HR Business Partner (Generalist)

haddock (YC W22); Barcelona; Hybrid; EUR 60,000 - 85,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful ownership

Close collaboration

Experimentation with AI

Professional growth

Hybrid working

Competitive compensation

Job summary

haddock (Y Combinator W22) is seeking an HR Business Partner to own core people processes in a hybrid Barcelona setting. You will partner with managers and employees, drive onboarding improvements and manage day-to-day People operations with an eye toward AI-enabled efficiencies.

You’ll collaborate across onboarding, performance development and employee experience, translating priorities into actions and ensuring coordinated, confidential handling of conversations.

Qualifications

• Experience as an HR Generalist or HR Business Partner, with ownership across several parts of the employee lifecycle.
• Confidence working directly with managers and handling sensitive conversations.
• Strong organization and attention to detail; you close loops and take responsibility for getting things done.
• Curiosity about AI, with examples of tools you’ve tried or processes you’ve improved.
• Familiarity with Spanish employment practices and experience coordinating with external payroll or employment advisors.
• Fluent Spanish and English, and availability to work from our Barcelona office three days per week.

Responsibilities

• Be a trusted partner to managers and employees.
• Help managers navigate feedback, team dynamics, development and difficult conversations.
• Be an approachable point of contact for employees, handling questions with care and discretion.
• Identify recurring issues and work with the right people to address their causes.
• Translate People priorities into clear actions and consistent follow‑up.
• Own reliable People operations.
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding, making each transition clear and well organized.
• Maintain accurate employee information, documentation and HR systems.
• Coordinate payroll inputs, benefits, absences and contractual changes with external advisors.
• Keep policies useful, understandable and easy to find.
• Help teams perform and develop.
• Coordinate performance and feedback cycles, helping managers turn conversations into action.
• Support clear objectives, development plans and probation reviews.
• Follow up on commitments so that development continues beyond the review itself.
• Bring relevant People data and observations into discussions about team needs.
• Put AI and automation into practice.
• Identify repetitive work across People operations and test ways to simplify it.
• Use AI to support tasks such as preparing onboarding materials, drafting internal communications and maintaining our knowledge base.
• Build useful automations with our internal AI team and other teams where needed.
• Check whether changes actually save time and improve the employee experience.
• Apply sound judgment when working with confidential information and reviewing AI outputs.
• Strengthen the employee experience and culture.
• Help our values show up in onboarding, feedback, recognition and everyday decisions.
• Gather employee feedback and turn it into focused improvements.
• Partner with Talent Acquisition and hiring managers to connect recruitment, onboarding and early performance.
• Support internal communication so people understand what is happening and what it means for them.

Skills

HR Generalist

HR Business Partner

Spanish employment law

Fluent English

Onboarding

Performance management

AI/Automation awareness

Job description

Barcelona (Hybrid)

About The Role

Help great people do their best work.

At haddock, we’re building technology that changes how restaurants operate. As our company grows, we’re looking for an HR Business Partner with a generalist background to help our teams grow with it.

You’ll work closely with managers and employees, taking ownership of everyday People operations and turning business needs into practical actions across onboarding, performance, development and employee experience.

AI will be part of how you work. We’re looking for someone who enjoys experimenting, simplifying processes and finding ways to give people more time for meaningful work.

Your mission

Make haddock a place where people have the clarity, support and environment to deliver their best.

Who are we?

haddock (Y Combinator W22) is an AI-powered platform for restaurants, evolving into the AI platform for restaurants.

We help restaurant teams understand their costs, improve their margins and simplify their daily operations. We’re bringing intelligent agents into that experience to take care of repetitive work and help restaurateurs focus on running better businesses.

That ambition also shapes how we build our own company: curious people, high standards and a willingness to rethink how work gets done.

Why are we hiring?

Growing teams need clear expectations, effective managers and People processes that work.

We’re looking for a generalist who can move comfortably between a conversation with a manager, an onboarding improvement and the operational details behind a great employee experience.

You’ll report to Pol Rosell, cofounder, and work across the company to identify what needs attention, propose improvements and follow through.

What You’ll Do

You don’t need to build AI models. You should be comfortable learning new tools, testing ideas and improving how you work.

• Be a trusted partner to managers and employees
• Help managers navigate feedback, team dynamics, development and difficult conversations.
• Be an approachable point of contact for employees, handling questions with care and discretion.
• Identify recurring issues and work with the right people to address their causes.
• Translate People priorities into clear actions and consistent follow‑up.
• Own reliable People operations
• Coordinate onboarding and offboarding, making each transition clear and well organized.
• Maintain accurate employee information, documentation and HR systems.
• Coordinate payroll inputs, benefits, absences and contractual changes with our external advisors
• Keep policies useful, understandable and easy to find
• Help teams perform and develop
• Coordinate performance and feedback cycles, helping managers turn conversations into action
• Support clear objectives, development plans and probation reviews
• Follow up on commitments so that development continues beyond the review itself
• Bring relevant People data and observations into discussions about team needs
• Put AI and automation into practice
• Identify repetitive work across People operations and test ways to simplify it
• Use AI to support tasks such as preparing onboarding materials, drafting internal communications and maintaining our knowledge base
• Build useful automations with our internal AI team and other teams where needed
• Check whether changes actually save time and improve the employee experience
• Apply sound judgment when working with confidential information and reviewing AI outputs
• Strengthen the employee experience and culture
• Help our values show up in onboarding, feedback, recognition and everyday decisions
• Gather employee feedback and turn it into focused improvements
• Partner with Talent Acquisition and hiring managers to connect recruitment, onboarding and early performance
• Support internal communication so people understand what is happening and what it means for them

What Success Looks Like

Managers feel supported. They receive practical advice and follow through on People decisions

Employees know where to turn. Questions are handled clearly, consistently and with care

The essentials run smoothly. Employee information, payroll inputs and transitions are accurate and timely

Feedback leads to progress. Performance conversations produce clear expectations and actions

AI creates useful improvements. We reduce manual work and make People processes easier to use

What We’re Looking For

• Experience as an HR Generalist or HR Business Partner, with ownership across several parts of the employee lifecycle
• Confidence working directly with managers and handling sensitive conversations
• Strong organization and attention to detail. You close loops and take responsibility for getting things done
• A business mindset. You understand team priorities and can explain how your work helps
• Curiosity about AI, with examples of tools you’ve tried or processes you’ve improved
• Familiarity with Spanish employment practices and experience coordinating with external payroll or employment advisors
• Fluent Spanish and English, and availability to work from our Barcelona office three days per week

You’ll stand out if you have experience with

• Working in a growing technology company
• Supporting Sales, Customer Experience, Product or Engineering teams
• Running performance cycles and helping managers improve their feedback
• Improving HR systems, reporting or workflows
• Implementing practical AI tools or automations
• Speaking Catalan

What We Offer

• Meaningful ownership. Take responsibility for work that directly affects how our people experience haddock
• Close collaboration. Work with founders and managers and see the impact of your decisions
• Room to experiment. Help shape how we use AI in People and across our ways of working
• Professional growth. Broaden your experience and take on new challenges as the company develops
• Hybrid working. Three days in our Barcelona office and two days remotely
• Competitive compensation. Aligned with your experience and the scope of the role

Our hiring process

• Intro call with Pol, cofounder — 20 minutes A conversation about your experience, motivation and what you’re looking for
• Deep dive — How you work We’ll explore real examples from your experience: supporting a manager through a difficult situation, improving a People process and using AI or automation in your work. We’re interested in what you did, the decisions you made and what you learned. If you have an example you can share without confidential information, we’d love to see it. No case study or presentation to prepare.
• Cultural conversation with Arnau, CEO An opportunity to discuss our values, how we work and what helps you thrive

Ready to help our people and teams grow?

We’d love to hear from you.