Head of People Operations

Over deze functie

WHO WE ARE 🌍

Creating content that resonates is great — turning that attention into growth is even better. That's what Manychat does.

Our AI-powered automations help creators and brands engage with audiences across Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and TikTok — at the right moment, with the right message, minus the manual work.

We're 400+ people across three continents behind the leading platform for conversational growth, with AI skills shaping how we build, how we work, and how we grow.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR 🌟

We are looking for a Head of People Operations to build and run a distributed hub model that delivers an excellent people experience — in every location, every day.

Your job is not to design the system from scratch. It's to own the execution of it across six hubs: hold the standard, make local teams genuinely strong, and build the kind of autonomy where hub partners decide and act without waiting.

This is not a classic HR Operations leadership role. What distinguishes it:

• You lead distributed hub teams that own the full employee lifecycle on the ground — not a central function serving locations from a distance

• You build autonomy, not dependency — hub teams should know what winning looks like and act on it

• You partner directly with the individual domain leads across the function — Workplace & Experience, Payroll, Compliance, People Tech, Rewards. Not their manager, but a peer who depends on their expertise to run the hubs well

• AI is core infrastructure, not a pilot — you default to automation for everything repeatable in the function

You thrive in ambiguity, move fast, and think in systems. You have the operational depth to manage complex multi-country employment realities, and the leadership to develop hub teams that genuinely own their work.

WHAT YOU'LL DO 🚀

Lead the Hub Model

• Own People Operations across all hubs: Netherlands, Spain, Armenia, US (Austin, Bay Area, New York), Brazil, Remote

• Each hub team covers the full employee lifecycle in location — pre-boarding, onboarding, changes, exits — with local office and facilities support, and local events and team-building

• Set the standard for what excellent hub execution looks like, and hold it across all locations

• Run the weekly sync rhythm with each hub — align priorities, surface blockers, keep quality consistent

• Build the hub community: connect People Ops partners across locations to share practice and raise the floor

Own Outcomes, Not Process

• Hub teams should decide and act — your job is to remove blockers, not add approval layers

• Own the OKR cascade: every hub has OKRs that roll up through the function; you're accountable for making that cascade real, not formal

• Define what success looks like in each location — local service standards, local processes, local roadmap

Partner with Domain Leads

Clear interfaces are the model, not the exception:

• Workplace & Experience — deploy global programs and standards locally; coordinate on facilities, office improvements, and events beyond the local scope

• Payroll — ensure multi-country payroll accuracy and surface local issues early

• People Tech — maintain HRIS data quality and drive system adoption across hubs

• Compliance — support policy adoption, manager training, and exit case handling in every location

• Rewards — run compensation reviews and benefits implementation per country

Challenge feasibility, propose alternatives, execute agreed decisions.

Build the Team

• Manage People Operations Partners across locations: NL, ES, AM, BR, US, Remote

• You're standing up the hub model while running it — build the team while it's operating

• Drive team development: upgrade skills, address underperformance, enable people with AI tools

• Build hub teams that operate autonomously — no daily hand-holding required

Manage the Operational Realities

• Visa and relocation support coordination across locations

• Local compliance and employment framework adherence, in partnership with Compliance

• Office and facilities baseline across hub locations — in coordination with Workplace & Experience on standards

Build AI-Native Operations

• Default to automation for employee queries, document generation, onboarding workflows, and operational logistics

• Build self-service so people don't need to contact us for anything a good system can answer

• Treat AI adoption within the function as infrastructure and a performance metric

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE 🎯

• Hub teams operating autonomously across all locations — you're steering, not executing day-to-day

• Every hub has OKRs, knows what winning looks like, and can tell if they hit it

• Employee lifecycle is consistent and increasingly automated across all locations

• Cross-functional interfaces with Payroll, Tech, Compliance, W&E are clean and frictionless

• Knowledge base live and current in a single source of truth

• AI and automation handle the majority of repeatable operational tasks inside the function

• Every hub partner owns their roadmap — not just their to-do list

TO SHINE IN THIS ROLE 💥

Experience & Background

• 10+ years in People Operations, HR Operations, or Operations leadership in multinational environments

• Direct experience managing distributed teams across multiple countries and employment frameworks

• Proven record building distributed operating models — not just inheriting and running existing ones

• Experience standing up new processes and functions in fast-changing environments

• Strong change management experience — organizational transitions handled with operational rigor and human care

• Experience in fast-scaling tech environments — SaaS and start-up / scale-up required

Skills & Mindset

• Systems thinker: you see how processes connect, where the friction is, and what the fix is

• AI-native operating instinct: you treat every new process as a question of which system or agent should own it

• Comfortable with ambiguity: non-linear situations with…