HR Director

Purpose of the roleThe HR Director reports to the CEO and leads the people function at executive level. The role exists to build the HR infrastructure, leadership team, and operating model required to support a workforce of 1,000+ on a growth trajectory, and to act as the CEO's thought partner on all matters relating to people.Strategic ResponsibilitiesThe HR Director will build the HR function from the leadership team down, personally recruiting and selecting the Recruitment Lead, the L&D Lead, and the Compensation & Benefits Lead. They will design internal departmental incentives tied to key performance targets and will be expected to achieve stable HR operations across recruitment and the attrition of key positions.At the level of organization design and workforce planning, the HR Director will lead the design of the company's job architecture, headcount model, levelling framework, and career pathways across all functions, securing executive sign-off on cross-functional parity. They will build and ratify the compensation bands and pay philosophy with the executive committee, and partner with the CFO and the rest of the executive team to build the multi-year workforce plan, model headcount scenarios against revenue, and own the people line of the P&L.Underpinning all, the HR Director will set measurable hiring, retention, and progression targets, and will define and report the people metrics that matter to the CEO: regrettable attrition, internal mobility, time-to-fill for leadership roles, engagement, and manager effectiveness. They are expected to deliver strong ROI from the company's investment in human resources, and to build and defend the business case for HR infrastructure investment (HRIS, compensation tooling, L&D platform).Daily operationsOn a day-to-day basis, the HR Director will hold weekly one-to-ones with each of their direct reports and will spend time walking operational floors to gather feedback directly from employees. They will think alongside the CEO on people matters, which includes the CEO's own dynamics, hiring decisions, and personal performance. They will deliver difficult performance feedback, holding standards, and managing underperformance, with their staff members when those individuals hit performance dips, confidence issues, or capability gaps that put the function at risk.The HR Director will personally deliver role-elimination and senior-departure conversations, in person, and will make termination decisions on HR team members who do not meet the standard, including those they personally hired, without delay. They will draft, review, or sponsor internal communications on the sensitive people topics, including restructures, compensation changes, return-to-office policies, departures of senior leaders, and layoffs, before those communications go out. When senior leaders come into conflict with one another, the HR Director will mediate, including running formal facilitation when teams are visibly affected. They will personally lead workplace investigations into serious misconduct, conducting witness interviews, reviewing evidence, and producing written findings. Externally, they will manage the company's relationships with executive search firms, compensation consultants, employment counsel, and any union or works council counterparties.Requirements10+ years in Human Resources5+ years as a Human Resource Director/Manager in a company with a headcount of 1,000 or moreProven record of building teams, systems, incentives and structures at least once in the past in a 1,000 or more companyHas to have built recruitment process, compensation structure, organizational plan, and learning and development programFinally the company has to still be operating and on a growing trajectory.