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 internationallyThis 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 countriesWe’re currently opening entities in the UK and Canada, with Germany to follow, and expect to open several more countries next yearThis 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 enterOwn and scale Chainguard’s core employee lifecycle processes, including onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and updates for promotions and job changesLead the People Operations team, currently one manager with two direct reportsMake HR Operations more visible and accessible to employeesLead the operational work of opening new legal entities internationally, including the UK, Canada, and Germany, and additional countries planned for next yearOwn the ongoing maintenance of HR operations and compliance across all countries where Chainguard operatesPartner cross-functionally with Finance and Legal to navigate the compliance, payroll, and legal constraints of operating in each new countryManage and expand our partnership with our Employer of Record (EOR) provider, given our reliance on remote employees across roughly 19 countriesBuild scalable People Operations processes, templates, and resources as the function and company growBring strong AI fluency to the function, using AI to design smarter, more efficient People Operations processes and improve the employee experienceChainguard is in the middle of an ambitious international expansion, and our People Operations function needs to scale right alongside itThis 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 dayYou’ll have real ownership over how People Operations scales globally, with the opportunity to build and grow a team as the company continues to expandBenefitsEquity/stock optionsUnlimited PTORemote work with flexible coworking and team meetup opportunitiesHome office and internet stipend 100% health/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your familyQualificationsDirect experience opening new international entities and standing up HR compliance and operations in new countriesExperience standing up or scaling a people ops function in a high-growth SaaS or startup environmentProven 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 employeesStrong track record managing and developing a teamInternational 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 capacityBackground managing HR compliance operations — I-9s, leave administration, policy administration, auditsComfort 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 blockerExperience owning the full employee lifecycle: onboarding, offboarding, org changes, data integrity, and process designWe’re building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring Chainguardians with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences