Head of Talent and People

Sardine•Berkeley, CA

6d•$250,000 - $300,000•Remote

About The Position

Sardine is looking for a Head of Talent & People to lead and grow our global team. This is a hands-on, player-coach role - you'll set direction and manage a full team of practitioners, while still staying close enough to the work to source a hard-to-fill candidate yourself, sit in on a tough employee relations conversation, or dig into a comp band directly. You'll own Talent, People Ops, and HR Business Partnering end-to-end, with a mandate to build pragmatic systems that scale with a fast-growing startup.

Requirements

12+ years in talent/recruiting and people roles, with real depth in talent
Experience running people function at fast-paced, high-growth tech startups
Proven experience managing a strong Talent and People team, ideally spanning both Recruitment and People Ops/HR - you know how to set direction, hold people accountable, and develop managers
Generalist range: you're equally credible talking about an offer negotiation, a comp band, a difficult employee relations issue, or a performance management
A player-coach mindset - you want to do the work, not just direct it
Excellent judgment and discretion; you build trust quickly with founders, execs, and employees at every level
Strong operating instincts: you build lightweight, scalable systems rather than heavy process
Based in the Bay Area, with the ability to work from our Berkeley office at least 2 days every week

Responsibilities

Lead and manage a team of Recruiters, People Ops/HR professionals, including any team leads within those functions
Set goals, priorities, and capacity plans across Recruitment and People Ops/HR
Coach, develop, and performance-manage team; build a bench of future team leads as the org grows
Own headcount planning across the organization
Create the operating rhythm for the team (standups, pipeline reviews, OKRs, hiring sprints) without over-processizing a still-scrappy function
Model the player-coach standard you expect from the team - jump into the work alongside them
Build and continuously improve our hiring process: interview loops, scorecards, calibration, and candidate experience
Partner directly with the CEO and Exec team on leadership hires. Own full-cycle recruiting for key leadership roles, including sourcing, screening, and closing candidates yourself
Build scalable sourcing channels and employer branding so Sardine competes for top talent without over-relying on agencies
Track and report on hiring metrics (pipeline health, time-to-fill, offer acceptance) and adjust strategy accordingly
Oversee the People Ops Lead and team who own the employee lifecycle (onboarding, offboarding, HRIS administration, benefits administration, and compliance) - ensure the function runs smoothly and scales with rest of the company
Manage and scale our existing performance review, compensation banding, leveling, and promotion cycle infrastructure - this is already built and robust; your job is to run it well, refine it as we grow, and make sure it stays credible with employees and managers
Ensure compliance with employment law across jurisdictions where Sardine has employees, in partnership with your People Ops team
Provide oversight and escalation support on vendor relationships (benefits brokers, payroll providers) that the People Ops Lead manages day to day
Act as a trusted advisor to managers and the leadership team on org design, team structure, performance management, and employee relations
Partner with leaders as an internal leadership coach
Handle employee relations issues with sound judgment, discretion, and fairness

Benefits

Generous compensation in cash and equity
Early exercise for all options, including pre-vested
Work from anywhere: Remote-first Culture
Flexible paid time off and Year-end break
Health insurance, dental, and vision coverage for employees and dependents - US and Canada specific
4% matching in 401k / RRSP - US and Canada specific
MacBook Pro delivered to your door
One-time stipend to set up a home office — desk, chair, screen, etc.
Monthly meal stipend
Monthly social meet-up stipend
Annual health and wellness stipend
Annual Learning stipend