HR Director

About Circit

Circit is a dynamic B2B SaaS company dedicated to establishing trust in business transactions by verifying the source of information. We are developing a global asset verification platform designed to empower auditors to enhance the quality of financial audits and dedicate more time to assisting businesses in creating value for all economic stakeholders. Our clientele includes major accounting firms, fund administrators, and prominent global banks and asset management service providers.

We are seeking a seasoned and commercially astute HR Director to establish and lead a scalable, compliant, and strategic People function. This is a critical leadership position within a rapidly expanding organization. The successful candidate will assume complete responsibility for the HR department, taking over decision-making authority from the COO and shaping the people strategy during a significant growth phase. This role offers an exceptional chance for an ambitious HR leader who thrives on collaboration to fully own the People function and make a substantial impact on a growing company. You will have the autonomy, support, and mandate to build a best-in-class HR function from the ground up.

Key Responsibilities

• Spearhead succession planning, workforce planning, and organizational design initiatives across the company.
• Implement and integrate a comprehensive 9-box performance and talent management framework.
• Transition full HR decision-making authority from the COO, establishing HR as a strategic business partner.
• Lead the selection and complete implementation of a new HRIS within the initial six months, replacing the current fragmented technology with a unified, scalable platform that enables automation, self-service, and robust management reporting.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive people data reporting framework, tracking key metrics such as attrition, performance, and hiring.
• Provide regular, data-driven insights to the senior leadership team to support informed business decisions.
• Oversee multi-country employment law compliance, with a strong focus on Irish and EU legislation, and establish structured legal and advisory support relationships.
• Ensure strict adherence to current GDPR data protection requirements and prepare the organization for the EU Pay Transparency Directive.
• Take accountability for all people-function controls within the SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001:2022 frameworks, ensuring HR processes align with Circit's certified control frameworks.
• Lead the preparation and provision of HR evidence for SOC 2 and ISO 27001 audits in close collaboration with the Compliance team, maintaining audit-ready documentation for all people controls.
• Drive a shift in the people management accountability model, empowering managers to take greater ownership of their team responsibilities and positioning HR as an enabling, advisory function.
• Design and implement a manager training and development program, defining content, standards, and success metrics.
• Establish a consistent and fair performance management framework and embed management practices that foster high performance and psychological safety.
• Protect and nurture the organizational culture throughout a period of sustained growth.
• Lead pay transparency readiness initiatives in line with EU Directive requirements and conduct annual salary benchmarking against Irish and European markets to ensure competitive pay ranges.
• Develop a transparent and equitable compensation framework and manage the annual salary review process, including timeline setting, budget definition in partnership with Finance and the COO, and ensuring consistent application.
• Partner with managers on pay decisions, market alignment, and ensuring all recommendations are commercially justified and equitably applied.
• Maintain documented salary bands for all roles, reviewed annually based on benchmarking.
• Provide hands-on Employee Relations (ER) advisory, leveraging strong UK and Irish employment law knowledge, with broader European law fluency being an advantage.
• Manage grievances, disciplinary actions, and investigations end-to-end, ensuring fair and legally sound outcomes.
• Coach managers to confidently handle routine ER matters, positioning ER as advisory.
• Offer early intervention and mediation support to de-escalate conflict and safeguard psychological safety.
• Oversee the strategic design of the onboarding program to effectively integrate new hires and accelerate time-to-productivity.
• Champion cohort-based onboarding to ensure consistency and scalability.
• Build a scalable learning and development infrastructure and identify critical product knowledge gaps with commercial impact.
• Provide structured development plans for the HR team and involve them in ER work and strategic HR projects.

Requirements

• A degree in Human Resource Management, Business, or a related field; a CIPD qualification (Level 7 or equivalent) is highly desirable.
• Extensive progressive HR experience, with a significant tenure in senior HR leadership roles.
• Demonstrated success in building or scaling an HR function within a growth-stage company (100-200+ employees).
• Practical experience leading an HRIS/HRMS selection and full implementation project.
• In-depth knowledge of Irish employment law, including the Employment Equality Acts, Unfair Dismissals Act, and GDPR.
• Experience managing compliance across multiple jurisdictions, including Ireland and at least one other European country.
• Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to align people strategy with business objectives.
• A confident and autonomous approach, capable of thriving in ambiguous, fast-paced environments.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, effective at C-suite and Board levels.
• A collaborative leadership style with a proven ability to retain and develop high-performing teams.
• Proficiency in HR analytics and the ability to translate data into actionable management insights.

Perks

• Competitive remuneration package.
• Opportunity to join a small, friendly team that values autonomy and self-management.
• Flexible working hours and remote work options.
• Significant potential for career advancement through hands-on experience.
• An environment that encourages freedom of expression.

Additional Information

This is an exciting opportunity for a versatile and highly motivated individual to contribute from the outset at a rapidly expanding company. We are committed to ensuring our employees are well-supported. If you have specific needs or priorities not listed, please discuss them with us.