People Partner

The People Partner at SwiftSku is the whole function in one person — running the systems that keep the company compliant and organised, while also being the adviser managers turn to when they have a performance conversation to navigate or a team structure that isn’t working. You will be in the HRMS at 1pm and in a sensitive ER conversation at 8pm. That’s the role.

The role sits at the intersection of people, process, and systems — and is critical to delivering a reliable employee experience at scale.

We need someone who has scaled people functions before, not at a 5,000 person company with 20 HRBPs, but at a company that looked a lot like us — a 50+ headcount and growing steadily: fast, distributed, ambitious. Someone who can set up the infrastructure that lets us hire well, retain the people who drive outcomes, and build managers who don’t need hand-holding.

This is a builder role, not a maintainer role. If you need a fully staffed HR team and mature processes to do your best work — this isn’t the right fit.

WHO YOU ARE

• You have 8–15 years of HR/People experience, with meaningful experience owning a broad HR function in a growing organisation
• You have built or significantly improved HR infrastructure in a company that was scaling fast, you know what corners to cut and which ones you can't
• You have worked closely with founders and senior leaders and are comfortable being their people adviser, not just an HR service provider
• You to understand the business, team and context before jumping to a solution
• You think in systems, not transactions
• You solve the root problem, not the symptomYou are direct with founders and leaders, you give your view, disagree openly when needed, and commit fully once a decision is made
• You don't need a large HR team to do the work well. You can execute alongside the people you're enabling
• You are credible on the technical details, employment law, compensation mechanics, HRMS administration, payroll and compliance, without getting lost in them
• You care about people's outcomes. You measure yourself by what actually changes, not by programs launched
• You are comfortable operating in ambiguity and building structure where there isn't a perfect playbook
• You can move seamlessly between strategic people decisions and hands-on execution

WHAT WE OFFER

• A seat at the leadership table, not a support function that gets consulted after decisions are made
• Direct ownership of the People function, with the opportunity to shape how it evolves as SwiftSku grows
• The scope to improve and build the people function with leadership that will back the right calls
• Competitive compensation with meaningful equity, we will share the upside with the people who build it
• A company that genuinely cares for its people, the decisions you make will help define the culture for years

ROLE DETAILS

People Infrastructure

The foundation that makes everything else possible

• Own and continuously improve the people operations framework: processes, policies, employment structures and employee lifecycle
• Own Keka as the HR system of record: data integrity, workflows, reporting and adoption
• Maintain and improve documentation standards across the employee lifecycle
• Own payroll operations and ensure payroll inputs, validation and processing are accurate and timely Identify gaps in existing people infrastructure and build simple, scalable solutions
• Ensure the company remains compliant as we grow across locations and geographies

HR Business Partnership
Strategic counsel to leadership and founders

• Act as a trusted adviser to founders and the leadership team on people matters
• Partner with leaders on organisational decisions, team health, performance, difficult cases and growth trade-offs
• Make people data useful: surface patterns, flag risks and present options
• Own sensitive Employee Relations matters end-to-end: investigations, documentation and resolution, with consistency and without unnecessary escalation
• Represent the employee perspective in leadership decisions, not as a blocker, but as someone who helps the company make better calls
• Spend time with leaders to understand their teams and help them become better managers
• Build credibility across the organisation so employees and managers see People as a trusted partner

Culture & Engagement
Distributed by structure, connected by intention

• Own the engagement signal: pulse cadence, synthesis and action, not just survey scores, but what changes because of them
• Build and improve the rituals and systems that sustain culture as we grow
• Own recognition and engagement initiatives that are meaningful rather than performative
• Maintain a flight-risk radar and work with leaders on proactive retention before people have already decided to leave
• Be the honest voice in the room about culture drift: call it when you see it, propose solutions and track whether they're working

Compensation, Payroll & Rewards

• Own payroll operations end-to-end, ensuring inputs are collected, validated and processed accurately and on time
• Build and maintain compensation bands that provide consistency across offers, promotions and raises
• Partner with leadership on compensation decisions and ensure they are grounded in a clear framework
• Build and manage the annual compensation review process
• Review and improve the benefits approach as the organisation scales

Talent & Hiring

• Partner with hiring managers and leadership to define role scopes, success profiles and hiring bars before roles open
• Partner with the TA function to ensure hiring processes are structured, consistent and aligned with organisational needs
• Work with leadership on workforce planning and anticipate future people requirements 2 - 3 quarters ahead rather than reacting to headcount pressure
• Own and continuously improve the new hire experience, from offer acceptance through onboarding and early integration
• Ensure new employees understand how the organisation works, what is expected of them and how they can succeed

Manager Effectiveness

• Define what good management looks like at this company: expectations, cadences, and non-negotiables, and make them explicit, not assumed
• Build the enablement layer: toolkits, templates, and coaching that give managers what they need to run their teams well (1:1s, feedback, performance conversations, hiring decisions)
• Coach managers through feedback, performance conversations, hiring decisions and difficult people situations
• Diagnose manager gaps systematically and drive structured improvement plans with accountability, not just advice
• Build a feedback loop between team health signals and manager behaviour, so problems surface before they become attrition

Performance & Org Design

• Own the performance cadence: lightweight, consistent, and actually run
• Drive goal-setting discipline across the org: every employee knows what they’re accountable for and how their work connects to company outcomes
• Support leaders on performance decisions — not by making the call for them, but by ensuring they have the right framework, documentation, and consistency
• Advise leadership on org design: team structure, role clarity, decision rights, and span of control — especially during rapid headcount growth
• Build and maintain clear career paths so employees understand how they can grow within the organisation
• Develop succession planning for critical roles and capabilities as the organisation matures
• Own the improvement and exit framework: structured, documented, and executed fairly across geographies
• Help leadership identify where the organisation needs more structure, where it needs less, and what should change as we scale

People Programs & Compliance

• Own and continuously improve core people policies and processes rather than creating complexity for its own sake
• Identify future People priorities, including L&D, as the organisation's needs evolve
• Oversee POSH compliance and the internal committee