VP, People

VP People

Plasmidsaurus is on a mission to accelerate new cures and promote a healthier planet by unlocking a new level of productivity for scientists. Our sequencing services are used daily by thousands of innovators, including Nobel laureates, Fortune 100 pharma, and over 70,000 scientists.

The VP People at Plasmidsaurus will help lead a rapidly growing, category-defining life sciences company with exceptional product-market fit, real and significant growth opportunities. You will shape the people strategy behind innovative technology that allows researchers around the world to move faster on some of society's most important scientific challenges.

Reporting to the CEO and partnering directly with an ambitious founding team and company leadership, you will architect the organizational structure, develop the leadership bench, and build the people systems required to power a rapidly growing startup as we expand internationally, launch new products, enter new markets, and deepen strategic partnerships.

Great candidates will bring not just HR leadership, but also strong business judgment and strategic thinking. They will contribute meaningfully to discussions that extend beyond traditional People topics. The strongest candidates will be as comfortable debating organizational strategy, growth plans, and business tradeoffs as they are leading people function.

Build the leadership, organizational, and management foundations that enable Plasmidsaurus to scale globally while remaining fast, accountable, and operationally excellent.

As we grow in complexity, geography, and headcount, the VP, People will ensure our leadership capability, organizational effectiveness, workforce governance, and global people infrastructure evolve to support the company's ambitions.

Partner with the CEO and leadership team on organizational design, leadership development, succession planning, and workforce strategy.

Develop managers and leaders across the company and help raise the overall quality of leadership.

Serve as a trusted advisor on organizational, leadership, management, and workforce-related decisions.

Own and develop the People function, including HR business partnership, people operations, employee relations, compensation and benefits, performance management, compliance, and workforce planning.

Partner closely with our Talent team to ensure hiring, onboarding, leadership development, performance management, workforce planning, and retention strategies work together to strengthen the organization over time.

Build the systems, processes, tools, and operating mechanisms required to support a rapidly growing and increasingly complex business.

Build and lead a high-performing People team that scales alongside the business.

Lead the evolution of Plasmidsaurus's global workforce strategy, including international hiring, employment practices, compensation, mobility, immigration, workforce planning, and distributed team support.

Evaluate and recommend the systems, partners, and organizational investments required to support continued international expansion and company growth.

Ensure the company maintains strong employment, compliance, and workforce governance practices across all jurisdictions in which we operate.

Oversee employee relations, investigations, policy development, and people-related risk management while balancing business needs, employee experience, and legal obligations.

Partner effectively with external legal, immigration, and compliance experts to ensure the company scales responsibly.

The team knows you. You've built key relationships and credibility across the leadership and management teams. You've leaned into conversations, projects, and relationships with curiosity and a learner's mindset.

You know us. You've assessed our current management practices, performance processes, organizational structures, and people programs—formal or informal—and understand what's working and what needs attention before it slows us down.

You understand where we are headed. You've developed a clear view of what's required for us to continue to grow, and you've identified the most important organizational, leadership, compliance, governance, and scaling challenges facing the business.

You've got a plan. We have an informed, organized view into where we are strong, where we are stretched, and where future growth could create challenges. You've aligned leadership around a practical roadmap for addressing them.

You've had some quick wins. We're already benefiting from your judgment and experience, and you've helped improve a handful of important processes, decisions, or leadership discussions.

We're raising the bar. Expectations around performance, promotions, compensation, and talent development are clearer, more consistent, and better understood across the company.

Managers are looking to you. They have clearer expectations, better support, and greater confidence in their ability to lead growing teams. They increasingly see the People team as a resource for solving problems, developing talent, and improving team performance.

Leaders trust your judgment. You've become a trusted thought partner to the leadership team and are regularly pulled into important organizational, leadership, and business decisions. You've helped us avoid mistakes, accelerate important decisions, and prioritize the investments that will have the greatest impact on the business.

We have a path forward that supports global growth. International hiring, employment, compensation, and global workforce management are intentional, consistent, and scalable strategies as we continue to expand.

We understand risk. Leadership has a clear view of our most important people, compliance, and employment challenges, we can evaluate options and consider outcomes, and we can put plans in place to address issues before they become bigger business problems.

The People function is stronger. Core HR processes, employee relations, compliance programs, and people operations are accessible, well organized, and scalable. Leaders and employees can get the support they need without navigating unnecessary complexity.

We're getting ahead of problems. We have better visibility into leadership, organizational, hiring, compliance, and global workforce challenges before they become distractions or obstacles to growth.

We have stronger leaders. Managers are more effective, leadership quality has improved across the company, and we have greater confidence in our ability to develop future leaders from within.

We've added structure without adding bureaucracy. Leaders have the systems, tools, and support they need to efficiently make good decisions, build strong teams, and execute effectively as the business grows.

We're operating globally with confidence. Our international workforce, employment practices, and people operations support continued expansion without creating unnecessary complexity or risk.

The People team helps the business move faster. Leaders rely on our people programs, processes, and guidance because they help solve problems and improve decision-making rather than creating additional work.

Our people infrastructure has kept pace with our global growth. Compensation, benefits, performance management, employee relations, compliance, and people operations support the business we are becoming, not just the company we used to be.

We're managing risk before it becomes a problem. Leadership has confidence in our compliance practices, workforce governance, and employee management processes, and people-related issues are addressed early and effectively.

We are pressure tested at scale. Our people practices withstand the demands of global employees, sophisticated customers, and strategic partners, and the inspections of auditors, investors and external stakeholders.

We're ready for what's next. The company has grown, become more sophisticated, and taken on greater complexity without sacrificing speed, accountability, or execution.

You believe a great People strategy will empower Plasmidsaurus build a stronger company, better serve our customers, and execute on increasingly ambitious goals. You also recognize that the decisions we make as a company have a profound impact on our people, their careers, growth, and lives. You take that responsibility seriously and strive to build an environment where the business thrives because our people do.

You think from first principles.

You bring pattern recognition and experience from previous companies, but you don't blindly import playbooks. You're willing to challenge conventional wisdom, including your own, in pursuit of a better answer. You are genuinely curious about our industry and what makes this business so special, and you default to fully understanding the problem before deciding on a solution.

You have a point of view.

You ask smart questions, but you also bring expertise, judgment, and recommendations. You are comfortable making decisions with imperfect information and can clearly articulate what you would do, why, and the tradeoffs involved. When you take a stand it's because the topic matters, and while you can be influenced by strong logic, evidence, and new information, you don't wait for consensus before forming an opinion.

You thrive in ambiguity.

You don't need a perfectly defined problem before making progress. You can quickly identify what matters most, cut through noise and competing priorities, and help teams move forward even when the path isn't obvious. You bring structure to ambiguity and momentum to situations that might otherwise stall.

You meet people where they are.

You hold a high bar and are willing to make difficult talent decisions when needed, but your first instinct is to invest in people. You see your role as ensuring our people and teams have the right support, expectations, and opportunities to thrive. You are committed to helping the team improve and pragmatic enough to know when change is required.

You build, not just advise.