Senior Payroll Specialist

Sona

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.

Sona

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 under 5 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 $100M in funding from notable VC’s, including our Series B led by N47 alongside Felicis, Northzone, and Gradient Ventures (Google). 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. About the Role Are you ready to kickstart your career in sales and make a real impact in the world of tech? Joining Sona as a Business Development Representative means being part of an early-stage, high performing team in a business solving a real problem with a must-have product and a huge growth ceiling. This role offers dedicated mentorship from top-performing AEs and a clear growth path, perfect for someone who thrives on ownership and building best practices from the ground up in an innovate and high-growth business. Responsibilities  * Identify and engage with prospects in the Social Care or Hospitality vertical. * Partner with our marketing and sales teams to create compelling outreach strategies. * Making outbound calls to strategic contacts (Directors / C-Suite). * Running discovery calls. * Experiment to determine the right messaging and content for prospective customers across all funnel stages. * Arrange meetings with customers and Account Executives. * Collaborate closely with seasoned professionals who are invested in your growth and success. * Be the face of Sona. Attend relevant events and trade shows to meet current and future customers in-person. This is not just another BDR role; it’s a chance to be part of something meaningful, with a team that values your potential and is ready to support your career development every step of the way.   Requirements * You have at least 6-12 months of experience in a sales development role at a tech or software company. * You have ambition, resilience, and a genuine passion for career growth. * You have a curiosity to learn and adapt in a dynamic, fast-paced environment. * You're comfortable picking up the phone to senior people (C-Suite, Directors etc). * You're obsessed with finding new ways of delivering business growth; you're motivated by hitting targets and capable of self-directing. * You're interested in sales psychology and communication. You're always testing and trying new things to figure out what messaging converts a prospect into a meeting Benefits * Salary: £40k - £47k + 50% OTE bonus * Hybrid - Monday, Wednesday & Thursday in the London office  (Soho) * 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 * Annual all expenses paid team retreats * The latest Macbook and equipment budget for your home office * Professional development budget * Unlimited free books

Sona

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 under 5 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 $100M in funding from notable VC's, including our Series B led by N47 alongside Felicis, Northzone, and Gradient Ventures (Google). 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. About the Role Sona's Customer Success function is being built from the ground up. We have £4.4M of ARR transitioning from Implementation to Customer Success in the coming months, our first year of renewals at scale, and meaningful seat expansion across the base and we need CSMs who can shape what good looks like, not operate inside a playbook someone else wrote. You'll own a book of around 20-24 enterprise accounts across Social Care and Hospitality, partnering with Support, Product, and Sales to own the post-live customer experience end to end. You'll run the QBR cadence, track realised value continuously, and walk into renewal conversations with the case already made. You'll hold senior customer relationships at Director level and above, navigate difficult product feedback conversations with diplomacy, and progress seat upsells as customers grow. This is a high-autonomy role joining a function still being shaped. Some of the accounts you'll inherit are in difficult places. The Head of Customer Success is being hired in parallel, so the first few months will run with less day-to-day coaching than is typical. You'll need to be comfortable building alongside us driving outcomes in ambiguity, holding rooms independently, and shipping the V1 of how Customer Success works at Sona. We're a high-performance team. Everyone holds an important seat and is expected to perform at an elite level. We have each other's backs, we assume good intent, and we have zero space for internal politics. If that's your default, you'll thrive here. Responsibilities  * Own a book of around 20-24 enterprise accounts across Social Care and Hospitality, holding the full post-live customer experience * Build and maintain senior customer relationships at Director level and above (Operations, Finance, HR), acting as the senior escalation point before issues route to the Head of Customer Success * Run the QBR cadence, track realised value continuously, and own renewals end-to-end, making renewals a non-event by the time the conversation happens * Drive proactive value work: account audits, surfacing unused functionality, translating product usage into business outcomes * Identify and progress seat upsells as customers grow; flag broader expansion opportunities to AEs * Manage ongoing customer-side projects (integrations, significant configuration changes) * Hold difficult product feedback conversations with diplomacy. Clear reasoning when something isn't on the roadmap, without damaging the relationship * Bring rigour to communication and organisation across your book: meeting notes, follow-ups, status visibility. Customers should always know where they stand * Shape Customer Success V1. Actively contribute to QBR cadence, health scoring, and escalation framework rather than just operating within them   Requirements You'll need as many of the below: * Owned a book of enterprise SaaS accounts (CSM, Solutions Architect, Pre-Sales, Implementation Consultant, or PM background) * Held senior customer relationships independently at Director level or above * Operationally responsible for the customer health that drives renewal outcomes * Confident in complex SaaS products. Can demo, discuss configuration trade-offs, and translate capability into business value * Operated in a scaleup with V1, evolving process. Comfortable shipping in ambiguity * High AI proficiency. Uses AI tools daily to drive customer success outcomes (QBR prep, account research, drafting comms, analysis). * Commercial fluency around NRR and value realisation. * Investment mindset. Treats each account as an asset to grow over years, continuing to build trust between asks rather than only when something is needed * EQ and authentic disagreement. Can build genuine rapport, read a room, adapt style, and hold the line when needed without damaging the relationship * Speed, discipline, curiosity, relentless follow-through   Benefits * Salary: £55,000 - £75,000 * 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 * 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.