Northeast Leicester (factory + head office) | Hybrid with regular on-site presence | Part or Full-time

Why does the role exist?

Cooke Optics is a world-renowned manufacturer of high-end cinema lenses, based in Leicester. With a heritage spanning over a century, Cooke lenses are used on major film and television productions across the globe.

Today, the business employs around 100 people across locations in Leicester, London, India, the USA and China. It is a highly skilled, close-knit environment with real pride in its craft and reputation.

Culture matters here. Kindness and empathy sit alongside a clear performance focus. They care about how people show up, not just what gets delivered.

This role exists to strengthen and modernise the people foundations of the business as Cooke continues its forward-looking journey. It’s a brilliant opportunity to build structure and consistency within an established, respected brand, and create the platform for what comes next.

What success looks like in the first 6 to 12 months

In the early months, success looks like getting the foundations right and making them easy for managers to use. Clear people processes. Clean structure and role clarity. Practical performance conversations with expectations that make sense. Confidence in compliance, documentation and core HR administration.

From there, you’ll build on that platform with a more consistent onboarding experience, regular engagement listening with follow-through, and clear company direction and goals that translate into day-to-day ways of working.

The experience required

You’ll be an experienced, hands-on HR Manager who enjoys being visible in the business and getting things moving. You’ll have strengthened HR foundations in a similar-sized organisation before and you’ll be comfortable working at pace.

The role is hybrid with flexibility, but it does need regular on-site presence. This isn’t a fully remote position. The core site is Northeast Leicester (factory and head office), so you’ll need to be within a commutable distance and happy being on site as part of the rhythm of the business.

You’ll also be confident line managing and developing a small team of 2 administrators.

Personality fit matters too. They’re looking for someone with a great attitude and strong values: joyful, optimistic, passionate, humble and curious. A clear communicator who keeps things simple, fair and consistent, and brings people with them.

What you will be doing week to week

You’ll lead and support the admin team, keeping the day-to-day running smoothly and building consistency across the basics. You’ll partner closely with leaders and managers across engineering and manufacturing, supporting performance and day-to-day people matters, and bringing clarity to roles, structure and expectations.

A big part of the role is creating simple tools and ways of working that make people management easier, reduce friction, and help the business move forward with confidence.

Who you will work closely with

You’ll work closely with the Senior Leadership Team and be a visible, trusted partner across the business, supporting managers day to day and helping shape stronger ways of working.

Salary band and the key parts of the package

Salary and package are being finalised and will be shared early in the process so expectations are clear.

Working pattern at Cooke typically follows compressed hours: 08:00–16:30 Monday to Thursday, with an early finish on Friday (08:00–13:00).

The application process

Please send your CV, plus a short note (bullet points is perfect) covering:

• Why Cooke, and why this role
• A couple of examples of where you’ve put strong HR foundations in place
• Your approach to working with leaders and line managing a small HR team
• What hybrid set-up works best for you (and what on-site rhythm you can commit to)

Any format is fine. The aim is to understand how you work and what you’ll bring, not just what’s on a job description.

Adjustments

Cooke Optics is committed to an inclusive process. If you need any adjustments at any stage, share what would help and we will support you.