Nova Biochem - Business and HR Administrator

Sagana GmbH; Nottingham; Hybrid; GBP 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

Nova Biochem is seeking an organised HR & Office Manager to professionalise people operations, support the Founder/CEO, and establish reliable processes across onboarding, payroll, and HR administration. You will coordinate work across office management, HR tasks, and payroll operations with the HR advisor and Accountant.

The role requires initiative, sound judgement and the ability to implement scalable administrative systems in a growing startup environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in business administration or operations coordination.
• Ability to manage confidential information with discretion.
• Strong written and verbal communication and document preparation.

Responsibilities

• Provide CEO support including calendar, inbox, and meeting coordination.
• Oversee HR administration including onboarding, contracts, and records.
• Coordinate payroll inputs and liaise with external accountants or payroll providers.

Skills

Business administration

Operational coordination

Communication

Discretion

Digital skills

Adaptability

Tools

Xero

Job description

Working Hours: Full time / Flexible options

Salary: To be negotiated, based on experience

Location: Nottingham, UK

About Nova Biochem

Nova Biochem is a climate-tech company pioneering the transformation of industrial by-products into high-value, sustainable chemicals. Using our proprietary hydrothermal depolymerisation process, we convert lignin-rich residues from pulping and agriculture into renewable aromatic building blocks used in coatings, plastics, and resins - replacing fossil inputs and cutting emissions at the source.

Our mission is to unlock a circular, low-carbon model for industrial chemistry - creating new value from waste while reducing millions of tonnes of CO₂ emissions. Based in Nottingham, we’re entering a scale-up phase, expanding lab in the UK and pilot operations in Sweden while accelerating towards firs of a kind factory.

This is a pivotal moment to join a small, mission-driven team determined to reshape the chemical industry through practical innovation.

The Role

We are seeking an HR & Business Administrator to professionalise the people operation, take the day-to-day operational and administrative load off the Founder/CEO, and establish structure, clarity, and reliability across our growing organisation. Acting as a central coordinator, you will ensure incoming requests are efficiently routed, deadlines are tracked, and essential business support processes run seamlessly.

This role bridges office management, HR administration, payroll coordination, and executive support. You will oversee general workplace logistics, manage personnel processes, streamline onboarding, and handle routine payroll operations in liaison with our HR advisor and Accountant.

This role suits an experienced administrator who takes initiative, uses sound judgement and follows work through without constant prompting. You should be comfortable learning how the business operates, identifying what needs attention and improving the way administrative work is done.

Key Responsibilities

CEO Support and Action Tracking

• Provide confidential support to the CEO, helping manage priorities, meetings and correspondence, with inbox and calendar support where delegated.
• Maintain a clear record of agreed actions, owners and deadlines; follow up progress and flag delays or decisions requiring the CEO’s attention.
• Research and summarise information, draft routine correspondence and prepare clear documents, spreadsheets and presentations to support the CEO’s work.
• Coordinate management and board meetings, including agendas, meeting papers, notes and follow-up actions, and arrange CEO travel and business visits.

HR Administration & Onboarding

• Prepare and issue standard employment documentation, including offer letters, employment contracts, right-to-work checks, probation and annual reviews.
• Maintain accurate, up-to-date and secure employee records and files in strict confidence.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding processes, ensuring seamless induction schedules, access checklists, and exit administration.
• Support recruitment coordination by posting vacancies, screening candidates, scheduling interviews, communicating with candidates, and managing agency relationships.
• Administer employee benefits administration, including pensions, health insurance and policy renewals.

Payroll Coordination & Operations

• Collect, validate, and track monthly payroll changes and updates to ensure accurate, timely processing.
• Liaise directly with external accountants and payroll providers to submit payroll data, handle Benefits-in-Kind (BIK), and resolve HMRC queries.
• Support the internal transition and ongoing management of payroll operations to maintain quality and compliance.

Values

At Nova Biochem, our mission, culture, and individual behaviours are fundamental to our success, guiding how we innovate, collaborate, and scale sustainably.

• Ownership: Take initiative and deliver with excellence. We act like owners, follow through on commitments, and take pride in outcomes.
• Learning: Mistakes are lessons; growth is continuous. We take smart risks, learn fast, and never repeat the same mistake twice.
• Integrity: Honesty and accountability in everything we do. We tell the truth, admit when we’re wrong, and make decisions guided by principle.
• Transparency: Openness builds trust and alignment. We share information freely - from quarterly results to daily challenges.
• Collaboration: Together we achieve more. We ask for help, always offer solutions, and rally around shared goals.
• Balance: Work hard, live well. We push for excellence while respecting time to rest, recharge, and thrive outside work.

Who You Are

You are a practical, highly organised administrative professional with exceptional follow-through, discretion, and sound judgement. You enjoy bringing order to fast-moving start-up environments and take initiative to resolve operational issues before they eclipse.

You communicate with clarity, firmness, and tact, feeling comfortable holding colleagues accountable for actions while maintaining a collaborative working relationship. You respect confidentiality, understand the value of protecting executive capacity, and take pride in building scalable administrative systems that support team growth.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Strong experience in business administration, operational coordination or a comparable role involving support to managers and work acoss several business functions.
• A track record of taking ownership, prioritising competing demands and completing work independently with reliable follow-through.
• Strong written and verbal communication, including preparing clear correspondence and documents and dealing professionally with external contacts.
• Excellent organisational skills, attention to detail and practical problem-solving ability, with confidence tracking actions and deadlines.
• Discretion, integrity and sound judgement when handling sensitive business, personnel and financial information.
• Strong digital skills, including spreadsheets, document preparation, shared drives, task trackers and modern business software.
• A motivated, adaptable approach and willingness to learn new systems, including appropriate use of AI tools and simple automation to improve productivity.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Previous HR administration experience or exposure to routine HR tasks in another role, such as recruitment, onboarding, employee records or review coordination.
• Experience working directly with a founder, CEO or senior leadership team.
• Experience in a growing start-up, clean-tech, scientific or manufacturing business.
• Experience coordinating payroll inputs, finance administration or working with external accountants; familiarity with accounting platforms such as Xero.
• Experience supporting board administration or funding reports. A relevant business administration or HR qualification, including CIPD, would be welcome.

Why Join Us?

At Nova Biochem, you’ll join a small, mission-driven team translating breakthrough science into real-world impact. As our HR & Office Manager, your work will directly enable our operational scale-up, protecting founder time and fostering a structured, supportive culture as our team expands.

You’ll have ownership, visibility, and the opportunity to build administrative frameworks that last, all within an environment that values integrity, curiosity, and balance. If you are driven by purpose, thrive on organisation, and want to see your contribution make a tangible difference, we’d love to hear from you.