Director of People Operations

Chainguard

3h • $204,000 - $240,000 • Remote

About The Position

Chainguard is seeking a Director of People Operations to scale its HR operations function as the company grows and expands internationally. This role will lead the People Operations team and oversee core employee lifecycle processes such as onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and job changes. A key responsibility will be managing the company's expansion into new countries, including the UK, Canada, and Germany, with more planned for the following year. The Director will collaborate with Finance and Legal to ensure compliant operations, payroll, and employee support in each new region. The position also involves making HR Operations more accessible to employees and leveraging AI to enhance processes and the employee experience.

Requirements

• 8–10+ years in HR/People Operations, including 3+ years in a leadership/management capacity
• Proven ownership of HRIS strategy — has led an implementation, migration, or major optimization (Workday, Rippling, ADP, or similar)
• Experience owning the full employee lifecycle: onboarding, offboarding, org changes, data integrity, and process design
• Background managing HR compliance operations — I-9s, leave administration, policy administration, audits
• Experience standing up or scaling a people ops function in a high-growth SaaS or startup environment
• International experience required, particularly across EMEA; experience in Japan, Singapore, or South America is a strong plus
• Direct experience opening new international entities and standing up HR compliance and operations in new countries
• Experience partnering with or managing an Employer of Record (EOR) for international employees
• A collaborative, solutions-oriented approach — this role needs to be a "yes, how can I help" partner to the business, not a bottleneck or blocker
• Strong track record managing and developing a team
• Comfort operating with some ambiguity and building process where it doesn't yet exist

Responsibilities

• Own and scale Chainguard's core employee lifecycle processes, including onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and updates for promotions and job changes
• Lead the People Operations team, currently one manager with two direct reports
• Make HR Operations more visible and accessible to employees
• Lead the operational work of opening new legal entities internationally, including the UK, Canada, and Germany, and additional countries planned for next year
• Own the ongoing maintenance of HR operations and compliance across all countries where Chainguard operates
• Partner cross-functionally with Finance and Legal to navigate the compliance, payroll, and legal constraints of operating in each new country
• Manage and expand our partnership with our Employer of Record (EOR) provider, given our reliance on remote employees across roughly 19 countries
• Build scalable People Operations processes, templates, and resources as the function and company grow
• Bring strong AI fluency to the function, using AI to design smarter, more efficient People Operations processes and improve the employee experience.

Benefits

• Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
• Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options.
• We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
• Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
• 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child's first year.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: No Education Listed