People Lead

You're scaling fast. Your People function isn't.

Hiring is chaotic. Onboarding is inconsistent. People don't know how they're evaluated or how to grow. Your early culture is fading as you add headcount.

You need a senior People leader who can build the entire function from scratch—not just hire, but design the systems that make your company a place people love and rave about.

I own People & Culture end-to-end: hiring, onboarding, performance, compensation, growth, and culture. I build scalable systems that attract top talent and turn culture into a competitive advantage.

Proven People leadership

• 5 years as VP People at Celebrate, building a 30+ person multi-team unit
• €500k P&L ownership and business KPI accountability
• Led teams: Coaches, People Development, Campus Services, Campus IT

Strategic and hands-on

• Translate business goals into People roadmaps (structured around autonomy, mastery, purpose, belonging)
• Get execution right, no half-baked rollouts
• Builder mindset: designed goal alignment, decision-making, feedback, performance, and leveling frameworks from scratch

Tech and data fluency

• Leverage tools and metrics (eNPS, retention, referrals, time-to-productivity) to guide decisions
• Data-driven, not data-paralyzed
• Automation and AI-native people ops

High EQ and trust

• Known for creating psychological safety, clarity, and resilience
• Recognized for calm, precise leadership through pandemic, short-time work, and layoffs

[Read my full CV]

• People strategy that directly supports business growth
• Hire and retain top talent: time-to-hire <30 days, referrals >25%, regrettable attrition <5%
• Scalable People ops that "just work" without bureaucracy
• Leadership programs that make people in leadership roles truly effective
• Clear frameworks: compensation, performance, career paths that attract and retain
• Company culture people talk about with pride: eNPS 80+

• Design and scale the People function (People ops, L&D, performance, compensation, employer branding, office management, team coaching).
• Lead and grow the People team (if and when needed)
• Partner with founders/leadership on strategic workforce planning.
• Oversee compliance and legal frameworks across jurisdictions.
• Be the central sparring partner for leadership on people challenges.

1. Gini (25→50 people) First senior people function hire. Mentoring the rest of the function. Created a network of autonomous self-managing teams. Authored the Gini Handbook covering structure, processes, and culture. Result: became a New Work role model that people still reference years later.
2. Celebrate (150→500 people) Co-led 30+ person People unit with €500k P&L. Designed and implemented org practices that kept culture alive during 3x growth including an acquisition. Maintained high engagement through pandemic, short-time work, and layoffs.

It's from these experiences that I distilled the 9 New Work by Design key practices.

You're the right fit if:

• You need to build or rebuild your People function
• You want end-to-end ownership, not a narrow specialist
• You value purpose, autonomy, and intrinsic motivation
• You're willing to invest in getting People systems right

You're not the right fit if:

• You want traditional compliance-focused HR only
• You're looking for someone to run an existing playbook without questioning it
• You want a large team immediately (I build lean, effective teams)
• You're not ready to invest in organizational change

• Ethos: purpose‑driven and values‑oriented cultures
• Size: 25‑500 employees (larger if scope, autonomy, values align)
• Industry: tech, ideally AI-native
• Location: EU-based remote-first or Munich-based hybrid
• Engagement: full-time, part-time, or fractional

If you're a founder thinking "we need a senior People leader who actually gets it," book a free first consultation or contact me via email.