HR & Workforce Manager - Athletic Ventures (Fixed Term Contract)

Athletic Ventures

UK Athletics (UKA), The Great Run Company (GRC) and London Marathon Events (LME) have formed a new joint venture: Athletic Ventures (AV), with the aim to transform the future and growth of athletics in the UK and oversee the delivery of major athletics events.

More specifically, Athletic Ventures will set the strategic direction, under which subsidiary OpCos (EACVLLP and DLVLLP) will deliver the 2026 European Athletics Championships in Birmingham (ECH2026) and the annual portfolio of the Novuna London Athletics Meeting, the Novuna UK Athletics Championships and the Novuna UK Athletics Indoor Championships.

ECH2026 is a championship of significant size, scale and complexity and will be one of the biggest international sporting events to be hosted in the UK in coming years.

Athletic Ventures are also now preparing to submit a bid for the World Athletic Championships 2029 to be hosted in London which presents an exciting opportunity to support in preparing a People strategy for the bid.

Athletic Ventures was announced in April 2024 and is the first venture of its kind in the UK. The LLP is relatively young and as such, the Company is operating in a highly pragmatic and dynamic way.

The Role

Estimated finish date:
31/10/2026

Time commitment:
5 days per week, Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm

The HR & Workforce Manager will play a pivotal role in supporting Athletic Ventures LLP by leading all HR and Workforce operations across multiple entities.

This role will manage the full lifecycle from attraction/recruitment to offboarding for Athletic Ventures LLP, Diamond League Ventures LLP, European Athletics Championships Ventures LLP and any Stakeholder Board(s). The workforce consists of Employees, Casual Staff and Volunteers and this role will be responsible for all workforce types. This will include close liaison with our third party volunteering and workforce partners.

This is a standalone role requiring a proactive, experienced HR professional who can operate independently while collaborating across a complex stakeholder landscape.

The 2026 European Athletic Championships are being held in Birmingham and as such, the role will require travel to Birmingham and other relevant sites. For the full month of August 2026 when the Championships are taking place, you will be required to be based in Birmingham full-time. You will also be required to work irregular hours, including weekends, as required by the event schedule.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end recruitment and onboarding process for all directly employed roles across AVLLP and its subsidiaries
• Manage secondment processes into EACVLLP and DLVLLP, including coordination with parent organisations (LME/UKA/GRC)
• Oversee recruitment and onboarding of all casual staff supporting any of the entities including ensuring contractual (inc. IR35) and right to work compliance
• Liaise with the Volunteer programme provider to ensure alignment with workforce planning and DEI commitments
• Own the full lifecycle for all workforce types: attraction, recruitment, onboarding, employee relations and offboarding
• Partner with internal stakeholder to plan resource volumes, including requirements for uniform and substance.
• Assist with any HR-related governance/compliance documentation required by UK Sport to support the funding of EACVLLP
• Regularly report into the Project Lead, COO and Championship Director and update on variances in schedule that may impact the project
• Log all tasks relevant to the project in the assigned project management system (currently Zoho) and regularly update progress with comments/detail
• Work in partnership with Accreditation to ensure all staff are vetted and accredited (including DBS and driving licence checks)
• Provide monthly reports to the Head of Finance to ensure accuracy within the staffing budget
• Advise on employment types and ensure compliance with relevant employment legislation
• Act as the primary HR contact for all entities involved with the joint venture, including holding regular update/consultation meetings with the HR Directors for parent organisations (LME/UKA/GRC)
• Coordinate and support Board-level recruitment across all entities
• Maintain accurate HR records and ensure GDPR compliance
• Draft HR policies and processes as required to set up AVLLP and its entities for success
• Support the bidding process for the World Athletics Championships 2029 by developing resourcing plans, benchmarking roles etc
• Provide regular updates to the COO and Championship Director on workforce metrics and risks

Required Skills

• Timely and successful recruitment across all employment types
• Compliance with employment law and internal policies
• Positive feedback from stakeholders and volunteers

Required Experience

Essential

• Proven experience in a standalone HR role at manager level, ideally in a project-based or event environment
• Strong understanding of employment types, contracts and secondment arrangements
• Experience managing casual staff
• Experience recruiting volunteers and / or working with volunteer programmes
• Ability to work across multiple entities and manage complex stakeholder relationships

Desired

• Experience working on international sports events, ideally in coordination with a governing body or LOC
• Familiarity with workforce planning tools and HR systems