Head of People

Substack; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 295,000; Full time

Job summary

Substack is hiring a Head of People to design and scale the people function during a pivotal growth phase. You will own strategy, systems, and programs for hiring, development, rewards, and employee experience, while advising leadership on organization design and workforce planning.

This role blends strategic leadership with hands-on implementation, building infrastructure and coaching managers to maintain speed and ambition as the company matures.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive experience in People or HR across multiple functions.
• Startup or growth-stage experience required.
• Track record of excellence from strong companies.
• Ability to influence executive leadership and coach others.
• Comfort with data-driven People decisions.

Responsibilities

• Partner with leadership to develop and execute a people strategy aligned with Substack's mission and goals.
• Lead and scale recruiting, onboarding, compensation, benefits, employee experience, performance management, and talent development.
• Own compensation, benefits, leveling frameworks, and review cycles.
• Build training, L&D, and leadership coaching programs.
• Shape employee experience including culture, orientation, and onboarding.
• Oversee recruiting strategy and exceptional talent selection.
• Advise on org design, workforce planning, and succession planning.
• Improve people systems, policies, and programs for optimal performance.
• Coach managers on performance and team effectiveness.
• Oversee employee relations and ensure thoughtful resolution of issues.
• Use people analytics to guide decisions and ensure compliance.

Skills

People strategy

Recruiting

Learning & development

Employee experience

People analytics

Executive coaching

Leadership

Job description

Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting, and most creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. Substack empowers independent writers, artists, videographers, podcasters, and creators of all types to create, share, and make a living off their work through subscriptions, while offering them creative freedom, ownership, and a direct connection to their audiences.

About the Role
Substack is looking for a Head of People to build and scale our People function at a pivotal stage of growth. You'll own the strategy, systems, and programs that shape how we hire, develop, reward, and support our team. That spans benefits, compensation, leveling, review and promotion cycles, learning and development, employee experience, and recruiting.

This role is both strategic and hands on. You'll build the infrastructure, processes, and leadership practices that let us grow without losing the speed and ambition that define Substack. You'll advise company leadership on org design, talent strategy, and workforce planning, and you'll also get into the day-to-day: improving how things work and supporting employees and managers directly.

You're a self starter who sets a high bar and pushes the team to meet it. You're resourceful, equally comfortable getting hands on and delegating to others. You've seen what excellent People organizations look like at strong companies, and you know how to adapt those practices to a company that's ready to mature and evolve its practices.

Responsibilities:

• Partner with leadership to develop and execute a people strategy that supports Substack's mission, values, and business goals

• Lead and scale the People function across recruiting, onboarding, compensation, benefits, employee experience, performance management, and talent development

• Own our compensation, benefits, and leveling frameworks, and run the feedback, review, and promotion cycles

• Build and run training, learning and development, and leadership coaching programs

• Shape the employee experience, including office culture, people surveys, orientation, and onboarding

• Lead recruiting strategy and make sure we hire exceptional people

• Advise leadership on organizational design, workforce planning, and succession planning

• Build and continuously improve the people systems, policies, and programs that help employees do their best work

• Coach managers and leaders on performance, team effectiveness, and organizational challenges

• Oversee employee relations and ensure issues are resolved thoughtfully and consistently

• Use people analytics, reporting, and workforce insights to guide decisions

• Ensure compliance with applicable employment laws and regulations

• Build, mentor, and develop a high performing People team

About You:

• 8+ years of progressive experience in People or HR, with multi-functional expertise and leadership across:

  • Benefits, compensation, leveling, and feedback, promotion, and review cycles

  • Training, L&D, and leadership coaching

  • Employee experience, including office culture, people surveys, orientation, and onboarding

  • Recruiting

• Startup or growth-stage experience (required)

• A track record of excellence and best practices from strong, well-regarded companies

• A self starter who sets the pace and pushes the team

• Resourceful: hands on and delegating to others

• Range: demonstrated understanding, empathy, and familiarity with multiple company building disciplines (e.g., engineering, product, business, etc.) is a plus.

• Proven ability to influence and advise executive leadership, with excellent communication and coaching skills

• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data to inform People decisions

• Nice to have: experience building a People team from scratch; knowledge of employment law and compliance across the regions we hire in

Substack’s compensation package includes a market-competitive salary, equity for all full-time roles, and exceptional benefits. Our cash compensation salary range for this role is $250,000- $295,000. Multiple factors, including candidate experience and expertise, determine final offer amounts and may vary from the amounts listed above.

Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.

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