Head of People

About the Company

Equal1 is a fast-growing quantum computing company operating across Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, the US, and Canada. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on HR leader to take ownership of the HR function and help us scale a world-leading, high-growth deep tech company.

Responsibilities

• Develop and improve scalable HR foundations, including core processes, templates, and policies across multiple jurisdictions.
• Ensure HR compliance fundamentals are robust, including right-to-work, GDPR, and employee relations.
• Lead the evolution of compensation foundations, including salary bands, benchmarking, and annual review cycles.
• Establish people metrics to support leadership decision-making.
• Partner with managers as a trusted advisor, providing coaching on feedback and documentation.
• Implement a lightweight performance and development framework.
• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding.
• Manage recruitment processes and partner with Finance on headcount planning and hiring budgets.
• Coordinate HR operations, payroll, benefits, and vendor management across five jurisdictions.

Requirements

• 5+ years of progressive HR or People Operations experience, ideally in a scaling tech or R&D environment.
• Experience with Irish employment legislation and HR compliance.
• Demonstrated experience managing HR across multiple countries/jurisdictions.
• Strong working knowledge of employment contracts and compliance fundamentals.
• Experience partnering with Finance on budgets and headcount planning.
• Excellent communication skills and high discretion with confidential information.
• Highly organized and comfortable operating with ambiguity.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience building HR processes from early stage to repeatable and scalable.
• Experience supporting recruiting operations and vendor management.
• Experience working across the Netherlands, Romania, the US, or Canada.