Kota

Head of People

Kota

full-time

Posted on:

Location Type: Hybrid

Location: London • United Kingdom

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Job Level

Lead

About the role

  • Set the People strategy. Define and execute a People strategy aligned with our growth trajectory, culture, and position in the HR industry.
  • Hold the talent bar. Build the strategy and infrastructure that supports our hiring plans to ensure our hiring standards stay high as we scale.
  • Design performance systems. Create scalable frameworks for performance reviews, career progression, and compensation that work for a high-autonomy, high-output team.
  • Shape culture. Foster a values-driven environment where people do their best work and want to stay.
  • Develop team. Coach managers on feedback, performance, and team health. Build programs that strengthen capability across the company.
  • Advise the exec team. Serve as a trusted partner on org design, leadership development, compensation philosophy, and people risk.
  • Build People ops. Stand up and refine our core people operations from processes to systems to enable the organisation to be the most effective and effective while we scale.
  • Own workplace experience. Oversee physical spaces that inspire Kota's teams to do their best work, while simultaneously ensuring that our ways of working motivate those working remotely.
  • Represent Kota externally. Speak at events, join panels, and contribute to the broader conversation about the future of benefits and HR.
  • Advise customers. Serve as a strategic partner to the People and HR leaders who use Kota, helping them think through benefits strategy and workforce trends.
  • Influence product. Collaborate with Product and Engineering to ensure we're building solutions that solve real problems for HR teams.
  • Build community. Grow a network of forward-thinking HR leaders around our platform—people who are passionate about doing benefits differently.

Requirements

  • 8+ years in People/HR roles at startups or scaleups (sub-500 employees preferred), with at least 3 years in a leadership capacity.
  • Experience building. You've stood up or significantly scaled a Talent and People in a high-growth, tech-first environment. You know what great looks like and how to get there without over-engineering.
  • HR tech fluency. You've either worked at an HR tech company or have strong opinions from implementing and living inside these tools. You understand the buyer's perspective.
  • Commercial instinct. You're excited to work with customers, influence product decisions, and think beyond the traditional People team remit.
  • European employment expertise. You understand the complexity of multi-region operations across the UK, Ireland, and the EU. You've navigated it before.
  • Strong advisory presence. You're a trusted partner to founders and execs. You build relationships easily and can translate between strategy and execution.
  • Clear communication. Excellent written and verbal skills. You can write a crisp policy doc and hold a room at an offsite.
  • Comfort with ambiguity. You thrive when there's no playbook. You'd rather build the thing than inherit the thing.
Benefits
  • Comprehensive Health Insurance via Kota
  • Workplace Pension with matched contributions up to 5% via Kota
  • WFH stipend to support your home office needs
  • Life Insurance
  • Generous Paid Time Off - work hard and take the time you need
  • Annual company-wide offsite and dedicated team offsite

Applicant Tracking System Keywords

Tip: use these terms in your resume and cover letter to boost ATS matches.

Hard skills
people strategyperformance systemstalent acquisitionorganizational designleadership developmentcompensation philosophyHR tech implementationmulti-region operationsbenefits strategyworkforce trends
Soft skills
coachingrelationship buildingclear communicationstrategic thinkinginfluencingadaptabilityteam developmentcultural shapingtrustworthinessproblem-solving