Why you should join our team

Imagine stepping into a dynamic role where you'll play a crucial part in executing our People strategy at a hyper-growth, globally-minded organization that's disrupting industries with cutting-edge AI and innovation. You'll be empowered with the autonomy and trust to own key responsibilities within our People Operations function, contributing to a team renowned for being high-performing, deeply empathetic, and exceptionally productive by leveraging AI. This is your chance to make a tangible impact and contribute to the growth and well-being of our most valuable asset: our people.

Mission

Reporting to the Director of HR, you will empower our global team members and advance organizational goals by executing and modernizing HR practices. You'll be at the forefront of leveraging AI to streamline your daily work, ensuring impeccable data accuracy, fostering inclusive and culturally attuned communication, and proactively tackling challenges to cultivate an environment where everyone thrives. You'll be a vital resource as the first point of contact for all HR-related matters, playing a crucial role in orchestrating HR operations for our global team. We are a 220-person global company in 30+ countries and 20+ US states. We have 60+ employees based in the USA today. The majority of our workforce is in Europe. We are quickly growing. Last year we hired 100 people. This year we are planning on hiring 50+ globally.

To thrive in this global role, fluency in English at a C2 level or higher is essential. Must be located in: Portugal or Serbia, with a high preference to be based in Lisbon, Portugal or Belgrade, Serbia. Only candidates based in Portugal or Serbia will be considered. Relocation is not offered. Must be willing to start later, around 10am or 11am, and work in the evening so that there is more overlap with US hours.

Outcomes

• Be the Go-To Resource for Employee Inquiries: Serve as the first point of contact for our team members' questions regarding authorization, payroll, expenses, benefits, and general employment matters, providing timely and helpful support.
• Support a Positive and Productive Workplace: Conduct thorough and impartial employee investigations, proactively address and resolve employee relations issues, and facilitate productive conflict resolution through mediation and effective communication.
• Support the Talent Review cycles: Play a key role in the successful launch of our Talent Reviews in the Spring and Fall by assisting with training coordination and contributing to the development of resources that empower managers and employees.
• Build an AI-first Employee Experience, starting with Onboarding: Create an employee experience that wows our new hires, starting from the AI-first onboarding experience. You'll map out the employee journey, creating an experience that reflects the engaged, fast-moving, results-oriented AI-native culture of Smartcat that has continuously earned us Best Places to Work. This is your opportunity to put your stamp on processes and build out the dream experience that delights our new hires and global team.
• Contribute to AI-Powered People Operations: Actively participate in identifying and implementing innovative AI solutions to boost our team's productivity, helping to reduce manual tasks and improve the employee experience.

How you’ll ramp

By Day 30: Building Your Foundation

• Become Proficient with Our People Tools: Immerse yourself in our suite of HR technologies, including Google Workspace (Sheets, Slides, Docs), AI Agents, HiBob, Gusto, Metaview, Notion, Miro, Slack, Pave.com, and Remote.com. You’ll gain a solid understanding of how these platforms support our People Operations.
• Understand Our Global HR Operations: Familiarize yourself with our core global People Operations processes, such as onboarding, offboarding, benefits administration, and the basics of performance management and talent reviews across our US, UK, Armenia, and CIS-based teams, as well as our contractors and independent entrepreneurs.
• Start Providing Initial Support: Begin serving as the first point of contact for common employee inquiries related to authorization, payroll, expenses, and general employment, learning our internal procedures for providing accurate and timely assistance.
• Build Key Relationships: Start establishing connections with internal team members across different departments and begin to understand the needs of our diverse workforce.

Day 60: Contributing to Key Processes

• Assist with Employee Relations Matters: Begin to learn our procedures for addressing employee relations issues, participating in initial fact-finding for investigations, and supporting the team in fostering a positive workplace.
• Support the Talent Review: Actively assist with the preparations for our Fall Talent Review, including helping with training logistics, distributing materials, and answering employee questions related to the process.
• Map the onboarding experience and journey: Create a new hire map that accounts for each step and coordinates across all teams and locations so that we can create meaningful moments that delight our new hires and current team members.
• Explore AI Opportunities: Start to identify potential areas where AI could streamline our People Operations tasks and improve efficiency, sharing your initial ideas with the team.

Day 90: Taking Ownership and Expanding Your Impact

• Manage Day-to-Day Employee Inquiries: Confidently handle a wide range of employee questions related to authorization, payroll, expenses, benefits, and general employment, ensuring a positive and efficient experience for our team members.
• Support Employee Relations Resolution: Take on more responsibility in assisting with employee investigations, documenting findings, and contributing to the resolution of employee relations issues.
• Actively Participate in Talent Review Support: Play a more significant role in supporting the Talent Review cycle, assisting with data analysis and feedback collection.
• Map the onboarding experience and journey: Take ownership of onboarding tasks, identifying key areas for us to create moments of delight.
• Contribute to AI Implementation: Actively participate in the implementation of identified AI solutions, helping to test and refine new processes to enhance our team's productivity.

What you’ve accomplished

• You have a track record of success working within a data-driven people operations function that encompasses benefits, employee relations, performance management, talent development, onboarding, off-boarding, and learning and development
• You are eager to share your experience and insights making data-driven decisions to inform people operations processes and policies and using data to tell stories. You know how to report on the data using pivot tables, vlookups and xlookups.
• You understand how to balance multiple competing priorities while keeping a structure and organization in place which allows you to execute productively with nothing slipping.
• You’re a trusted HR resource that people love working with! You’re a savvy and wise business partner. You understand the art of having difficult conversations, coaching managers, and how to bring out the best in your business partners.