Why This Job is Featured on The SaaS Jobs
In the SaaS landscape, People Partner roles become especially consequential once a product-led company moves beyond early hiring into repeatable operating rhythms. This position sits inside an AI-native workforce management platform serving large frontline organisations, where software adoption and operational change tend to be tightly linked. At roughly 150 people and with a globally distributed footprint, the People function is positioned as an enabling layer for scale rather than a back-office service.
For a SaaS career, the role offers exposure to the practical mechanics of building people infrastructure that can keep pace with headcount growth and international expansion. The remit blends business partnering with hands-on delivery, covering performance cycles, employee relations, and the design of core frameworks such as learning and development. That combination develops transferable capability for later-stage SaaS environments where process maturity, systems thinking, and stakeholder management are central to execution.
This role is best suited to a seasoned People generalist who prefers operating close to leadership decisions while still owning implementation detail. It will appeal to professionals comfortable making judgement calls, navigating shifting priorities, and improving incomplete processes. It also fits someone interested in how People operations can be made more scalable through documentation and AI-first workflows in modern SaaS organisations.
The section above is editorial commentary from The SaaS Jobs, provided to help SaaS professionals understand the role in a broader industry context.
Job Description
3 billion people across the world work in frontline jobs. Yet, despite rising costs and staff shortages, frontline organisations are still left to choose between paper, Excel, and WhatsApp, or decade-old workforce management solutions to take care of the most important part of their businesses - their people.
Enter Sona: the next generation of AI-native, frontline workforce management. We've built an end-to-end platform covering Scheduling, HR, Payroll, and Communications that gives the largest frontline organisations everything they need to staff more intelligently and empower their teams.
In 4 years, we've already made a deep impact on the lives of over 100k frontline workers and the operation of their organisations, grown the team to 140+, and secured over $50M in funding from notable VC's, including Felicis, Northzone, Gradient Ventures (Google), SpeedInvest, Antler, and Notion Capital, plus notable angels like Tom Blomfield (Monzo).
It's a hugely exciting time to be joining the team as we're still small enough that you'll have a significant impact on the company's growth trajectory and culture, yet large enough to have a great structure, experienced leaders and world-class benefits in place. More on working at Sona here.
About the Role
We're hiring a Senior People Partner to own the day-to-day of our People function as Sona scales through its next phase of growth. Reporting to the Chief of Staff & VP of People (single person, dual role!), this is a role for someone who wants to do excellent business partnering and execution work: from partnering with senior leaders on the people decisions that matter through to building and improving the processes that help a 150+ person, globally distributed team do their best work.
Day to day, that means being the go-to partner for managers navigating performance conversations, probation, and difficult people decisions. It also means driving forward projects like performance management, learning and development, and the systems that support a high-performance culture, executing the strategy while the VP of People holds the overall direction.
This isn't a role where you'll inherit a fully formed function and keep it running. Much of what you'll be responsible for needs to be built from scratch or improved. If you're energised by that kind of ambiguity, and comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities shift and the org evolves quickly, this will be a great fit. For the right person who comes in and excels, there's a clear path to Head of People.
Responsibilities
Own the day-to-day of the People function, acting as a key business partner across the business
Partner with managers and leaders on performance management, probation, employee relations, and people decisions
Drive People projects - including performance management frameworks, L&D, and culture initiatives - from design through to delivery
Help ensure our operational processes are documented, AI-first and scalable
Work closely with the VP of People to execute the People strategy as Sona scales past 150 headcount and into new international markets
Requirements
You're a People generalist who's comfortable spanning business partnering, ops, and project delivery
You've worked in a startup or scaleup environment (ideally post-Series A) and are used to building things from scratch, not just running established processes
You bring a commercial mindset - you understand business strategy and organisational priorities, and you frame People decisions in terms of what's right for the business
You've personally handled performance management, probation, and difficult people situations - not just designed policy around them
You're self-sufficient - you can manage senior stakeholders, navigate ambiguity, and make judgment calls without constant input
You communicate clearly and directly, adapting your style across different audiences and levels of seniority
Bonus: experience scaling a People function through 150-300+ headcount, international employment experience, or exposure to building performance management or L&D frameworks from scratch
Benefits
Salary: £80k - £95k
Hybrid working: 3 days per week in the London office
Share options
35 days annual leave (25 days standard plus 10 flexible public holiday days)
Extra day of leave for every year of service
Pension contributions matched up to 5%
Comprehensive health insurance
Enhanced parental leave & pay
Salary sacrifice childcare scheme (Workplace Nursery)
Annual all expenses paid team retreats
The latest Macbook and equipment budget for your home office
Professional development budget
Unlimited free books
Note: this represents a typical benefits package for a UK-based, full-time employee. Exact details may vary based on location and employment type but we try to be as fair as possible to all of our team members. Please ask your contact in the Talent team to clarify the available benefits for you.
