Vice President, People

Novo is a venture-backed fintech company dedicated to simplifying banking for small businesses. Since its beta launch in Fall 2018, Novo has expanded its offerings beyond free checking accounts and debit cards to include lending products, essential business tools like invoicing and bookkeeping, and various integrations. Currently, Novo serves over 250,000 small businesses as a comprehensive banking platform, having processed billions in transactions through partnerships with established banking institutions. The company's vision is to become the primary platform for small businesses, supporting them from inception through daily operations, enabling entrepreneurs to focus on growth while Novo manages seamless financial transactions, storage, and capital access. Novo has secured $170 million in venture capital from prominent investors such as Stripes, Valar Ventures, Crosslink Capital, and Notable Capital.

Novo is seeking an experienced and driven people leader to spearhead the company's talent, culture, and overall people strategy. This pivotal role is essential for attracting, nurturing, and retaining the talent that supports over 250,000 small businesses and fuels Novo's rapid expansion. The ideal candidate will be a hands-on, employee-focused leader capable of managing core people functions—talent acquisition, people operations, performance management, and culture—while acting as a strategic advisor to the executive team within a dynamic and regulated fintech landscape. This position offers significant impact, high visibility, and direct engagement with the executive team and board.

People Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and implement a people strategy that aligns with Novo's mission, growth targets, and operational plans.
• Act as a key strategic partner to the executive team, offering insights on organizational structure, staffing levels, and people-related decisions to inform major business strategies.
• Collaborate with leadership to define long-term growth strategies, workforce planning, and company-wide staffing initiatives.
• Lead, mentor, and enhance the capabilities of the existing people and recruiting team, fostering a high-performing function that can scale with the company's growth.

Talent Acquisition

• Create integrated and comprehensive recruiting strategies to attract top-tier talent, support expansion, and bring in new expertise.
• Scale and continuously refine the hiring process to attract the best candidates while ensuring an outstanding candidate experience.
• Partner with hiring managers and leadership to define job roles, establish leveling frameworks, and plan hiring across the expanding organization.
• Implement the necessary systems, tools, and metrics to operate an efficient, data-driven recruiting function.

Culture & Employee Experience

• Cultivate and champion Novo's employee-centric culture, establishing a foundation of empowerment, accountability, and trust throughout the organization.
• Design and execute an engaging strategy for a growing, geographically dispersed team.
• Introduce innovative policies and processes that promote a culture of peer-to-peer feedback and recognition.
• Build strong relationships across the company, collaborating with leaders to achieve shared objectives through a clear and well-communicated people strategy.

Performance & Development

• Lead and innovate the performance management and review process to empower employees and support their professional and personal development.
• Establish clear career paths, leveling structures, and development programs to support employees at all career stages.
• Develop manager capabilities and leadership programs to cultivate future leaders within Novo.
• Utilize people data to assess engagement, retention, and performance, informing continuous improvement efforts.

Total Rewards & People Operations

• Oversee the compensation, benefits, and total rewards philosophy, ensuring competitive offerings while managing costs effectively.
• Manage people operations, including onboarding, HRIS, and the employee lifecycle, developing scalable systems and processes.
• Collaborate with the Finance department on headcount planning, compensation budgeting, and people-related financial forecasting.

Compliance & Risk

• Ensure all people practices, policies, and programs adhere to relevant employment laws and regulatory requirements in all operating jurisdictions.
• Partner with Legal, Risk, and Compliance teams to navigate the specific requirements of a regulated financial services company, including those related to hiring and workforce management.
• Identify, evaluate, and mitigate people-related risks across the business.

Strategic Planning & Budgeting

• Contribute to strategic planning for future people needs and the company's overall operational roadmap.
• Develop and manage the people and recruiting budget, optimizing expenditures while ensuring teams have adequate resources.

• A minimum of 12-18 years of progressive experience in people, HR, and talent acquisition roles, including at least 3-5 years in a senior people leadership capacity, preferably within fintech, financial services, or high-growth technology sectors.
• Proven experience in building and developing cultures within high-growth companies or startups, and scaling people and recruiting functions in fast-paced environments.
• Demonstrated success in scaling a company's hiring process to attract top talent, with experience building effective teams in a high-growth setting.
• Experience leading and developing people and recruiting teams, and collaborating with executives on organizational design, workforce planning, and culture initiatives.
• A solid understanding of performance management, total rewards, people operations, and the policies necessary to support a growing, distributed workforce.
• A strong ability to lead and motivate teams, manage complex cross-functional projects, and communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executive leadership and the board.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, coupled with high emotional intelligence and a genuine, people-first approach.
• Comfortable managing multiple priorities, juggling simultaneous projects, and adapting to shifting business needs.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, evolving startup environment.
• A Bachelor's degree is required; an advanced degree or relevant professional certifications (e.g., SHRM-SCP, SPHR) are preferred.