HR & Office Administrator — Flexible, Impactful Operations Lead

Nova Biochem; Nottingham; On-site; GBP 30,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Nova Biochem, a climate-tech startup based in Nottingham, seeks an HR & Office Administrator to professionalise people operations and reduce founder workload. You will oversee HR admin, onboarding, payroll coordination, and executive support, ensuring structured processes and reliable administration across the growing team.

You will bridge office management, HR practices and payroll operations, working with an advisor and accountant to ensure compliance and accuracy while maintaining

Qualifications

• Experience in business administration or executive support roles.
• Proven ownership and ability to manage competing priorities.
• Strong written and verbal communication with external contacts.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Discretion and integrity handling sensitive information.
• Strong digital skills including spreadsheets and document prep.
• Willingness to learn new systems including AI tools.

Responsibilities

• Provide confidential support to the CEO, helping manage priorities, meetings and correspondence; calendar and inbox management as delegated.
• Maintain action trackers with owners, deadlines and progress updates; escalate delays.
• Prepare routine documents, spreadsheets and presentations to support executive work.
• Coordinate onboarding, HR admin, payroll coordination and liaison with HR advisor and accountant.
• Administer payroll changes and liaise with accountants to submit payroll data and resolve queries.
• Support recruitment coordination and management of agency relationships; maintain employee records.

Skills

Business admin

Ownership

Communication

Organization

Discretion

Digital skills

AI tools

Tools

Xero

Job description

Nova Biochem, a climate-tech startup based in Nottingham, seeks an HR & Office Administrator to professionalise people operations and reduce founder workload. You will oversee HR admin, onboarding, payroll coordination, and executive support, ensuring structured processes and reliable administration across the growing team.

You will bridge office management, HR practices and payroll operations, working with an advisor and accountant to ensure compliance and accuracy while maintaining