Head of People

[Company name], a German SMB in [sector] based in [city], [X] employees, is looking for a Head of People to lead the HR function with full ownership and to strategically accompany the executive committee through the next growth and transformation phase.

Mission

As Head of People you lead the company's HR function with full responsibility across all sub-functions: recruiting, comp and ben, learning and development, labor law and compliance, co-determination, culture and engagement. You lead an HR team of [3 to 15] people, sit on the executive committee and report directly to the [managing directors].

Key responsibilities

• Strategic steering of the HR function: defining and implementing an HR strategy over 18 to 36 months, aligned with business strategy, with clear focus areas and an indicator system.
• Leading the HR team: building and developing an HR team of [X] people, a clear functional architecture, coaching and developing the direct reports, difficult personnel decisions made with maturity.
• Responsibility for recruiting and talent acquisition at all seniority levels, with a particular focus on strategic key positions (executive committee, senior management).
• Architecture and steering of the compensation function: job architecture, salary bands, market benchmarks, the performance-and-pay link, preparation and implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
• Advising the managing directors and the executive committee on legally and ethically sensitive matters: separations at senior level, restructuring, crisis management, co-determination conflicts.
• [Where applicable] Steering the co-determination relationship with the works council (or group works council): hearing procedures, works agreements, social-plan negotiation, conciliation-board management.
• [Where applicable] Steering the tariff topics: applying the sector collective agreement, preparing collective-bargaining negotiations, possibly a company-level collective agreement.
• Building and maintaining the culture practice: diagnosis, selection mechanisms (hire, promote, fire), performance practice, engagement steering with measurable indicators.
• Steering the HR cockpit to the executive committee and, where applicable, the supervisory board: monthly operational indicators, quarterly strategic depth, annual talent review and succession planning.

Profile

• Required: 8 to 15 years of experience in HR, of which at least 3 in an HR leadership role with full functional ownership and team leadership. A degree in HR, business administration with an HR focus, law or comparable. Operational mastery of German labor law (KSchG, BetrVG, AGG, TzBfG, basics of TVG) at senior level. Experience in at least two comparable structures (size, sector, growth stage). Documented contributions at C-level (restructuring, scaling, transformation, M&A integration depending on the mission).
• Desired: experience in [a comparable sector]; experience with [tariff binding, where applicable]; experience in co-determination matters from works-council level upward; comp-and-ben architecture experience; international experience; association visibility (BPM, DGFP, a sector association).
• Disqualifying: no full-ownership leadership of an HR function; no documented experience with co-determination in structures with a works council (for a tariff-bound company with a works council); a profile with no experience in structures of comparable size and complexity; backchannel references with serious reservations about firmness or integrity.

What we offer

• Gross annual compensation: fixed [95,000-165,000] € depending on profile and experience. [Where applicable] a bonus of 10 to 25 percent of the fixed salary, tied to company and HR indicators. [Where applicable at a tech scale-up] an equity component.
• Position: member of the executive committee, a direct reporting line to the managing directors, responsibility for an HR team of [X] people.
• Model: [full-time, hybrid 2-3 days / week on-site, based in city X].
• Benefits: [company pension, a vehicle or mobility budget, professional-development budget, coaching budget, sabbatical policy, vacation, home-office policy].
• Association membership: [coverage of the membership fees for BPM, DGFP, a sector-specific association].