Head of People and Culture

W4 Games; Ireland; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote work

One-year contract

Direct access to leadership

Flexible hours

Job summary

W4 Games seeks a dedicated People and Culture lead to formalize and drive an all-remote HR function across Europe and the Americas. Reporting to the COO in Los Angeles, you will build policy, compensation, and culture programs while handling a growing, global team.

The role starts as a solo position and expands as the company grows, with a one-year initial engagement and potential renewal. Strong legal coordination and English fluency are essential.

Qualifications

• Growth-phase HR leadership across multiple countries.
• Minimum five years leading HR across countries.
• Strong labor law knowledge in US or Europe with external counsel.
• Experience with compensation studies and leveling frameworks.
• Fluent English with experience working with a fully remote global team.

Responsibilities

• Assess current people policies and close gaps with legal counsel.
• Review cross-border employment arrangements for compliance.
• Run company-wide compensation study against market benchmarks.
• Build compensation and benefits framework with legal counsel.
• Support hiring: recruiting, interviewing, reference checks, onboarding.
• Own performance management and provide timely feedback.
• Handle workplace concerns and labor matters.
• Formalize culture into a handbook.
• Maintain team records in line with privacy laws.

Skills

HR leadership

Global HR

Remote collaboration

Labor law knowledge

Policy implementation

Job description

Description

We're hiring our first dedicated People and Culture lead. We've been building our people function for a few years now, always alongside other responsibilities. As we are currently in a new growth phase, we would like to build a formal, dedicated human resources function, appropriate for our all-remote structure, that can help us continue our expansion. This role will be responsible for creating and implementing this function. You'll report to the COO, who is based in Los Angeles. We're around 30 people across the Americas and Europe, so expect a generalist role, a highly dynamic environment, and to wear several hats. It starts as a team of one, and as our needs grow you'll build and lead your own.

What you’ll be doing

Assessing where our people policies stand today, closing the gaps, and overseeing implementation with legal counsel where needed. Working with legal counsel to review how people work with us across the countries we operate in, and keep those arrangements compliant. Running a company-wide compensation study against market benchmarks, and completing the leveling framework we'll adjust against. Building our compensation and benefits framework alongside legal counsel. Supporting hiring across the company: recruiting, interview process, reference and background checks, and onboarding. Owning performance management so team members get timely, honest, actionable feedback. Handling workplace concerns, complaints, and any labor-related matters. Protecting and developing our culture as we grow, including formalising it into a culture handbook. Maintaining team member’s records in line with applicable privacy law and our own policy.

Required

• Experience building an HR function through a growth phase, ideally from around 10 people to 50 or more.
• At least five years of experience leading HR across multiple countries.
• In-depth knowledge of labor law and regulation in at least one of the United States or Europe, and experience managing the rest through external counsel.
• Experience running compensation studies and building or applying a leveling framework.
• Comfortable working across a global, fully remote team. Comfortable being the only person in the function, and picking it up from where it stands today. Fluency in English, and comfort working with people from a range of cultural and professional backgrounds.

Recommended

• Experience setting up an ESOP or equivalent equity plan.
• Experience with contractor-based workforces across multiple jurisdictions.
• Background in tech, open source, and/or games.

About W4 Games

W4 Games was founded by the leadership of the Godot Engine project to help the industries that depend on real-time technology reclaim control of it. We give companies the freedom to innovate that comes with an in-house engine, without needing an in-house engine team. Games are where we started and where our expertise runs deepest, but we believe open source technology belongs in every industry, and we work well beyond games today. Our products and services let teams get the most out of Godot and ship with confidence. Equal Opportunity W4 Games is an equal opportunity employer committed to providing an open, collaborative and friendly work environment and does not discriminate based on gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, language proficiency, age, political orientation, nationality, religion or other similar characteristics.

Hiring and Location

All members of the W4 Games team work remotely. This position is open to candidates in Europe, with a preference for Ireland. This is a full-time independent contractor engagement. The initial contract runs one year, with the possibility of renewal.

Why Join Us

Build the function rather than inherit it. What comes next is yours to shape. Direct access to leadership. You'll work alongside the founders and the rest of C-level. We’re small enough that your work is visible and impactful. We're growing quickly, but you'll still know everyone here. Flexible hours. We're spread from PST to CEST and work async by default. A remote team that gets together in person. We fly the whole company out for company gatherings.