Driven People Operations Specialist at Laminar… · Portugal

Looking for a role where you can make a real impact? Help us set new standards in the People Operations realm, driving change that matters.

Join us and be part of a team where your insights will directly shape our strategic direction.

Read on!

(this will be a long write up but we like to give you all the details before you spend your time applying)

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We are Laminar Projects!

We are an award winning consultancy that implements technology to improve the delivery of complex construction projects. Improving construction strengthens the very foundation of human civilisation.(Watch our short film about it)

We also have a separate product team, Shape Construction, that takes the deep understanding of the projects we work on to develop construction management software products.

The core of all this is our true secret sauce; people. We only recruit kind and authentic people who are fast learners. We are deeply focused on designing a new type of place that is optimised for the flourishing of the people in the team first and foremost. This approach has allowed us to grow from just 2 people in 2017 to over 220 today and we are still very much at the beginning! Joining us isn’t just some “job”, we challenge you to be your best self in all aspects of life.

Our vision is designed to align how we operate with the fundamental aspects that enable anyone to have a fulfilled life:

• Connects us with meaningful relationships

• Inspires us to develop ourselves to become better humans

• Empowers us to pursue our own learning adventures

4 core values for a good life

We believe a life of human flourishing is all about meaningful relationships with others and challenging yourself to create a positive impact. Our four core values are grow yourself, care about people, execute to greatness and build civilisation. This philosophy goes much deeper and you can see more on our website.

We are achieving this vision through the following two missions:

• To fully digitise the construction of human civilisation

• To create a new type of organisation that enables human flourishing while delivering a huge positive impact on society

Laminar Projects is proud to be recognized as one of the UK’s Best Workplaces in Construction, Engineering & Property™ for 2024! Join a team where learning, collaboration, and growth are at the core of everything we do, and where solving big challenges is part of the fun.

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The Role

Purpose of the role

This role is for an operator and builder. Someone who thrives in the detail, brings structure to complexity, and genuinely enjoys creating operational excellence behind the scenes.

As we continue scaling globally, our People Operations function becomes increasingly critical to how effectively we support our team and grow the business. You’ll partner closely with senior leaders, Finance, Talent Acquisition, external providers, and team members across the company to ensure our people operations infrastructure runs smoothly, accurately, and humanely.

This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys ownership and accountability. You’ll lead the day-to-day operational engine of People Ops - from payroll and employee lifecycle management to global mobility, systems, compliance, and employee relations. You won’t just maintain processes; you’ll improve them, challenge them, and help us build scalable foundations for the future.

The right person for this role combines operational excellence with emotional intelligence. Someone who can spot inconsistencies in a payslip, navigate sensitive employee situations thoughtfully, and bring calm structure to fast-moving environments.

Team

People Operations is the engine behind our growth. We build the infrastructure that allows our business to scale without losing what makes it special.

We are not an administrative support function sitting on the sidelines. We are deeply embedded in the business - solving problems, improving systems, supporting leaders, and enabling people to do their best work.

As culture shapers and operational problem-solvers, we care deeply about both precision and people. We operate with urgency, ownership, and high standards while still keeping humanity at the centre of how we work.

Reporting directly to the Senior Director, you’ll play a key role in strengthening the operational backbone of the business - helping us scale globally while improving the employee experience at every stage of the journey.

Your top 3 objectives

• Deliver exceptional day-to-day People Operations across a growing international business
• Build scalable, reliable operational systems and processes that support continued growth
• Create clarity, structure, and trust across payroll, employee lifecycle operations, compliance, and employee relations

Your top 5 responsibilities

• Own day-to-day People Operations delivery Lead the operational running of the People Ops function including prioritisation, triage, service standards, quality control, and ensuring a high-quality employee experience across the full employee lifecycle.
• Manage global payroll and operational administration Coordinate and oversee payroll processes across multiple countries and providers (internal payroll, EORs/PEOs, accountants, and external vendors). Review payroll outputs and payslips carefully, identify discrepancies, ask the right questions, and ensure accuracy and compliance.
• Lead employee lifecycle operations Own onboarding, contract administration, benefits coordination, mobility support, offboarding, exit interviews, and operational employee experience processes across a globally distributed workforce.
• Act as a key operational stakeholder across the business Serve as a primary point of contact for external providers and internal teams including Finance, Talent Acquisition, EORs, immigration partners, insurers, and payroll/accounting providers. Support initiatives such as international expansion, new entity setup, and compensation alignment.
• Support employee relations and operational improvement Act as first-line owner for employee relations matters including intake, triage, documentation, and case coordination. Alongside this, continuously improve People Ops systems, workflows, templates, reporting, and operational processes to help the business scale effectively.

Your Capabilities

You are someone who enjoys bringing order to complexity. You’re highly organised, operationally strong, detail-oriented, and calm under pressure. You care about people, but you also care deeply about getting things right.

You are comfortable switching between strategic conversations and operational execution. One moment you may be reviewing compensation benchmarking or supporting a manager through an employee relations issue, and the next you may be checking payroll discrepancies or improving onboarding workflows.

You take ownership naturally, communicate clearly, and don’t wait to be told what needs fixing.

As a candidate, you should have:

• Strong hands-on People Operations experience across employee lifecycle administration, payroll, benefits, compliance, and HR operations
• Practical experience managing or coordinating multi-country payroll processes and external providers (EORs, payroll vendors, accountants, insurers, immigration partners, etc.)
• Strong understanding of UK employment operations, policies, compliance, and HR administration
• Experience handling employee relations processes with sound judgement, professionalism, and empathy
• Confidence reviewing operational data, payroll outputs, reports, and identifying inconsistencies or improvement opportunities
• Experience working in scaling or fast-moving organisations where processes are still evolving
• Strong stakeholder management skills with the ability to communicate clearly across teams and levels

Nice to Have (If you don’t have it now you will after joining):

• Experience supporting international expansion or entity setup projects
• Exposure to global mobility, visas, sponsorships, relocations, or EOR models
• Experience improving HR systems, workflows, reporting, or automation processes
• Experience working in consulting, construction, engineering, or project-based environments
• Strong analytical mindset with comfort using tools such as Excel, HRIS systems, reporting dashboards, or workflow platforms
• Experience partnering closely with Finance and Talent Acquisition teams

Laminar isn’t the place for you if any of the following is true:

• You want an easy, chilled-out role without much challenge

• You like to be the smartest person in the room

• You don’t like continuously receiving honest candid feedback

• You prefer to do your own thing rather than work with a team

At Laminar we value diverse experiences and perspectives, empowering each member to contribute their unique expertise towards our collective success, so if you don’t think you meet all the criteria but still are excited about this role we encourage you to apply anyways!

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Salary and Benefits

Standard Stuff

• Competitive salary dependent on location and capability

• Paid Annual + statutory Bank Holidays

• Health Insurance Scheme. Comprehensive private health coverage - for you and your family. Because your well-being is our priority

• Bonus Scheme. As a permanent member of the team, you’ll share in our success. Our annual bonus is designed to reward both the now and the future – with a flexible mix of cash and high-growth equity that you choose. Bonuses are discretionary and based on performance

• Professional body membership. One fee covered per year - so you can stay connected to your field and develop your craft

The Life-Changing Stuff

- In-house coaching: Regular 1:1 coaching sessions, fully confidential, to help you navigate challenges, build self-awareness, and grow intentionally – professionally and as a human being

- Flexibility: Getting things done is what really matters, not what time of day you do it. That means you don’t have to ask permission for things like picking up your kids or going to the doctor, just keep your team in the loop if you think they will be affected.

- Grow your whole self: Our leaders are more like coaches and one of our main objectives is to give 5 years’ worth of learning and development for every 1 year with us. You have a coach, mentor, well-being therapist and a development-orientated environment: That’s literally what our vision is all about and the primary reason Laminar exists.

- Be surrounded by the best: We only hire and retain the very best people. You might be used to being the smartest in the room but that won’t be the case in Laminar. You will be surrounded by people you can learn from. We are 100% meritocratic so fast progression is the norm. You will be supported to excel in whichever areas you are most interested in! With Laminar, development is unbounded

- Long-term impact: We are focused on solving the biggest issues in construction project delivery in a way that can spread and outlast us

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Application

We get thousands of applications so please write us a letter as part of your application explaining:

• Why do you want to join us?

• If you joined, where do you think you could make the most impact and how?

We aren't a giant faceless corporation; we really care about the people who want to join our team so all applications will be read thoroughly by our key leaders.

In terms of application, we usually start with an intro call to tell you what we are all about in a casual conversation. That helps you to know us a bit better and tell us a bit about yourself.