Director of People Operations

Responsibilities

• The role, in a nutshell: We’re looking for a Director of People Operations to help scale our HR operations function as Chainguard grows and expands internationally
• This role will lead our People Operations team, and will own the core employee lifecycle processes — onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and job changes — as well as our expansion into new countries
• We’re currently opening entities in the UK and Canada, with Germany to follow, and expect to open several more countries next year
• This role will be central to that effort, working cross-functionally with Finance and Legal to figure out how we operate compliantly, and how we pay and support people, in every country we enter
• Own and scale Chainguard’s core employee lifecycle processes, including onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and updates for promotions and job changes
• Lead the People Operations team, currently one manager with two direct reports
• Make HR Operations more visible and accessible to employees
• Lead the operational work of opening new legal entities internationally, including the UK, Canada, and Germany, and additional countries planned for next year
• Own the ongoing maintenance of HR operations and compliance across all countries where Chainguard operates
• Partner cross-functionally with Finance and Legal to navigate the compliance, payroll, and legal constraints of operating in each new country
• Manage and expand our partnership with our Employer of Record (EOR) provider, given our reliance on remote employees across roughly 19 countries
• Build scalable People Operations processes, templates, and resources as the function and company grow
• Bring strong AI fluency to the function, using AI to design smarter, more efficient People Operations processes and improve the employee experience
• Chainguard is in the middle of an ambitious international expansion, and our People Operations function needs to scale right alongside it
• This role will be central to that work building the processes and infrastructure to support employees well, in every country we operate in, while also making HR Operations a more helpful, visible partner to the business day to day
• You’ll have real ownership over how People Operations scales globally, with the opportunity to build and grow a team as the company continues to expand

Benefits

• Equity/stock options
• Unlimited PTO
• Remote work with flexible coworking and team meetup opportunities
• Home office and internet stipend
• 100% health/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your family

Qualifications

• Direct experience opening new international entities and standing up HR compliance and operations in new countries
• Experience standing up or scaling a people ops function in a high-growth SaaS or startup environment
• Proven ownership of HRIS strategy — has led an implementation, migration, or major optimization (Workday, Rippling, ADP, or similar)
• Experience partnering with or managing an Employer of Record (EOR) for international employees
• Strong track record managing and developing a team
• International experience required, particularly across EMEA; experience in Japan, Singapore, or South America is a strong plus
• 8-10+ years in HR/People Operations, including 3+ years in a leadership/management capacity
• Background managing HR compliance operations — I-9s, leave administration, policy administration, audits
• Comfort operating with some ambiguity and building process where it doesn’t yet exist
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented approach — this role needs to be a “yes, how can I help” partner to the business, not a bottleneck or blocker
• Experience owning the full employee lifecycle: onboarding, offboarding, org changes, data integrity, and process design

We’re building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring Chainguardians with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences