employment law and practice differ here. Contribute to the wider UK handbook alongside the London Lead, and make sure Belfast-specific guidance is clear, current and used.

• Strategic project leadership: Own one or two of the biggest People Ops projects each cycle end-to-end - scoping the problem, aligning stakeholders, delivering the work, and measuring the impact. Think workplace improvements, early careers outreach, benefits redesign.

• Workflows & automations: Design and build the workflows and automations that reduce manual work across the lifecycle. Identify what should be templated, what should be automated, and what should be redesigned entirely. Ship the improved version.

• Belfast workplace ownership: Own the workplace experience in the Belfast office end-to-end - office operations, facilities and supplier relationships, health and safety, in-office events, hybrid working experience, and joiner day one logistics. Partner with the London Workplace Manager on standards, budget and consistency across offices.

• Complex casework: Working closely with the People Partners, handling the trickiest Belfast people situations - complex leave, contract variations, sensitive investigations support - with strong judgment on risk, employee experience and commercial context.

• People data & insight: Build the reporting and dashboards leadership actually uses. Present operational recommendations backed by data to the People Operations Manager, Head of People and wider business.

• Budget partnership: Support the People Operations Manager on Belfast sub-team budget - scoping future spend, analysing current spend, articulating ROI, and making recommendations.

What you'll bring

• 5+ years in People Operations / HR Operations in a scaling company, with meaningful ownership of both process design and hands-on delivery.

• Deep working knowledge of UK employment law and compliance - you're the person others check with before making a call.

• Strong track record of writing and rolling out policies that hold up in practice.

• Demonstrated ability to lead People Ops projects end-to-end - scoping, stakeholder alignment, delivery, measurement.

• Comfort designing workflows and automations that meaningfully reduce manual work.

• Experience owning workplace, office or facilities operations - or a clear appetite to add this to your remit and do it well.

• Exceptional attention to detail. You catch the thing others miss, and you build systems that catch it next time.

• Comfortable being the "go-to" person: briefs seniors, unblocks peers, and represents the People and Workplace function credibly in cross-functional forums.

• Bias to build: you would rather design the process than inherit one.

Nice to have

• Prior experience at a scaling fintech, capital markets business, or high-growth B2B SaaS.

• Familiarity with SOC 2 / ISO People-related controls and audit prep.

• Experience building automations across the People Tech stack, including the HRIS.

• Prior workplace, facilities, health and safety, or office management experience.

What success looks like in your first 12 months

• Belfast operations run predictably and to a high standard, with clean handoffs across Finance, IT and Workplace.

• Compliance is demonstrably audit-ready; the handbook and policy set are current, well-drafted, and used.

• At least two major strategic project shipped end-to-end.

• Workflows and automations have visibly reduced manual work across the lifecycle.

• The Belfast office runs smoothly - the team notices the workplace, in a good way.

• You're the person the business escalates the hard Belfast people-ops questions to - and the answers hold up.

Our benefits

We’re a scaling start up, and we enjoy sharing our success, when the company succeeds, we always reinvest that in our people. We also offer huge amounts of responsibility, an abundance of opportunity for growth and a platform to truly excel.

Financial & Insurance

• Competitive Salary (our salary bands are benchmarked at the top end of the market)

• Equity options

• Pension (your minimum contributions are 4% with 9fin matching up to 7%)

• Private Medical Insurance

• Paid sick leave with Income Protection for long periods of illness

• Group Life Assurance

• Season Ticket Loan & Cycle to Work schemes

Time off

• 25 holiday days per year

• Local public holidays (with the ability to exchange them for alternative days)

• Work abroad for up to 3 months a year

• 1 month paid sabbatical after 5 years of service

• Enhanced parental leave & flexible working arrangements available

Growth & Culture

• Professional learning and development budget

• Quarterly team socials

• Summer and Winter company social events

Hybrid Policy

9fin is a hybrid company, and the office is a regular part of how we work. From January 2027, all employees will work from their designated 9fin office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Some teams may be asked to be in the office more often, where the nature of their work calls for it. For the rest of the week, you may work from wherever works best for you and your team. Your Talent Partner will share hybrid working details for this role.

9fin is an equal opportunities employer

At 9fin we are dedicated to building and promoting a fair and inclusive workplace where everyone can reach their full potential and truly belong. We recognize that building diverse teams enables a more creative and productive environment. If you’re excited about this role but your experience doesn’t perfectly align with the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might just be who we’re looking for — either for this role, or perhaps another.