People Operations Leader

⛰️ About Northslope

The generational companies of the next century will run on mission-specific AI software that compounds their competitive advantage, not commoditized SaaS. We purpose-build production AI applications that enable our customers to operate at the speed, scale, and margins of an enterprise software company, in any industry.

We're building something fundamentally different: software that's as adaptable as the businesses it serves, created by engineers who understand both code and customer.

🛠️ The Role

As Northslope's People Operations leader, you'll own the strategy and systems that shape how we attract, retain, develop, and support ~100 employees (and growing) across the US, UK, and Canada. This isn't an execution-only role, and it isn't about running someone else's playbook. You'll work directly with company leaders to define and drive Northslope's people strategy (compensation philosophy, org design, performance frameworks, benefits, culture) and then make it real.

But first, you should know: Northslope is not a typical organization, and this is not a typical People Ops role. We don't have titles, levels, or competency matrices. Each team member has their own unique set of spikes and owns their own growth path. We actively fight hierarchy wherever we can. We don't have traditional managers; we place full trust in every team member to achieve meaningful outcomes for the business. We value outcomes, not experience. That means the people systems you build here won't look like what you'd find at a conventional company. You'll need to start with the business need and work backward to the right solution, not reach for an off-the-shelf HR framework.

You'll set the direction on how we think about total rewards and equity as we scale past 200 people. You'll design the performance and feedback systems that keep a high-talent, flat team accountable and growing. You'll shape workforce planning as we expand into new markets and geographies. You'll own benefits strategy across multiple countries and ensure our offices (New York, London, Denver) are places people want to work. And when something needs to get done, whether it's a complex compliance question, a sensitive employee situation, or standing up a new process from scratch, you'll roll up your sleeves and do it yourself.

This role requires someone who has built people functions before, not just operated within them. You should be equally comfortable presenting a compensation philosophy to company leaders and troubleshooting a payroll issue across jurisdictions.

🎯 What We're Looking For

• 6+ years of Ops/People experience, with meaningful time spent in strategic roles at high-growth startups or fast-scaling companies. You've built or significantly evolved people functions, not just administered them. You have real opinions, informed by experience, about what good looks like.

• Strategic mindset with hands-on execution. You think in terms of systems, incentives, and organizational outcomes. You also don't consider any task beneath you. At Northslope, the person designing the comp philosophy is the same person fixing the benefits enrollment issue.

• Deep compensation & equity fluency. You understand how to build and communicate total rewards strategies (cash comp, equity including ISOs/NSOs, 409A, and vesting, benefits) in a way that drives retention and aligns incentives. Startup equity experience is strongly preferred.

• Org design & workforce planning experience. You've thought critically about how teams should be structured, where to invest in headcount, how roles evolve as companies scale, and how to maintain culture through rapid growth.

• Performance management design chops. You've built or significantly improved feedback cycles, performance frameworks, or career development systems. You know what works and what's theater.

• Benefits strategy ownership. You've led (not just administered) benefits programs: evaluating brokers, negotiating plans, benchmarking against market, and adapting across jurisdictions.

• Comfortable with multi-jurisdictional complexity. We have employees across the US, UK, and Canada. You're energized (not overwhelmed) by managing people operations across multiple countries and 10+ US states.

• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills. You build trust easily with people at all levels. You can explain complex topics (equity, comp bands, policy rationale) clearly and handle sensitive situations with empathy and discretion.

• Entrepreneurial ownership mindset. You don't need detailed instructions or constant check-ins. You see a problem, you own it end-to-end, and you drive it to completion. You're comfortable operating with ambiguity.

• Office-first. You're excited to work in-person from our New York office. We believe in-person collaboration makes us stronger.

💛 What We Offer

• Competitive base salary + equity in the form of stock options

• Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance (inclusive of dental and vision) and 401k matching

• Flexible hybrid work environment

• The opportunity to build solutions, systems, and software from the ground up as we scale

• A small, tight-knit team where your contributions directly impacts our ability to execute on our mission

• Occasional travel (less than 10% of your time) for company offsites where you'll connect with teams across our New York and London hubs

🛸 Our Principles

• Only Valuable Problems: Not every problem is worth solving. We work on the projects that will significantly improve our customers' bottom lines.

• Outcomes, Not Activity: We create value, not extract it. We focus on our business impact, not racking up billable hours.

• Forward Deployed Engineering: We never build in a vacuum. We go to the heart of the problem and build alongside our users.

• One size fits none. Generic software fails the most important customers. We build for the specific — the exact industry, workflow, data, and competitive context of the company we're serving.

🚠 Why Northslope

At Northslope, we're built different. We take pride in being more like a product startup than a traditional services firm. We value velocity, ingenuity, and grit, and we relentlessly focus on delivering tangible outcomes for our customers.

We also have fun. We get to work on big, hard problems, in a fast-paced environment, alongside sharp yet kind teammates who help us continuously grow and delight in one another's successes. We offer full benefits and all the perks you'd expect of a modern tech startup, and are a distributed global team with hubs in London, New York, and UAE.

📬 We hope you’re excited to join us and look forward to speaking with you soon.

Northslope is committed to building a strong, diverse team. We believe teams with a diversity of lived experience, background, and perspectives create better outcomes for our customers and are just more enjoyable to be part of. We are committed to creating and living a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout our work. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, religion, disability, pregnancy, age, military status, marital status, genetic characteristics or information, gender, gender identity, gender variance, or sexual orientation.