Head of People Operations

About the role

Onodrim is building Europe's largest defence and industrial platform. We acquire specialist manufacturers in critical defence and dual-use supply chains, then invest behind their growth with capital, technology and operating know-how.

Onodrim is growing through acquisition, and every deal we do is ultimately a people decision. As Head of People Operations, you'll make sure we understand the people, leadership and culture of a business before we buy it – and that its team is set up to thrive once we integrate.

About 70% of your time goes on our deal pipeline: people due diligence on targets, integration planning, and leading the people workstream through close and the first 100 days. The other 30% is spent building Onodrim's own people function – hiring, policies, processes and culture that every acquired team will join.

The two halves feed each other. What you build internally is the landing zone foreach acquisition; what you learn in each deal shapes how Onodrim's people model needs to grow.

What you'll do: platform (70%)

• Lead people due diligence. Assess each target's leadership, organisation design, key-person dependencies, culture, compensation and benefits, contracts, pensions, employee relations and HR compliance across jurisdictions.
• Spot the deal risks. Flag people-related liabilities and value risks early –retention exposure, misclassified contractors, unfunded obligations, works council or union requirements – and quantify them for the deal team.
• Shape the deal. Work with corporate development, finance and legal on deal structure, retention and incentive packages for founders and key staff, and the people terms of the SPA.
• Plan the integration. Build the people integration plan before close: org design, leadership appointments, harmonisation of terms, systems and payroll migration, and the Day 1 and first-100-days plan.
• Run the people work stream post-close. Lead integration on the ground – communications, consultation processes, onboarding into Onodrim, and any restructuring – handled fairly and lawfully.
• Retain the talent we bought. Identify the people who carry the value of each business and keep them engaged, informed and committed through the transition.
• Integrate cultures, not just contracts. Assess cultural fit during diligence and lead the work of bringing each team into how Onodrim operates, while keeping what made them good.
• Build a repeatable playbook. Turn each deal into a better template – diligence checklists, integration plans, communication templates – so we get faster and better with every acquisition.

What you'll do: Onodrim (30%)

• Build the people function. Set up the foundations a growing, multi-country business needs: HR policies, employment contracts, handbooks and compliance across the UK, Switzerland and the EU.
• Design the operating model. Shape the organizational operating principles, compensation and benefits frameworks that work for Onodrim today and can absorb acquired teams tomorrow.
• Own the people stack. Choose and run HRIS, payroll and benefits providers that scale across countries and acquisitions.
• Support hiring. Partner with leaders on workforce planning and recruitment, including roles like our Forward Deployed Operators.
• Develop leaders. Put in place performance management, feedback and development practices that suit a hands-on, results-driven team.
• Look after culture. Advise the leadership team on engagement, employee relations and culture, and act as a trusted adviser on sensitive people matters.

Requirements

What you'll bring

• At least 5 years' of experience working with people operations in complex environments.
• Hands-on M&A experience: you've led people due diligence and integration on multiple acquisitions, ideally in a buy-and-build, private equity-backed or serial-acquirer setting.
• Strong working knowledge of employment law and practice across continental Europe and UK, including TUPE, information and consultation, and works councils.
• Commercial and financial fluency: you can model the cost of harmonising terms, size a retention pool and explain people risk in deal-value terms.
• Experience building or scaling a people function in a growing business, not just running an established one.
• Credibility with founders, CEOs and deal teams, and the empathy to support employees through uncertain change.
• Clear, direct communication in English, written and spoken.
• Willingness to travel regularly to target and acquired companies across Europe.
• Right to work in the UK, Switzerland or the EU.

Nice to have

• We operate our business in English but fluency in one or more additional European languages – German, Dutch, Italian, Polish or French – especially helps when working with local teams and works councils.
• Experience integrating acquisitions in manufacturing, industrial or operations-heavy businesses, with frontline and unionised workforces.
• Background in M&A advisory, a Big Four people-transactions team, or a private equity portfolio operations role.
• Clearance in at least one of our operating countries.