Head of People

light-incLondon, England, United Kingdom - Hybrid15h ago

In Office Director EMEA Software Management Consulting Head of People Chief of Staff Team Leadership Coaching Board Support Performance Management Performance Reviews

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Requirements

Proven experience in a People or Talent role in high-growth tech, ideally as Head of People or in another strategic People role. We're open to exceptional candidates from Chief of Staff, management consulting, strategy, or other business functions who want to build organizations through people.
Strong business acumen and first principles thinking - You're a company builder first. You understand context deeply, prioritize by ROI, and build People strategy that drives business outcomes rather than recycling playbooks.
High agency and bias for action - You can autonomously prioritize, execute, and deliver without hand-holding. You're outcome-oriented, data-minded, and know when to decide independently vs. escalate.
Proven ability to build and scale people systems - performance management, compensation, hiring operations, and onboarding. You've designed things from scratch or dramatically improved what existed.
Exceptional EQ and influence skills - You're a trusted advisor to leadership who coaches managers, builds coalitions, and drives change through buy-in.
Working knowledge of UK and European employment compliance - You manage real risks intelligently without letting compliance slow down velocity.
Highly pragmatic: you know when to add structure and when to keep it lean.
Experience working in multinational and distributed teams.
Background of scaling culture across geographies.
Experience organising company offsites or large-scale team events.
Built People functions from 0 to 1 in a startup.

Responsibilities

Lead the People team: Hire and lead a commercially minded, analytical People team with exceptional emotional intelligence.
Performance Reviews: Design and run a transparent, impactful process that helps high-performers thrive and keeps expectations clear.
Compensation Strategy: Build and execute a compensation strategy designed to help Light win: competitive, fair [and transparent]
Talent Strategy: Lead Talent Acquisition team (potential to grow) on an ambitious hiring plan to add ~60 people to the team across both departments and geographies (Europe and US) in the next 12 months. We’ve in the process of implementing Ashby.
People Operations: You'll build a scalable people processes including onboarding, employee support, and off-boarding, assisted by technology and with heart
Leadership Partnering: Support Light’s leadership team with org design, people development, and building best practices.
Culture and Starsite: you'll help shape our culture, holding up a mirror to our leadership team, and ensuring we keep what we need as we scale and evolve what must evolve.
Employment Compliance: Ensure Light operates compliantly across multiple jurisdictions, keeping contracts, policies, and practices consistent and fit-for-purpose as we scale (with external legal support). We’re a mix of FTEs, contractors and EORs.
Office management: Oversee our office operations across Copenhagen, London, and New York, ensuring smooth day-to-day functioning and creating spaces where our hybrid teams can thrive.
Company offsite ownership: Plan and execute company offsites and team events that strengthen culture and build connections across our global team.