Head of People, Applied Blockchain

• This role will suit someone comfortable both leading and, when required, rolling up their sleeves
• Proven experience leading an HR / People function (Head of People, HR Manager or similar)
• Strong grasp of the full employee lifecycle and HR best practice
• Comfortable with employment law across multiple jurisdictions — we hire internationally (single-country expertise not required)
• Familiar with how Employer of Record (EoR) hiring works
• A confident leader who's still happy to be hands-on at busy times
• Solid recruitment experience across hiring managers, external recruiters and interviews
• Experience line-managing others — this role has two direct reports
• Strong interpersonal skills, with the discretion to work directly with the CEO
• A self-starter who gets up to speed fast and works autonomously
• Comfortable adopting new tools, including AI-based ones
• Right to work in the UK (no visa sponsorship)
• The role involves handling situations under stress, and requires ability to deal with stressful situations
• Available for the full term, early September 2026 to mid-May 2027

Desirable

• This is a fixed-term role, running from early September 2026 until the second week of May 2027. The role exists solely to provide cover during the current post-holder's maternity leave, with a deliberate overlap at each end to allow a thorough handover in and out
• We are looking for an experienced People leader to cover our HR and recruitment function during a period of maternity leave. Reporting directly to the CEO, you will own the people strategy, lead the function, and manage and oversee in-house recruitment
• You will line-manage two team members — one who run day-to-day HR and one who handles recruitment — so this is primarily a leadership and oversight role, directing how the function operates rather than delivering every task yourself
• That said, the role stays close to the detail: you'll shape how onboarding, performance, wellbeing and 1-1s are run, and step in hands-on where needed, such as HR interviews at peak hiring periods
• People & HR. Own and oversee the employee lifecycle and people experience across the company, including:
• The performance review cycle
• Turnover risk assessment and retention
• Employee relations — grievances, disciplinaries and conflict resolution
• Compensation and benefits administration, and supporting the salary review cycle
• HR policies, the employee handbook and general employment-law compliance across the markets we hire in
• Training, development and coaching
• Team wellbeing resources and support
• People metrics and reporting to leadership
• Oversight of regular 1-1s across the team
• Employee surveys and acting on the findings
• Onboarding and offboarding
• Employment contracts, references and work-eligibility checks
• Absence, leave and family-leave management
• Exit interviews
• Maintaining HR records
• Recruitment. Manage and oversee in-house recruitment end to end:
• Coordinate with hiring managers on roles and requirements
• Own candidate experience and offer management
• Liaise with external recruiters and manage agency relationships
• Manage the applicant tracking system and candidate pipeline
• Track recruitment metrics (e.g. time-to-hire)
• Write and refine job descriptions and role scopes
• Shape and drive recruitment marketing and employer-brand strategy
• Hands-on CV review, interview scheduling and HR interviews at peak times
• Team leadership. Line-manage and develop two direct reports — the HR team member and the recruitment team member — and act as the point of escalation for people matters across the business