Head of People

Entangled Future; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Equal1, a fast-growing quantum computing company with a multi-country footprint, seeks an experienced Head of People to own and scale the HR function across Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, the US and Canada.

You will shape culture, leadership capability and the employee experience as the company grows over the next 18 months, partnering with external consultants and managers to drive fairness and impact.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of progressive HR / People Operations experience in scaling tech/R&D environments.
• Experience with Irish employment law and HR compliance requirements.
• Experience managing HR across multiple countries/jurisdictions with external providers.
• Strong knowledge of employment contracts and HR best practices.
• Experience partnering with Finance on budgets, headcount planning and compensation inputs.

Responsibilities

• Develop scalable HR foundations, policies, templates for a high-growth, multi-jurisdiction operation.
• Ensure audit-ready compliance with GDPR, right-to-work, and record-keeping requirements.
• Lead compensation foundations, salary bands, benchmarking, and annual reviews.
• Establish a simple cadence of people metrics for leadership decision-making.
• Own HR systems, data governance, reporting, and data security.

Skills

HR leadership

Cross-border HR

Policy development

Data governance

Communication

Job description

Head of People at Equal1, Dublin. A director-level full time position in the Operations team, listed under business operations.

Equal1 is a fast-growing quantum computing company operating across Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, the US, and Canada. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on HR leader to take ownership of the HR function and help us scale: building on processes already in place, partnering with external consultants, and creating a consistent employee experience across multiple jurisdictions. As Head of People, you will shape the culture, leadership capability, and people experience of Equal1 as we scale a world-leading, high-growth deep tech company over the next 18 months.

HR foundations & scaling

• Develop and continuously improve scalable HR foundations, including core processes, templates, and policies, appropriate for a high-growth technology company operating across multiple jurisdictions.
• Ensure HR compliance fundamentals are robust and audit-ready (right-to-work, data privacy/GDPR, mandatory training where applicable, employee relations processes, and required record keeping).
• Lead the evolution of compensation foundations, including salary bands/levelling, location-based benchmarking, internal equity, and annual review cycles.
• Establish a simple, high-signal people metrics cadence (hiring funnel health, time-to-hire, retention, onboarding completion, engagement indicators) to support leadership decision-making.
• Own HR systems and data governance, ensuring strong data quality, reporting, access controls, and compliant handling of employee data.

Employee lifecycle & manager support

• Partner closely with managers as a trusted advisor, equipping them to lead effectively through practical coaching on feedback, documentation, fair process, and clear communication.
• Implement and run a lightweight performance and development framework (goal setting, reviews, calibration, promotions), providing a practical manager toolkit to enable consistency and fairness.

Requirements

• 5+ years of progressive HR / People Operations experience, ideally in a scaling tech or R&D environment.
• Experience working with Irish employment legislation and HR compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated experience managing HR across multiple countries/jurisdictions, with strong comfort coordinating external legal, payroll and benefits providers.
• Strong working knowledge of employment contracts and HR compliance fundamentals
• Experience partnering closely with Finance (budgets, headcount planning, approvals, compensation inputs).
• Excellent communication skills, sound judgement, and high discretion with confidential information.
• Highly organised, resourceful, and comfortable operating with ambiguity and minimal supervision.

Benefits

• Lead the set-up and ongoing management of benefits across jurisdictions
• Establish clear internal processes for changes (joiners/leavers, salary changes, allowances, bonus inputs) to ensure accurate payroll execution.
• Manage relationships with external providers for payroll and HR administration (including local payroll partners/EOR).