Senior People Operations Partner

About the role

This 12 month fixed term parental leave cover will help support our growing team. You’ll report to the Interim People Operations Manager, also based in Los Angeles, and work alongside an additional People Partner and newly created People Operations Coordinator role, both based in Sydney.

You’ll be the strategic People Partner for your assigned client group, accountable for making sure team structure, practices, and culture support Q-CTRL’s goals. As a scaling business, the role also carries hands-on operational ownership for your client group and for our locations in Germany, the UK, and the United States.

You’ll partner with exceptional technical teams across multiple countries, with the breadth to work on everything from workforce planning and organizational change to employee relations and People operations. It’s a role where experience and judgment make a real difference, and where you’ll have the room to use both. We’re also building AI and automation into how the People team works, and you’ll help shape where that goes next.

What you'll be doing:

• Lead workforce planning, talent management, and succession for your client group, aligning role design with business needs and reducing key person dependencies.
• Partner with leaders through organizational change, shaping both the approach and the communication so it lands well with employees.
• Use People data to spot issues early, diagnose root causes, and build solutions that hold up as priorities shift.
• Be actively involved in managing staff performance, including expertly navigating performance management cases of all levels of complexity for your client group.
• Build manager capability so leaders become a force multiplier for a consistent, positive employee experience.
• Act as the ‘on the ground’ People team liaison for your assigned locations, as well as be the local point of contact for any People related activities that happen in person (e.g. a physical presence onboarding of new starters, offboarding, training for cyclical activities etc). This may be outside of your client group.

Ideally you'll have:

• 8+ years of progressive People experience (this is purely a rough guide to give you an understanding of the seniority we are aiming for).
• Deep experience with complex performance management and employee relations, and strong working knowledge of US federal and California employment law.
• Heavy commercial focus and a proven track record of developing and implementing People programs that support business objectives.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, and the ability to influence across all levels.
• Sound judgment in balancing what employees want with what the business needs.
• A systems-first mindset and hands-on curiosity about AI and automation, with experience using HR technology to simplify operations at scale.
• Other duties within the Employee's skills and experience, or with reasonable training.

It would be fantastic if you have these skills/experience but not essential:

• Startup or scaleup experience, ideally in technology. Industry experience isn’t essential, but an understanding of how scaling businesses work will help you hit the ground running.
• Prior experience working with staff in multiple countries outside the US.
• Experience with UK and/or German labor laws would be an advantage.