Head of People

At Accel Club, we believe our people are what make the magic happen. They find, build and grow our brands, and how well we support them shapes how well we perform.
We're looking for a Head of People who can balance three things: lead the people function strategically, create a great place to work where people are enabled to thrive, and take ownership of the day-to-day running of HR.
This is a permanent role reporting to the CEO and will sit on the senior leadership team alongside the COO, CFO and CCO. You will own the people strategy and day-to-day HR, and build a lean, scalable HR function using technology and automation.
- Location: Europe (hybrid from Amsterdam or Belgrade), with regular travel
- Team: 6 direct reports across Talent Acquisition, HR Operations and Payroll
- Company headcount: About 115 employees and contractors worldwide, with a core hub in Belgrade
Responsibilities
People Strategy:
- Develop and own the People Plan and EVP, aligned to the business plan.
- Advise the CEO, leadership and investors on organizational design, workforce planning and change.
- Own and report analytics on people related metrics (headcount, cost, attrition, time-to-fill, engagement) and act on them.
- Own the people budget: salaries, benefits, L&D, engagement and immigration.
Talent acquisition:
- Lead the TA team and improve hiring speed and quality.
- Own and develop the employer brand across the careers page and social media.
- Performance, development and reward:
- Run the performance review cycle and coach line managers.
- Own compensation and benefits: pay structures, grades and benchmarking. Design and run bonus and incentive schemes.
- Manage L&D, including leadership and management development.
Culture and engagement:
- Build a culture aligned to our values, where collaboration and transparency are welcomed, and people take ownership.
- Own and enhance the employee experience, from onboarding to team events.
HR operations and compliance:
- Ensure compliant employment in every country (employees, contractors, EOR).
- Own HR systems and data, and keep them GDPR-compliant.
- Oversee payroll across entities and providers with Finance.
- Maintain contracts, policies and the employee handbook.
- Handle employee relations, restructuring and consultation under local law.
Requirements
- 8+ years in HR, including 3+ years leading the people function in a company of 100+ people.
- Experience in a scale-up or investor-backed business going through change.
- Knowledge of international employment: remote workers, contractors and EOR.
- A track record of resetting an HR team: setting clear accountabilities and coaching people to step up.
- Reward expertise: benchmarking, grading, bonuses, and equity or retention plans.
- Sound judgement on data protection and HR systems.
- A business-oriented mindset that links people's decisions to the numbers.
- Fluent English.
Nice-to-have:
- Background in e-commerce, consumer brands, retail or marketplaces.
- Experience with post-investment or M&A integration.
- Experience in CEE, especially Serbia.
- A second language
- An HR qualification.
Hiring Process
The entire process should take around 3-4 weeks.
- #### HR Interview
Don’t sweat too much! This call is just so you can get acquainted with our mission, values, and culture, as well as the team structure and role expectations. Just be yourself, and you’ll do fine!
- #### Manager Interview
In this interview, you’ll get to meet your future boss. They’ll want to hear about your skills, past projects, and how you’d tackle the specific challenges of this role.
- #### Final Interview
At this stage, you’ll meet with senior management to discuss career goals and clarify any remaining details about the role.