Director of People Operations

Role Overview

We’re looking for a Director of People Operations to help scale our HR operations function as Chainguard grows and expands internationally. This role will lead our People Operations team, and will own the core employee lifecycle processes — onboarding, offboarding, compliance training, and job changes — as well as our expansion into new countries.

What You Will Do

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.

Why It Might Be a Fit

This role will be central to Chainguard’s international expansion, building the processes and infrastructure to support employees well, in every country we operate in, while also making HR Operations a more helpful, visible partner to the business day to day.

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

Benefits

• Flexible & Remote-First Culture
• 100% Covered Health Insurance
• ∞ Flexible Time Off
• 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave