HR Manager

Nordscale Operations AS; Bjerkvik - Rahkka; Remote; NOK 900,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary and bonus

Relocation support

Job summary

Nordscale Operations AS is seeking an HR Manager for the Narvik site to act as the foundational pillar for the local team and a strategic partner to site leadership.

You will blend hands-on operational HR management with strategic talent development, ensuring compliance with Norwegian labor standards while aligning with Nordscale’s global people strategy. This role requires a proactive, hands-on approach and a willingness to build the function from the ground up.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in an HR Generalist or HR Manager role, ideally within a fast-paced tech, engineering, industrial, or data center environment.
• Deep understanding of Norwegian labor law, tax regulations, and local workplace compliance standards.
• Professional fluency in both Norwegian and English (written and spoken).
• Location: on-site role – not remote or hybrid.
• Experience building and scaling HR functions, preferably in matrixed or growing organizations.

Responsibilities

• Site HR Leadership: Act as the primary point of contact for all Nordscale HR-related matters at the Narvik site, providing trusted guidance to both employees and management.
• Talent Acquisition & Onboarding: Manage end-to-end recruitment for local roles, ensuring a welcoming onboarding experience that immerses new hires into Nscale's culture.
• Employee Relations & Compliance: Maintain knowledge of Arbeidsmiljøloven, oversee local contracts, safety, and compliance.
• Culture & Engagement: Design and implement local initiatives that drive engagement, team cohesion, and inclusive workplace culture.
• Performance & Development: Support managers with performance cycles, conflict resolution, and local training initiatives.
• HR Operations: Oversee local payroll inputs, benefits administration, time-tracking compliance, and accurate employee records.

Skills

HR leadership

Recruitment & onboarding

Employee relations

Compliance

Strategic thinking

Operational HR

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in HR / Organizational Psychology / Business Administration

Tools

HRIS

Payroll systems

Job description

About Nordscale

Nordscale is the specialist operator for mission-critical AI data centres. We manage the operations that keep AI compute sites running reliably, efficiently, and safely. Founded as a strategic partnership between the AI hyperscaler Nscale and Norwegian energy company Nordkraft, we harness local expertise and data centre operations experience to deliver service excellence to our customers, while building skilled local jobs and partnering with Norwegian businesses to create lasting value in the regions where we work.

Our culture combines local Northern Norwegian values, international expertise, and disciplined operational excellence. We’re a team built on trust, ownership, and collaboration: we communicate openly, take accountability for outcomes, and work as one team across sites, partners, and functions to deliver performance people can depend on.

About the Role (Job Purpose)

As the HR Manager for the Narvik site, you will be the foundational pillar for our local team and a strategic partner to our site leadership. This is a unique opportunity to build, scale, and nurture our workplace culture from the ground up in Narvik. You will blend hands-on operational HR management with strategic talent development, ensuring compliance with Norwegian labor standards while aligning with Nscale’s global people strategy. If you thrive in dynamic environments and love connecting with people, this role is for you.
We are looking for someone who can work both strategically and operationally, someone who isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves and get the job done, with no task being too big or too small.

What You’ll be Doing (Responsibilities)

• Site HR Leadership: Act as the primary point of contact for all Nordscale HR-related matters at the Narvik site, providing trusted guidance to both employees and management.
• Talent Acquisition & Onboarding: Manage the end-to-end recruitment process for local roles, ensuring a seamless, welcoming onboarding experience that immerses new hires into Nscale's culture.
• Employee Relations & Compliance: Maintain strong working knowledge of the Norwegian Working Environment Act (Arbeidsmiljøloven), overseeing local contracts, workplace safety, and compliance.
• Culture & Engagement: Design and implement local initiatives that drive employee engagement, team cohesion, and a positive, inclusive workplace culture.
• Performance & Development: Support managers with performance management cycles, conflict resolution, and local training and development initiatives.
• HR Operations: Oversee local payroll inputs, benefits administration, time-tracking compliance included 24/7 shift workers, and maintain accurate employee records and implement HR policies and guidelines.

About You (Skills, Qualifications & Experience)

You may be an experienced HR Manager, HR Business Partner, or HR generalist from a site-based or operational business, ready to build a function. Experience from start-ups, fast-growing organisations, or shift and rotation work is valuable.

You enjoy practical, hands-on work in a fast-paced environment, bring structure where it is needed, and keep up to date with employment law.

Key Characteristics

• Calm and resilient under pressure, comfortable setting clear requirements and handling sensitive matters with empathy and discretion.
• A natural coach who builds trust across teams and partners, and helps managers grow rather than solving everything for them.
• Strong communication and emotional intelligence; you are a natural relationship-builder who can handle sensitive situations with discretion and empathy.
• A proactive, self-starter mindset with the ability to work independently.

Skills & Qualifications

• Educational background: Higher education (Bachelor's or Master's degree) in Human Resources, Organizational Psychology, Business Administration, or a related field.
• Experience: 5+ years of experience in an HR Generalist or HR Manager role, ideally within a fast-paced tech, engineering, industrial, or data center environment.
• Legal Expertise: Deep understanding of Norwegian labor law, tax regulations, and local workplace compliance standards.
• Language Skills: Professional fluency in both Norwegian and English (written and spoken) is required, as you will interact with local staff and a global corporate team.
• Location requirement: The role is an on-site role - not remote or hybrid.

Nice to Have:

• Experience working within a matrixed, international organization or a rapidly scaling startup.
• Experience collaborating with local Norwegian unions and employee representatives.
• Familiarity with modern HRIS and recruitment platforms

What We Can Offer You

• Competitive salary and performance-based bonus
• The opportunity to build an HR function from the ground up, combining practical HR work with a path towards broader strategic responsibility
• Relocation support assessed individually, if required.

Equal Opportunities Statement

We are committed to fostering an inclusive, diverse, and equitable workplace. We believe that a variety of perspectives enriches our work environment, and we encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, experiences, and abilities. We strongly encourage applications from people of colour, the LGBTQ+ community, people with disabilities, neurodivergent people, parents, carers, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

If there’s anything we can do to accommodate your specific situation, please let us know.