Head of People/Head of HR/Director in Hull

We are partnering with a high-growth, Series B SaaS and data business that is entering an important new phase of international scale following a significant funding round. The company provides proprietary data and analytics to a sophisticated global client base and has built a strong reputation in its market already. Following recent Series B investment, the business is now looking to appoint its first senior Head of People to build a best-in-class People function capable of supporting the next stage of growth.

The company has approximately 100 employees across the UK, US, Europe, Middle East, India and the Philippines, with a predominantly remote workforce. This is a highly visible leadership role for someone who enjoys building rather than inheriting. The Head of People will take ownership of the People strategy and establish the infrastructure, processes and operating rhythm required to support a growing international organisation.

Working closely with the C-suite, you will have significant autonomy to shape the function, organizational structure and influence wider business decisions. This is a scaleup, the expectation is that the successful individual will remain hands-on while developing the longer-term People strategy. This is not a role centred around maintaining established HR processes. It is an opportunity to build them.

• Build the People strategy: Partner with the executive leadership team to create and deliver a long-term roadmap aligned to the commercial ambitions of the business.
• Build the foundations: Develop scalable and consistent processes across onboarding, probation, policies, employee lifecycle management, job architecture and performance, ensuring consistency across multiple international locations without introducing unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Performance, reward and career development: Own the performance review cycle and establish clear career pathways, job levelling and progression frameworks. Build salary bands and compensation structures using external market data and work closely with Finance and senior leadership on annual pay reviews, benchmarking and reward strategy.
• Develop management capability: Raise the standard and consistency of management across the organisation. Introduce practical management training, support first-time managers and establish clear expectations around leadership, performance and people management.
• Employee relations and people risk: Take ownership of employee relations across multiple jurisdictions, using external legal or specialist advice where appropriate. Identify emerging organisational and people risks early and bring pragmatic solutions to leadership.
• Manage recruitment: Manage the external agencies and internal recruitment to develop hiring strategies aligned to business priorities. Ensure recruitment decisions are driven by organisational need, capability and long-term workforce planning rather than simply filling vacancies.
• Own the employee lifecycle: You will own the overall employee lifecycle, including contracts, right-to-work requirements, visas, international mobility and relocation. Work closely with Finance to ensure accurate and timely payroll inputs and maintain strong standards of HR governance.
• HRIS development: Own and develop the HRIS so it becomes a genuine source of truth for the organisation. Build meaningful People metrics and use data proactively to inform decisions around retention, organisational health, compensation, hiring and workforce planning.
• Culture protection: Protect and strengthen an already positive culture as the company continues to scale internationally. Create mechanisms to understand employee engagement and organisational health, particularly across a largely remote workforce, and provide clear insight to the executive team.

We are looking for an experienced People leader who is comfortable combining strategic thinking with hands-on delivery, with experience across HR, People or Talent, including experience operating as the most senior People leader within an organization ideally in an early stage business. Experience building or significantly developing an HR / People function within a fast-growing technology, SaaS or similarly dynamic business is highly desired.

Demonstrable experience creating salary banding, levelling and compensation frameworks from scratch. Experience benchmarking compensation against external market data and presenting recommendations to senior leadership or a board. Strong experience designing and running performance management and development frameworks, including calibration and career progression. Hands-on experience owning and improving an HRIS and using People data to support commercial decision-making. Strong commercial judgement and the ability to work effectively alongside Finance and senior leadership. Confidence operating in a fast-moving environment where priorities evolve quickly and not every process has already been defined. The ability to balance strategic People leadership with the practical realities of building a function.

This is an unusual opportunity to join a well-funded Series B technology business at the point where the People function becomes strategically critical. The company already has a strong culture and highly engaged workforce, but the systems and infrastructure now need to catch up with the scale and ambition of the organisation. You will have genuine executive sponsorship, significant autonomy and the opportunity to build the People function in your own image rather than inherit a highly established model.