People & Legal Manager

Barrington James; Roma; Hybrid; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Barrington James is seeking a hands-on People & Legal Manager to build the people infrastructure required for rapid growth across Europe. You will own recruitment processes, define employment frameworks across jurisdictions, and coordinate agreements, onboarding and offboarding.

In this role you will shape HR policies, develop compensation structures including incentives, and manage ESOP plans in collaboration with senior leadership and external advisers.

Qualifications

• 3–5 years in People/HR or related roles.
• Experience managing recruitment across Europe.
• Understanding of employment contracts, compensation, HR policies.
• Experience with international hiring across multiple European countries.
• Ability to work with external lawyers; startup/tech exposure is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own and coordinate the recruitment process across Europe.
• Build recruitment pipeline with hiring managers and recruiters.
• Define employment frameworks across jurisdictions (employees, contractors, EOR).
• Coordinate employment agreements, offers, onboarding and offboarding.
• Develop HR policies and employee handbook as the organisation scales.
• Design and benchmark compensation packages and incentives.
• Support ESOP/stock option plans with leadership and Finance.
• Assist annual compensation reviews and promotions.
• Collaborate with Finance on payroll inputs and headcount forecasting.
• Interface with employment and corporate lawyers and external advisors.
• Support senior leaders on legal and operational matters with external advisors.

Skills

Recruitment coordination

HR policies

Compensation design

ESOP administration

Payroll & budgeting

Legal liaison

Cross-border employment

Fluent English

Startup/tech experience

Job description

About

They are a fast-growing European healthtech company entering an exciting phase of international growth. As the organisation expands across multiple markets, they are looking for a hands-on People & Legal Manager to build the people infrastructure required to support this growth.

People & Legal Manager

Location: Italy / Hybrid

About

They are a fast-growing European healthtech company entering an exciting phase of international growth. As the organisation expands across multiple markets, they are looking for a hands-on People & Legal Manager to build the people infrastructure required to support this growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and coordinate the recruitment process across the company, with a particular focus on technical, commercial and business critical hires across Europe.
• Build and maintain an effective recruitment pipeline, working with hiring managers, recruiters and external search firms where appropriate.
• Define appropriate employment and contractual frameworks across different European and international jurisdictions, including employees, contractors and, where appropriate, EOR solutions.
• Coordinate employment agreements, consultancy agreements, offer letters, amendments, onboarding and offboarding documentation.
• Develop and maintain the Company's HR policies, procedures and employee handbook, ensuring they evolve appropriately as the organisation scales.
• Design and benchmark compensation packages, including fixed compensation, performance bonuses, benefits and other incentive structures.
• Support the design, implementation and administration of ESOP/stock option and other equity incentive plans, working closely with senior leadership, Finance and external advisors.
• Support annual compensation reviews, promotions, role changes and organisational planning.
• Work closely with Finance and Operations on payroll inputs, workforce budgeting and headcount forecasting.
• Act as the main internal interface with employment lawyers, corporate lawyers and other external legal advisors, coordinating requests, documentation and follow-up.
• Support the senior leadership team on selected legal and operational matters, working closely with external advisors where required.

Requirements

• 3–5 years of experience in People/HR, People Operations, HR Business Partner, employment/legal operations or a similarly broad role.
• Experience managing recruitment processes, ideally including technical and senior business profiles.
• Good understanding of employment contracts, compensation structures and HR policies.
• Exposure to international hiring and employment arrangements across multiple European countries.
• Comfortable working with external lawyers and translating legal advice into practical internal actions; a legal background or previous exposure to employment/corporate law is a strong plus, but qualification as a lawyer is not required.
• Highly organised, pragmatic and able to manage multiple workstreams directly rather than relying on large support functions.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work effectively with both senior executives and employees.
• Fluent in English, additional languages would be advantageous.
• Experience in a startup, scale-up or technology company is strongly preferred.