Head of People, North America

Head Of People, North America

Do you thrive on building people functions from the ground up, love partnering directly with leadership to shape culture and talent strategy, and get energized by fast-paced, scaling environments? Join Artefact, a global data and AI consulting firm helping organizations turn data into business impact. With 2,000+ employees across 34 offices worldwide, we partner with world-class clients such as Samsung, L'Oréal, and LVMH to accelerate digital transformation through data and AI.

Founded in Paris, Artefact has grown from a small team into a global organization — and our people strategy has had to scale right alongside it. As we enter our next phase of growth in the US and Canada, we're looking for an HR/People leader ready to build the systems, culture, and talent foundation that will support that growth.

As Head Of People, North America, you will own and shape the people strategy across the US and Canada. Reporting directly to senior leadership, you'll serve as the primary People leader for the region, partnering closely with business leaders to translate business goals into scalable people strategies while remaining actively involved in day-to-day execution across the full employee lifecycle.

Supporting a rapidly scaling business of 50+ employees across the US and Canada, you'll balance strategic partnership with hands-on ownership across talent acquisition, project staffing and workforce planning, employee relations, performance management, compensation, benefits, immigration and global mobility, compliance, and HR operations. You'll also partner cross-regionally with the local HR team supporting our LATAM and India-based Delivery Centers and provide day-to-day leadership to an HR Coordinator.

This role requires the ability to seamlessly shift between executive partnership, strategic planning, and day-to-day execution as you build scalable people practices that enable business growth. It is high-impact and high-autonomy, requiring strong judgment, ownership, and the ability to operate across competing priorities in a lean, fast-paced consulting environment.

What You'll Own

Talent Acquisition & Workforce Allocation

• Own end-to-end talent acquisition and hiring strategy across North America, spanning campus through experienced hiring to build scalable talent pipelines aligned to business growth.
• Lead and continuously optimize full-cycle recruiting across the US and Canada, partnering with hiring managers to execute hiring plans, manage pipelines, and close candidates.
• Lead workforce allocation and project staffing strategy, balancing client delivery with employee growth by aligning project assignments to business needs, development goals, and long-term capability building while using staffing insights to inform hiring and workforce planning decisions.
• Serve as an active partner in the hiring and performance management for our LATAM and India-based Delivery Center teams, working alongside their local HR teams / Office heads to ensure alignment.
• Partner with Chapter Leads (Data Consulting, Data Science, Engineering, and Analytics) to align hiring, staffing, performance, and capability development with evolving business and practice needs.
• Act as a trusted advisor to leadership on hiring decisions, workforce priorities, and organizational capability.
• Continuously improve recruiting operations through data, process optimization, automation, and scalable hiring practices that enhance efficiency and candidate experience.

People Strategy & Organizational Effectiveness

• Identify opportunities to improve how we hire, develop, engage, and support our people, proactively introducing new ideas, technologies, and practices that increase business impact and employee experience.
• Partner with senior leadership to develop and execute the North American People strategy in alignment with business objectives and growth priorities.
• Partner cross-functionally with Finance, Operations, and Marketing to align workforce planning, organizational priorities, employer branding, and internal communications with business objectives.
• Lead organizational design, workforce planning, and headcount strategy, ensuring the right talent is in place to support delivery and long-term growth.
• Own the North American People budget, partnering with Finance on workforce forecasting, compensation planning, and People investments.
• Leverage workforce data and business insights to identify organizational opportunities, inform executive decision-making, and drive continuous improvement.
• Lead strategic People initiatives that support organizational growth, operational excellence, and evolving business priorities.

Employee Relations, Policy & Compliance

• Serve as the primary HR advisor to employees and managers, providing direct, hands-on support with sound judgment and discretion
• Independently manage employee relations matters including investigations, performance issues, and conflict resolution
• Define and continuously evolve HR policies and the employee handbook across the US and Canada
• Ensure consistent application of policies while balancing compliance, culture, and business needs
• Mitigate risk across multi-jurisdictional employment environments, including US and Canadian regulations

Learning, Development & Onboarding

• Design and lead a scalable onboarding strategy that supports a seamless employee experience from pre-boarding through the first 90 days.
• Create learning experiences that build both today's capabilities and tomorrow's consulting leaders.
• Own the North American learning and development strategy, partnering with leaders to identify capability gaps and deliver programs aligned with business priorities.
• Maximize the impact of existing learning platforms and development programs while introducing new learning opportunities that strengthen technical, professional, and leadership capabilities.
• Collaborate with Chapter Leads to identify role-specific competency development, career pathways, and internal mobility opportunities.
• Measure program effectiveness and continuously improve onboarding and learning experiences through data and employee feedback.

Employee Experience & Engagement

• Partner with leadership to design and deliver engagement initiatives that strengthen connection, performance, and culture across the workforce
• Collaborate cross-functionally to deliver employee communications, engagement initiatives, and cultural programs that reinforce company values and strengthen the employee experience.

Immigration & Mobility

• Guide employees, candidates, and hiring managers through work authorization, visa, and mobility processes, providing a seamless and informed experience throughout the employee lifecycle.
• Manage end-to-end immigration and work authorization processes across the US and Canada, partnering with immigration counsel to prepare, submit, track, and maintain compliance for visa and work permit applications.

Performance Management

• Lead the execution and continuous improvement of performance management programs and review cycles across North America, partnering with global stakeholders to ensure alignment and consistency.
• Coach managers on feedback, performance concerns, development conversations, and performance improvement.
• Drive a performance culture that is both rigorous and human.

Compensation & Benefits

• Lead annual compensation planning and review cycles, partnering with Finance and leadership to ensure competitive, equitable, and financially sustainable compensation decisions.
• Benchmark roles and advise leadership on compensation strategy and market trends.
• Own benefits strategy, administration, vendor management, and annual open enrollment.

People Operations

• Lead the day-to-day People Operations function through the HR Coordinator, ensuring scalable, compliant, and high-quality HR service delivery across North America.
• Leverage HR systems, data, and insights to inform hiring, workforce planning, performance, compliance, and organizational decision-making.

What We're Looking For

Must-Haves

• 8–10 years of progressive HR experience, ideally in a high-growth technology, consulting, or professional services environment.
• Curious, commercially minded, and solutions-oriented, with a track record of proactively identifying opportunities, challenging the status quo, and turning ideas into practical, scalable solutions.
• Strong generalist background with end-to-end ownership across talent acquisition, workforce planning, employee relations, compliance, compensation, benefits, immigration, and People Operations.
• Experience operating in a lean or standalone HR environment with a high degree of autonomy and ownership.
• Experience supporting both US and Canadian employment practices, including Quebec-specific requirements.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and navigating change with agility, balancing strategic thinking with hands-on execution while influencing stakeholders across all levels of the organization.
• Strong communicator with the ability to influence senior leaders, build trusted partnerships, and drive meaningful business and people outcomes.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience in AI, data, consulting, or other professional services environments.
• Exposure to immigration and global mobility programs.
• SHRM-SCP, SHRM-CP, CHRP, or equivalent HR certification.
• Experience leading, coaching,