Are you copy-pasting a generic “HR Manager” JD from a Fortune 500 and hoping it will land you a builder for a 50-person rocket ship? That’s a critical mistake. The role you need isn’t a rule-enforcer who updates policies on Fridays—it’s the architect of your company’s future. In a startup, people operations isn’t a back-office function; it’s a growth lever that protects runway, accelerates hiring velocity, and prevents culture debt from compounding.
This guide walks you—section by section—through crafting a job description that signals ambition, screens out administrators, and attracts a true founding People leader who will sit at the leadership table, shape operating rhythms, and build systems that scale.
The Mindset Shift: From Administrator to Architect
First, a Mindset Shift: You’re Not Hiring an “HR Manager”
The Administrator (what you don’t want):
The administrator profile is largely reactive. They spend their time responding to problems as they arise and maintaining whatever processes already exist. Their focus tends to center on compliance, policies, and payroll—the necessary but transactional aspects of people operations. Success, in their view, is measured by tasks completed, tickets closed, and employee handbooks updated, rather than by the long-term health or scalability of the organization.
The Architect (what you do want):
In contrast, the architect is proactive and forward-looking. Rather than maintaining existing systems, they design the organization for the next stage of growth, ensuring structure and strategy evolve with the company. They take culture seriously, codifying values into tangible behaviors and rituals while coaching leaders to embody them. Their energy is spent building scalable systems—whether in recruiting, performance management, or total rewards—often from the ground up. Most importantly, they measure success not by process completion but by business impact: faster and higher-quality hiring, stronger leadership bench strength, higher engagement, and lower regrettable attrition.
Why this matters: Your JD is a filter and a beacon. It should deter excellent administrators and excite world-class architects. Make it explicit that this leader reports to the CEO, partners with product and finance, and influences strategy—not just forms.
Deconstructing the Job Description
1) The Job Title: Words Matter
Use titles that signal scope and strategy: Founding Head of People, Head of People & Culture, or VP of People (if the bar is truly executive). Avoid titles like “HR Director/Manager” that imply a maintenance mandate. The title sets expectations and attracts candidates who think in systems, not checklists.
2) The Mission & The Opportunity: Sell the “Why”
Go beyond “About Us.” Speak to a builder’s ambition.
- Mission: What problem do you exist to solve? Why now?
- Stage: “We’ve hit PMF, raised Series A, and will scale from 45 → 120 in 18 months.”
- Opportunity: “Own People end-to-end. Design the org, craft our culture OS, and build a talent engine that compounds.”
- Business tie-in: “Your work improves hiring velocity, lifts productivity, and extends runway by reducing mis-hire and attrition costs.”
Cost of Mis-Hire ≈ Cash Comp + Recruiting / Onboarding + Lost Productivity + Team Drag
3) The Role: Paint a Picture of the First Year
Replace vague duties with concrete outcomes. Use 30-60-90 or “Year 1” milestones:
First 30–90 days
- Audit current practices across TA, onboarding, performance, total rewards, HRIS.
- Build trust with founders, managers, and ICs; map org design risks.
- Define a hiring plan tied to the operating model and burn. Stand up a structured, fair interview process.
First 6 months
- Codify values into a culture operating system (rituals, decision principles).
- Launch performance & career frameworks (levels, competencies, calibration).
- Establish a compensation philosophy aligned to market bands and equity strategy.
First 12 months
- Roll out leadership training for first-time managers.
- Define and instrument People KPIs: hiring velocity/quality, time-to-productivity, eNPS/engagement, regrettable attrition.
- Partner with Finance on workforce planning for the next funding horizon.
4) Responsibilities: Blending Strategy and Execution
Make it clear this is a builder-operator role.
Strategic Leadership
- Advise the CEO and exec team on org design, succession, and change management.
- Own the employee experience—from first touch to alumni.
- Champion DEI as a business strategy woven into hiring, promotion, and pay equity.
- Translate culture into operating mechanisms (all-hands, feedback cadences, decision rights).
Functional Design & Execution
- Talent Acquisition: Build a data-driven engine (scorecards, structured interviews, bar-raising loop).
- Onboarding: Design an experience that gets new hires to productivity quickly.
- HR Tech: Select and implement HRIS/payroll that scales; automate where possible.
- Total Rewards: Create cash/equity bands, leveling, and a transparent philosophy.
- Performance & Growth: Implement cycles, calibration, and L&D that grow leaders.
- Compliance: Establish lightweight, scalable guardrails that protect the company without slowing it down.
Phrase like a builder: not “manage payroll,” but “Select and implement HRIS/payroll to support multi-site growth.”
5) Ideal Candidate: Traits Over Checklists
Ditch the unicorn wish list. Describe how they work.
Experience
- Built or led People functions in a high-growth environment (e.g., scaled from ~50 → 200+).
- Hired and developed managers; implemented performance and rewards from first principles.
Mindset
- Systems thinker with a founder mentality. Comfortable with ambiguity and speed.
- Balances craft and pragmatism: ships the V1 now, iterates to V2/V3.
Skills
- Org design, workforce planning, and talent strategy.
- Coaching: can level up a new manager and pressure-test org proposals with the CEO.
- Analytical: uses data to prioritize, not just to report.
Attributes
- High EQ, low ego, trusted advisor.
- Clear communicator who writes operating docs that endure.
- Bias to action; knows when “good enough” protects runway.
Conclusion: The JD Is Your First Pitch
A great JD for a founding People leader isn’t a task list—it’s a strategic document. It should sell the mission, define outcomes, and attract a builder who can ship V1 systems that unlock scale. Think of it like software architecture: you’re choosing the person who will define patterns, guardrails, and interfaces for how your company works as it grows. Get this hire right and you gain a force multiplier—higher hiring quality and speed, stronger management, healthier culture, and a longer runway through lower regrettable attrition.
Don’t settle for a template. Invest the extra hour to describe your stage, your gaps, and the business outcomes that matter. Your future leadership bench—and company culture—depend on it. Now, open a blank doc and start architecting the JD that will attract the person who helps you build a company that lasts.
