Head of People Operations

Joko; Barcelona; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible remote

Work from anywhere

Top-market compensation

Equity for everyone

AI upskilling half-day weekly

Yearly offsite + team events

ClassPass subsidy

8-week parental leave

Job summary

Joko is seeking a Head of People Operations to build the department across France, Spain, and the US. You will lead a small team now and scale to 200+ employees, designing the operating model and automating processes with AI.

You will own payroll, contracts, benefits, time off, onboarding, and offboarding, while ensuring compliance and data quality. Collaborate with Legal, Finance, Talent, and Workplace to support rapid growth.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in People Operations or HR with team management in high-growth tech startups or scale-ups.
• Builder who stood up or rebuilt a People Ops function.
• Expertise in French payroll and labor law; Spanish/US experience a plus.
• Systems thinker owning an HRIS with data quality.
• Analytical focus on headcount, payroll and budget reporting.
• Attention to detail and reliability in People Ops.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with ownership and feedback culture.
• Fluency in French and English; Spanish a plus.
• Location based in France or Spain.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead the People Ops team: hire, coach, and grow the managers across countries.
• Own core people processes end-to-end: payroll, contracts, benefits, time off, onboarding/offboarding.
• Project 18-month headcount planning: country playbooks, org data, workforce reporting.
• Own HRIS and data: automate processes with AI and ensure data integrity.
• Ensure compliance with labor law and audits; collaborate with Legal and external counsel.
• Deliver a human employee experience; establish clear policies and reliable processes.
• Partner with Finance, Legal, Talent Acquisition, and Workplace Management.

Skills

People Ops

HR leadership

Team building

HRIS ownership

Data analytics

Payroll knowledge

French payroll

English fluency

AI tooling

Discretion

Project management

Hands-on payroll

Languages: FR/EN/ES

Tools

HRIS

AI tools

Job description

At Joko, our mission is to we help consumers save time and money when shopping online or in-store.

Founded in Paris, Joko is a tech company and certified B Corp with over 120 talents across Paris, Barcelona, and New York (and beyond). More than 7 million users already save money every day at 10,000+ merchants with Joko.

From cashback and automatic coupons to price alerts, we've kept expanding our products to make shopping smarter. Today, Joko is an AI shopping app: with Juno, our shopping assistant, users can find the right product at the best price in only a few seconds, with recommendations that get sharper the more they use it.

Having reached profitability in our core market, we’re now scaling globally, with a strong focus on the US.

It’s still day 1, come build the future of shopping with us!

The People Operations team

At Joko, credibility starts with reliability. The People Operations team owns and runs the core people processes — contracts, payroll, benefits, compliance, HR systems and data — across France, Spain, and the US. Today, the team consists of two experienced People Operations Managers — and because the whole Joko team is growing rapidly, from 100+ people today to 200+ within 18 months, we are doubling it: alongside this role, we are hiring two additional People Operations Managers. People Operations sits within the broader People function, which also covers Talent Acquisition, People Business Partnering, and Workplace Management.

Why this role is special

• You will build a department, not inherit one. You will be Joko's first Head of People Operations. The foundations exist — experienced team members owning our core people processes across three countries, a strong compliance track record — but the department structure, the operating model, and the roadmap are yours to design.
• You will do it at a real scale moment. Joko is a profitable scale-up entering its international chapter, set to grow from 100+ people today to 200+ within 18 months, across France, Spain, the US, and soon more. The processes you design now are the ones that much larger company will run on.
• You will operate at the frontier on tooling and AI. AI is used daily across Joko, and People Operations is one of the highest-leverage places to apply it. You will have the tools, the budget, and dedicated BizOps support to automate aggressively and build one of the most modern People Ops setups out there.

What You Will Do

As Head of People Operations, your mission is to build the operational backbone that lets Joko double in headcount without losing an ounce of reliability. You will report to the VP People and manage the People Operations team: two People Operations Managers today, four soon.

• Build and lead the People Ops team: Hire, coach, and grow your People Operations Managers. Organize ownership across countries and specialties so the team scales smoothly, with no single point of failure — every critical task has a named backup.
• Own our core people processes end-to-end: Payroll, contracts, benefits, time off, and onboarding/offboarding administration across France, Spain, and the US — accurate, compliant, and on time, every time.
• Anticipate scale: Project the company 18 months ahead and build for it today: country playbooks (our Spain entity is ramping up now, and more markets will follow), clean org data, and reliable workforce reporting for planning and reviews.
• Own systems and data: Take full ownership of our HRIS and people data. Make People data a single source of truth, automate everything that should be automated — with AI and with dedicated support from our BizOps team — and keep improving the employee-facing experience of every process.
• Own compliance: Ensure compliance with French and Spanish labor law hand-in-hand with our Head of Legal and external counsel, anticipate regulatory changes, and keep our documentation ready for audits, fundraising, and due diligence at any moment.
• Deliver a human employee experience: Make sure every employee interaction with People Ops is fast, accurate, and discreet, with clear and accessible policies — reliability people can feel.
• Partner across the company: Work closely with Finance (payroll reconciliation, headcount and budget actuals), Legal (labor law), Talent Acquisition (fast, flawless contracts and pre-onboarding), and Workplace Management.

Who We're Looking For

• Experience: 8+ years in People Operations or HR, including several years managing a team, in high-growth tech startups or scale-ups — you've lived through a similar headcount inflection.
• A builder: You've stood up or rebuilt a People Ops function, not just run one that was already in place. You know what to build now versus what can wait.
• Expertise: Deep command of French payroll and labor law; exposure to Spanish or US employment matters is a strong plus.
• Systems thinker: You've owned an HRIS, you design processes that hold up at 3x the headcount, and you are rigorous about data quality.
• Analytical skills: You reason with data — headcount, payroll, budget actuals — and build reporting that people trust.
• Attention to detail: You thrive on precision, organization, and reliability — in People Ops, the details are the job.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: You thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments. You take ownership without being asked, you welcome feedback, and you go the extra mile by default.
• AI fluency: You already use AI tools daily in your own work and have a point of view on which parts of People Ops should be automated — the People team is expected to lead by example on this front.
• Discretion: You handle sensitive matters — disciplinary cases, offboarding, personal data — with absolute integrity.
• Manager-coach: You grow the people you manage, and you see developing your team as core to the job.
• High standards, hands-on: You set the bar high and you are never afraid to roll up your sleeves — you can run a payroll cycle yourself if needed.
• Languages: Fluent in French, fluent in English (our working language). Spanish is a plus.
• Location: Based in France or Spain.

Our perks

(Some of the benefits listed below are available to full-time positions only)

At Joko, we believe that flexibility and trust are essential. Our work environment reflects this through:

• Flexible remote: If you live in Paris, you can choose to work from our office or from home with no constraints. If you live elsewhere, we can provide access to a coworking space and a coworking budget.
• Work from anywhere: Want to spend a month in Italy while working? You can work from most countries in the world for up to 3 months per year.

On Top Of That, We Offer Plenty Of Perks

• Top-market compensation
• Equity for everyone with the chance to own a piece of what you build
• Half-day each week dedicated to leveling up with AI by exploring new tools, iterating hard, and sharpening your skills
• Yearly offsite in amazing locations and budget for team-building events & monthly in-person gatherings
• Contribution to your ClassPass subscription
• 8-week leave paid 100% for the second parent
• …and much more, check the full list here!

Our hiring process

• Intro call: Quick screening with the Hiring Manager or the Talent team.
• Step 1 – Team interview (45 min): Conversation with two Joko team members (could include the Hiring Manager, people from the team you’d join, or colleagues from other teams).
• Step 2 – Role-specific assessments
  • For non-engineering roles: A take-home case study followed by a 45-min interview. We assess both your output and how you think in real time. The exercise will be relevant to your role (e.g. analysis, strategy, or process design).
  • For engineering roles: A 90-min live technical interview on CoderPad covering code understanding, review, system design, and product thinking (with AI serving as a collaboration tool).
• Step 3 – Leadership interview (45 min): Conversation with a SteerCo member and a Founder.
• References: Up to 3 calls with former colleagues or managers.

You may also be invited for coffee with team members to get a feel for our culture.