Our client is building the future of AI for analysts and scientists, based on a fundamentally new approach to reasoning and knowledge representation. Their team of 40 exceptional researchers and engineers - distributed across 16 countries - are tackling some of the hardest problems in AI. They're in our R&D phase, founder-backed, and scaling rapidly toward commercialisation.
They are looking for a People Operations Specialist to join their Operations team. You will own the operational engine behind their team's growth and culture. This is not a traditional HR role; it is a logistics and process role. You will build and manage the infrastructure that allows our client to recruit top talent, execute complex quarterly retreats, and maintain rigorous internal documentation.
Location: Remote (working hours are 09:00-18:00 CET)
Team: People Ops (2 people total)
Requirements
What You'll Own
Recruitment Operations
- Manage the candidate pipeline to ensure a smooth flow throughout the process.
- Identify and address any irregularities or bottlenecks in the recruiting process immediately, and escalate for action.
- Manage relationships with recruitment agencies and oversee their onboarding processes and documentation.
- Keep all hiring team members updated, coordinated, and aligned on candidate status and next steps.
- Manage the configuration and maintenance of our Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and other recruiting tools.
- Develop and maintain up-to-date recruiting documentation, including job ads, candidate materials, and tooling guides.
Quarterly Team Retreats
- Research, source, and vet venues for team retreats, ensuring they meet requirements.
- Monitor and coordinate all travel booking processes, including flights, ground transportation, and arrivals for team members.
- Act as the on-site coordinator during retreats to ensure smooth execution of the event.
- Plan and oversee venue logistics, including menus, room allocation, workspace configuration, and technical equipment setup.
People Processes
- Coordinate onboarding of new team members; ensuring smooth communication and set up for their start.
- Manage the tooling and documentation of team-facing people processes, ensuring they are accessible and up-to-date.
- Track and approve absence requests to ensure accurate records.
- Process reimbursement requests efficiently and accurately.
Background & Experience
Essential
- 4+ years in Operations or Project Management roles.
- Experience in a high-performance, fast-paced environment.
- Proven track record managing complex logistics (international travel, events).
- Experience documenting and building processes from scratch, not just following them.
- Ability to write clear, concise documentation that leaves no room for ambiguity.
- Degree (Masters preferred); in a subject that required structured thinking.
Highly Valued
- Experience planning and executing international events.
- Experience working in a fully remote, distributed team.
Technical Skills
Must Have
- Deep knowledge of Google Workspace toolset
- Calendar resources, groups, drive permissions, and admin console settings.
- Comfortable with spreadsheet formulas and data organisation for budgets and logistics .
- Comfortable using Google Sheets for complex travel data, budget tracking, and data organisation.
- Experience with Notion, or similar documentation/project management tools.
- Experience managing recruiting pipelines in tools like Ashby, Greenhouse, or Lever.
Nice to have
- Experience with travel booking tools, such as Perk.
- Experience with Deel or similar HRIS platforms.
Operating Style
You thrive when:
✅ The bar for quality is extremely high.
✅ There is no room for logistical errors (travel, visas, bookings) .
✅ Processes need to be built from scratch.
✅ You are solving complex, tangible problems
✅ You are working with smart, demanding people who expect speed and accuracy.
You struggle when:
❌ "Good enough" is acceptable.
❌ Tasks are ambiguous and you prefer to wait for instructions rather than creating a plan.
❌ Documentation is missing or sloppy.
Operating Environment
Stakeholders
- People Ops Manager - Your partner in running a well oiled people operations machine.
- Founders (Co-CEOs) - Direct access for critical decisions.
- Finance team: A team of 3 collaborating on finance, legal, and admin topics.
- External providers: Recruitment agencies, Deel (HRIS) support team, travel agents, venue hosts.
Collaboration & Tooling
- Ashby (ATS) - Recruitment pipeline.
- Google Sheets - Complex logistics and budgeting.
- Quire/Google Docs/Sheets - Task management, knowledge base and process documentation.
- Perk - Flight and accommodation booking tools.
- Deel (HRIS) - Absence policies and tracking
Benefits
Why Our client?
Highlights
The Mission: They're not building another SaaS tool or ad-tech platform. They're working on fundamental problems in AI that could reshape how machines learn and reason. If that excites you, you'll fit right in.
The Team: Work with researchers and engineers who are highly passionate about their work and the problems we are solving. Our intellectual bar is exceptionally high - and that extends to people operations too.
The Stage: Pre-revenue R&D means you're building financial operations from scratch. No legacy mess to clean up. You'll establish the foundation that scales to Series A, Series B, and beyond.
Unique organisation: startup spirit with solid foundations
Startup spirit
- Collaborate with the best: Join a hand-picked team of intellectually curious people who are deeply passionate about their work.
- Make a real difference: Here, you aren't just a cog in a big machine; at eye-level with everyone else, your contributions directly impact the product and the team.
- Engineered for Exponential Scale: Our client is a deep-tech venture with a significant technological moat, aimed at solving fundamental, large-scale problems.
- Space to grow: As our client is starting to scale, there is plenty of opportunity to demonstrate leadership and take responsibility, developing organically into senior roles.
Solid foundations
- Securely funded: Fully funded by the founders, meaning our client operates without run-rate anxiety. Their ability to set our strategy is not driven by VC demands, but purely by the team’s understanding of what moves them fastest closer to our goal.
- Focus on Product, not fundraising: Financial stability allows our client to focus on long-term product potential, sustainable execution, and the strength of our team.
- Quality over chaos: Startups are often scrappy, but we have the stability to do things properly; our client has a high level of rigour and take the time to build things in a solid and reliable way from the start.
Team Retreats
- Our client is globally distributed but closely connected. Every three months, they bring the whole team together in nice locations across Europe.
- They spend one week together: planning, solving problems at the white board, having fun and bonding.
