Founding People & Talent Lead

<h3>About the Role</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">A fast-growing, seed-stage AI company in Munich is hiring a <strong>Founding People &amp; Talent Lead</strong> to build the Talent and People function from the ground up. Operating in a large, underserved market, this company automates inside sales workflows — quoting, order processing, and customer inquiry handling — for distributors and manufacturers using AI.</p><p style="min-height:1.5em">This is a <strong>high-impact, hands-on founding role</strong> working directly with leadership. You'll own end-to-end recruiting while progressively shaping how the company onboards, develops, and retains exceptional people as it scales across the DACH region and beyond.</p><h3>What You'll Do</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Build and own the full hiring engine — leading recruiting end-to-end from role definition through to offer and close.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Spend the majority of your early time on Talent: sourcing and closing exceptional candidates across all functions.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Design and scale recruiting processes, analytics, workflows, and operating rhythms that enable fast, high-quality hiring.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Partner with founders and team leads to define role expectations, calibrate hiring decisions, and challenge org design.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Shape People systems over time — including onboarding, performance calibration, career progression, and compensation benchmarking.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Develop and own employer branding to attract top talent across the DACH region and beyond.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Build and nurture a pipeline network across universities, startups, and technical communities.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Leverage AI tools and experiment with new workflows to increase recruiting velocity and quality.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Champion a high hiring bar and implement standards-preserving measures as the team grows.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Contribute to company culture with a long-term retention and development mindset.</p></li></ul><h3>What We're Looking For</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Required:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">2–5 years of experience with meaningful time in Talent, People, or org development at a high-growth startup or scaleup.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Demonstrated experience leading end-to-end recruitment (role definition, sourcing, assessment, closing) in a hypergrowth context (e.g., 10→50 or 30→100 headcount).</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Structured thinker who can independently design, implement, and iterate on systems and processes.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Daily user of AI tools with a genuine curiosity to experiment with new recruiting workflows.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Strong storytelling and relationship-building skills with a proven track record closing senior candidates.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Ability to build employer branding and a talent network to attract top candidates in the DACH region.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Full fluency in English.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Nice to Have:</strong></p><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Experience with performance calibration and compensation benchmarking as part of scaling People operations.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">German language skills.</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em">Background in enterprise software, AI, or B2B SaaS environments.</p></li></ul><p style="min-height:1.5em">We actively encourage candidates who may grow into a broader People leadership role over time to apply.</p><h3>Location</h3><p style="min-height:1.5em">This role is <strong>on-site in Munich, Germany</strong>. Candidates must be based in or willing to relocate to Munich. <strong>Visa sponsorship is not available.</strong></p><h3>Compensation &amp; Details</h3><ul style="min-height:1.5em"><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Employment type:</strong> Full-time</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Stage:</strong> Seed (backed by a top-tier accelerator and institutional investors)</p></li><li><p style="min-height:1.5em"><strong>Team size:</strong> Early-stage (under 20 people) — you'll be a key early hire</p></li></ul><p>Find more <a href="https://www.arbeitnow.com/english-speaking-jobs">English Speaking Jobs in Germany</a> on Arbeitnow</a>