Manager of People Operations

atNorth Holding AB; Espoo; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

atNorth Holding AB is seeking a Manager of People Operations to lead our international People Operations team across Nordic markets. Based ideally in Finland or Iceland, you will shape priorities, improve cross-country collaboration and build scalable processes for the employee lifecycle from hire to offboarding.

You will own payroll governance, data quality, HR systems (HiBob, Flex) and policy compliance, driving automation and risk management.

Qualifications

• Senior leader with international People Operations experience.
• Strong payroll governance, HRIS, and data governance skills.
• Experience building scalable, cross-country people processes.
• Fluent English; Finnish or Icelandic language skills helpful.

Responsibilities

• Lead an international People Operations team across markets.
• Own employee lifecycle delivery, onboarding, changes and offboarding.
• Oversee payroll governance with local providers and Finance.
• Administer benefits, pensions and insurance across markets.
• Design workflows, playbooks and self-service documentation.
• Strengthen master data quality and HR systems adoption.
• Own policy compliance, risk controls and audits.
• Coordinate cross-functional handovers with Finance, Legal, IT.

Skills

Leadership

People Ops

Payroll governance

HR systems

Data quality

Automation

Stakeholder management

English

Tools

HiBob

Flex

Job description

atNorth is a leading Nordic data center company providing cost-effective, scalable high-density colocation and built-to-suit services to industry-leading organizations across Iceland, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.

With sustainability at our core, our data centers run on renewable energy and are designed according to circular economy principles. Through innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations, we deliver reliable, secure, and high-performance infrastructure.

Headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland, atNorth operates eight data centers across the Nordics, with additional sites under development in Finland, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

We combine world-class technology with a people-first culture built on collaboration, ownership, and trust, empowering our teams to grow, take responsibility, and make a real impact.

By joining our international team, you will help shape the future of sustainable digital infrastructure.

THE OPPORTUNITY

We are looking for a Manager of People Operations to lead and develop our international People Operations team of approximately eight colleagues across our markets. We would ideally like this role to be based in Finland or Iceland, working closely with colleagues across our international organization.

This is a hands-on leadership role for someone who combines strong operational expertise with the ability to lead a distributed team and continuously improve how work gets done. You will be responsible for creating clear priorities, strengthening collaboration across countries and supporting the development of both the team and our People Operations delivery.

As atNorth continues its growth journey, our processes, systems and ways of working need to evolve with the business. Your ability to identify opportunities for improvement and turn them into practical, sustainable solutions will therefore be essential. You will not only recognize what needs to change, but also create alignment, drive implementation and ensure that improvements become embedded in everyday operations.

You will own the structures, controls and day-to-day delivery that enable the employee lifecycle to run smoothly across countries. Together with the team, you will create clear and scalable ways of working, strengthen payroll governance and compliance, improve data quality, and make People administration easier for employees and managers to navigate.

The role is central to building a consistent atNorth approach across markets while ensuring that local requirements are handled accurately and effectively.

You will report to the Director of People & Culture, located in Sweden and this role is part of the People & Culture leadership team with four other manager peers. The P&C organization spans over all Nordic countries so travel is expected on a regular basis.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Lead an international People Operations team: Coach and develop our People & Culture Specialists, set priorities, create clarity in ownership and build a collaborative, high-performing team.
• Employee lifecycle operations: Ensure reliable and well-coordinated delivery across hire, onboarding, employment changes, leave, health support, internal moves (global mobility), offboarding and employee documentation.
• Payroll governance: Oversee payroll governance across markets, clarify responsibilities and controls, and work closely with local payroll owners, Finance and external providers to support accurate and timely delivery.
• Benefits, pensions and insurance administration: Ensure reliable administration of employee benefits, pensions and insurances across our markets. Establish clear processes and ownership, coordinate with local providers and internal stakeholders, and make sure enrolments, changes, employee information and payroll inputs are handled accurately and on time. Partner closely with Rewards on policy, design and governance.
• Processes, documentation and self-service: Design, improve and document practical workflows, playbooks and service standards. Build clear information in Confluence and enable employees and managers to find answers and complete routine tasks efficiently.
• Data quality and HR systems: Strengthen master data quality, ownership and controls across People systems. Drive adoption, automation and continuous improvement so that systems support scalable and auditable processes.
• Policy ownership and compliance: Own the operational governance of People policies and procedures, coordinate reviews and updates, and work with relevant specialists to ensure alignment with local requirements and internal standards.
• Risk and controls: Identify operational and compliance risks, maintain appropriate controls and documentation, and ensure that People Operations is ready for internal and external audits.
• Operational administration: Oversee expense-related People processes and other recurring administration within the team’s scope, ensuring clear ownership, consistency and follow-through.
• Cross-functional partnership: Work closely with People Partners, Reward, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, Security and IT to create effective handovers, clear escalation paths and a seamless experience for the business.

WHAT YOU BRING

• At least +7 years in People Operations, HR Operations or HR service delivery in an international organisation.
• Proven people leadership experience (minimum +5 years) and the ability to create direction, accountability and development in a distributed/remote team.
• Hands-on experience of building and improving employee lifecycle processes across several countries.
• Good knowledge of payroll governance, HR administration, benefits, pensions and insurance processes, data protection and employment-related compliance. Experience coordinating local providers across several countries is a must.
• Strong experience working with HR systems (experience from Flex and HiBob is meriting), data quality, workflows and automation, with a strong interest in making technology work better for users.
• Experience of using AI as enabler.
• A track record of creating clear processes, controls and documentation without adding unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Experience of being owner of people processes and risk management, as well as different type of audits.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and confidence partnering across People & Culture, Finance, Compliance, Security and IT.
• Fluency in Finnish or Icelandic (depending on country) and English is expected.

HOW YOU WORK

• You are a courageous leader; who leads with clarity, empowerment and collaboration.
• You bring structure to complexity and follow through on the details that matter.
• You balance service and care with sound judgement, consistency and clear boundaries.
• You are comfortable moving between team leadership, operational problem-solving and longer-term improvement work.
• You challenge existing ways of working constructively and turn ideas into practical, sustainable solutions.
• You communicate clearly and make complex processes easy to understand for employees and managers.
• You value collaboration, ownership and trust, and contribute to a culture where people can perform and grow.