People Operations Lead

In this role you will lead the People Operations and Payroll team to scale HR services across Europe, ensuring a seamless employee experience and compliant payroll. You will partner with the People Leadership team to strengthen the operational backbone and drive process improvements in HRIS and payroll. You will work hands-on with your team to resolve complex cases, especially during cross-border cycles, while setting direction and fostering autonomy. This is a mission-driven opportunity to support a fast-growing EV network with a people-first approach.

• training and development budget (3000 per year)
• daily vegetarian meals and snacks
• shared electric pool cars
• 29 holidays + 2 Mission Days
• pension plan fully covered
• stock option plan with value creation intentivity? to be clarified in job ad

• Govern end-to-end employee lifecycle governance across EU markets to deliver a seamless experience
• Ensure HR processes are compliant, scalable, and consistent across new countries
• Optimize HRIS architecture (HiBob) for data integrity, reporting, and compliance
• Drive continuous improvement to reduce manual work and increase efficiency
• Support multi-country payroll, collaborating with external providers to ensure accuracy and timeliness
• Lead automation initiatives to advance payroll processes from good to cutting-edge
• Act as escalation point for complex payroll, regulatory, system integration, and cross-border issues
• Coach and develop the People Ops team, fostering autonomy and psychological safety
• Collaborate with People Leadership, Talent Acquisition, and HRBP to align on strategy and delivery
• Provide hands-on leadership during peak cycles, leading by example when deadlines are tight

• 8 years in People Ops and Payroll, with at least 5 years in people leadership
• Proven experience scaling multi-country HR operations and payroll in a fast-paced environment
• Strong knowledge of Dutch labor law; familiarity with other European jurisdictions a plus
• Hands-on experience with scalable HRIS/Payroll platforms (HiBob or similar) and Lattice preferred
• Experience managing external payroll providers and ensuring cross-border compliance
• Fluent in English; Dutch is a plus; additional European languages welcome
• Customer-centric, detail-oriented mindset with strong problem-solving skills

• leadership with a hands-on, supportive style
• ability to unblock complex issues and unblock teams
• trust and empowerment of team members
• HiBob (HRIS)
• Lattice
• multi-country payroll management