Director of Talent & People

About the Role

A partner company is seeking a Director of Talent & People to be based in Portugal. This role provides a unique chance to develop and expand the people function within a rapidly growing, tech-focused organization. The Director will lead the talent strategy, people operations, and employee experience while creating systems to enable team success.

Partnering with executive leadership, this position will influence talent attraction, development, and retention. It blends strategic leadership with hands-on management of recruiting, organizational development, and employee processes. The focus is on fostering a high-performance culture in a globally distributed setting that values ownership, collaboration, and innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and continuously enhance the Talent and People strategy to support organizational growth through proper structure, processes, and capabilities.
• Lead company-wide talent acquisition, workforce planning, and recruiting operations to improve quality, hiring speed, and predictability.
• Manage and grow the recruiting team, establishing scalable hiring processes across various functions and geographic locations.
• Directly support executive-level recruitment by refining interview methodologies, candidate experience, and evaluation criteria.
• Develop and maintain robust people operations systems including onboarding, offboarding, policy documentation, and employee assistance.
• Ensure a cohesive employee experience throughout the employee lifecycle with clarity on roles, responsibilities, reporting, and expectations.
• Collaborate with leadership on organizational design, workforce planning, team structure, and process optimization.
• Create programs for performance management, feedback, career development, and employee retention to strengthen engagement and growth.
• Provide organizational health insights through people metrics and proactively identify talent risks.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executives by delivering practical solutions and building long-term growth infrastructure.

Requirements

• 5 to over 10 years of professional experience in Talent Acquisition, People Operations, Human Resources, or relevant leadership roles.
• Experience supporting organizations with 100+ employees, preferably in fast-growing startups, agencies, technology firms, or scaling environments.
• Demonstrated leadership of recruiting teams with full-cycle hiring management.
• In-depth knowledge of people operations in remote-first or globally distributed companies.
• Proven success in building recruiting systems, onboarding frameworks, performance management, and employee development initiatives.
• Experience collaborating directly with founders, executives, and senior leadership on strategic HR decisions.
• Strong judgment and decision-making capabilities, adaptable to limited data and evolving priorities.
• Proactive ownership mentality focused on execution, problem-solving, and ongoing improvements.
• Excellent communication skills, able to influence stakeholders at all levels effectively.
• Comfortable in dynamic settings requiring the creation and implementation of new systems and processes.

Benefits

• Competitive total annual remuneration ranging between USD 40,000 and 90,000, encompassing base salary, performance bonuses, and equity potential.
• Fully remote working arrangement offering the flexibility to work from any preferred location.
• An opportunity to shape and engineer the personnel infrastructure of an expanding business.
• High degree of autonomy, ownership, and engagement with executive leadership.
• A meaningful role dedicated to team development, enhancement of employee experience, and business scalability.
• A flexible and distributed workforce culture centered on trust, accountability, and outcome orientation.

Additional Information

The hiring process includes an AI-supported selection method to ensure quick, unbiased, and equitable evaluation of applications against key criteria. The shortlisted candidates are referred directly to the employer, who manages subsequent interviews and evaluations. Data privacy is maintained under GDPR and applicable laws. AI tools may be used to aid in processing applications and evaluating candidates but do not substitute human decision-making.