Director of People & Talent

Fully Remote (UK based) | Competitive Salary + Bonus + Gifted Equity | B Corp Certified

TrustedHousesitters is a fast growing, direct-to-consumer marketplace that is redefining pet care and travel. Here at TrustedHousesitters, we’re on a mission to make travel work better for pets, for their people, and for the global community of animal lovers who look after them. We’ve got big plans on becoming the world’s most-loved travel solution for pet people. We’ve built something pretty special: a trusted place where pet owners and sitters connect to keep pets happy at home while their humans explore the world. We’ve already grown into a global community with members in over 140 countries, a product people genuinely love, and a team of more than 100 brilliant humans powering it all. But we’re only just getting started. Our goal? To grow to 1 million members and make TrustedHousesitters the world’s most-loved travel solution for pet people.

At the moment, a sit starts every two minutes somewhere on the planet. We want that to be every single minute and we know the only way we’ll get there is with the right people in the right roles. The right people in the right roles will shape our future. So, here’s the big question: Could that be you?

About the Role

We are looking for a Director of People & Talent to serve as a strategic and operational partner to our COO and wider C-suite, while elevating our People & Talent function. This is a pivotal leadership role for someone who knows how to build high-performing remote teams at scale, protecting what makes us distinctive, actively shaping our culture as we grow, and embedding the capability and rigour that positions us for future exit readiness.

What You'll Own

• Strategy & Organisation Design: Drive the people strategy that enables business growth - defining how talent, capability, and organisational design connect to commercial goals, and ensuring the right frameworks exist to support the business at every stage of scale. Guide the Senior People Partner and Senior People Operations Partner in shaping OKRs and initiatives that are ambitious, aligned, and directly tied to business outcomes. Prepare the organisation for the next phase of ownership, including readiness for exit processes and due diligence. Ensure a clear, compelling Employer Value Proposition continues to be embedded and communicated internally and externally.
• Culture & Performance: Partner with SLT and strategic stakeholders to embed a high-performance, feedback-rich culture in a fully remote setting. Act as culture custodian, protecting what makes us distinctive while intentionally shaping how it evolves as we scale from 150 to 300+ people. Supported by Senior People Partner, coach leaders at all levels to live the company values and model high-performance behaviours. Supported by Head of ESG and Exec, balance member value, B-corp commitments and commercial performance in a PE-backed, purpose-led environment.
• AI-Enabled Talent Strategy: Partner with our AI-subject matter experts in assessing current-state capabilities, identify future-state skill needs, and create development roadmaps that upskill and prepare our people for what’s next. Stay ahead of industry trends in AI talent strategies and workforce design, bringing outside-in perspective on how leading tech companies are enabling their people to do their best work with AI.
• HR Technology & People Analytics: Ensure all people decisions are insight-led, anchored in metrics and cost/benefit analysis. Drive continuous improvement of People & Talent tech infrastructure to support a scaling organisation. Supported by the Senior People Operations Manager, maintain rigour around people data, reporting and insight to enable sound decision-making and visibility of progress.
• People & Talent Team Leadership: Lead and amplify the impact of the People & Talent team, working closely with the Senior People Partner, Senior People Operations Manager and Talent team to align all functional initiatives to business strategy, providing inspiration and stability, while giving them the direction to deliver against agreed plans. Build team capability and readiness to support the organisation as it scales. Act as mentor for Senior People Partner and Senior People Operations Manager, guiding their development.

About You

Experience: Demonstrated success building a purpose-led, high-performance culture in a remote-first environment. Proven track record of building or scaling a People Function through high growth, ideally from 150 to 300+ person organisation. Experience coaching and developing leaders across all levels of seniority. A natural collaborator who draws out the best in others, regardless of seniority - someone who values a good idea over where it came from. Background in a PE-backed business, with a clear understanding of how to balance purpose and profit. Experience leading or supporting an exit process, M&A transaction, or similar due diligence activity.

Skills & Capabilities:

• Strategic Operator: Connects people levers directly to revenue, margin and risk, translating business priorities into actionable people programmes.
• Purpose Led: Leads with a clear and compelling 'why'; connects organisational mission to everyday work, ensuring people feel the meaning behind what they do and are motivated by more than metrics alone.
• Builder: Designs simple, scalable programmes and delivers them on time; comfortable with ambiguity and complexity in equal measure.
• Data-Driven: Anchors decisions in metrics and evidence; uses people analytics to tell a clear story and influence stakeholders.
• Change Leader: A clear, calm communicator who earns trust quickly in ambiguous environments and brings others along on the journey.
• Culture Ambassador: Deeply people-oriented; knows how to align genuine kindness with the demands of high performance.
• Coach: Naturally guides individuals and teams towards their optimal performance - listening first, challenging with care. Collaborative in nature and open to new ideas.

Reporting & Scope

You will report into the COO and work as a genuine strategic partner at the leadership table. You will directly oversee:

• People Operations & Experience
• People Partnering
• Talent Acquisition

You will collaborate closely with the Senior People Partner, Senior People Operations Manager, Talent team leads and Operations team to ensure people and talent initiatives are tightly aligned to business strategy and delivered with excellence.

In addition to a competitive salary and bonus, we offer a range of benefits, including:

• Each year, you’ll get a Premium TrustedHousesitters Combined membership which includes benefits like free airport lounge passes, Sit Cancellation Plan and Home and Contents Plan, plus five Premium memberships to gift to friends and family.
• Our team can work remotely from as many house sits as they like, and we contribute up to £500 per year towards travel costs to and from sits.
• Find a rescue pet to join your family and we’ll cover the adoption fees, as well as “pawternity” to help your pet settle into their new home.
• SimplyHealth healthcare cash plan.
• Bupa Health Insurance and Dental Insurance plan.
• Specsavers eyecare scheme.
• Weekly virtual yoga sessions.
• Optional enrollment onto our Trusted Giving scheme, which includes employee giving via Charities Trust and 2 days paid annual volunteering allowance.
• Work fully remotely from anywhere in the world - as long as you follow compliance as a UK tax resident.
• Get £200 to spend on home office equipment each year + Macbook and Apple accessories when you start.
• Access to Spaces co-working locations across the globe.
• We host an all-expenses-paid meetup each quarter and fund team events (remote or in-person) throughout the year.
• We cover the costs of personal development resources and have regular time set aside for learning and growth.
• Depending on your role within the business, you’ll have the option to customise your work hours to better align with your personal schedule.
• 25 days off per year, plus bank holidays and festive closure between Christmas and New Year (36 days + Christmas Day for some roles).
• Competitive salary which is reviewed twice a year.
• Generous equity package.
• Discretionary 10% quarterly bonus scheme, distributed quarterly.
• Pension scheme: 5% from you as an employee and 3% from TrustedHousesitters.
• £500 recruitment referral bonus.

If you're ready to join us on our mission to become the most loved pet travel solution, we'd love to hear from you!

At the heart of our team are a mix of diverse backgrounds. Here at TrustedHousesitters, we’re committed to the equal opportunities policy throughout the interview process and selection. Offers of employment into TrustedHousesitters are based solely on individual merit, qualifications, and the person's professional suitability.

Gender identity, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, colour, race, nationality, ethnic or national origins, religion or beliefs, age, mental or physical disability, medical condition, pregnancy or maternity status, or any other protected characteristics do not enter into our decision-making process.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.