People & Operation Manager

ZeitMind, the autonomous data engineer for the European mid-market About Zeit AI In the coming years, companies will replace their internal data teams with AI agents to run more efficiently. We will be the solution they'll use. ZeitMind connects to the systems companies already run (ERP, CRM, spreadsheets, internal databases), cleans messy data, runs analyses on its own and builds data applications. Every employee can then work with data in plain language, with no technical degree and no help from IT. Our customers use it to organise agricultural inventories, to schedule maintenance, crew and flights for jet operators, and to replace controllers' manual Excel reports.. Founded by Marvin and Leopold, both ex-Palantir. YC S24, backed by Oxford Seed Fund and Sequoia Scout. Customers in manufacturing, agriculture and aviation. Zero to €1M ARR in our first twelve months with six people. Small team, one room in Munich, regular team offsites. What This Role Is At our size, every hire shapes the company, and the team we build over the next year will decide how far ZeitMind goes. That's why this role matters so much to us. As our first People hire, you own how people join and grow at Zeit AI, from a candidate's first touchpoint to their first months on the team. You make hiring fast, personal and professional. You keep us compliant across Germany and the UK, and you build the People foundations we'll rely on at 20, 50 and 100 people. You work directly with Marvin and Leopold, shape the function from day one, and help make Zeit AI a place great people want to join and stay. Your Daily Business - no two days are alike - Recruiting in Ashby, end to end: job postings, sourcing support, screening, scheduling interviews, collecting feedback and following up with candidates. No candidate waits a week for an answer - Comfortable hiring for both technical and non-technical roles. You can run a process for a senior engineer as confidently as for a sales or ops hire, and you know what good looks like in each - Offers and contracts: you prepare offer slides that make candidates excited to say yes, and you draft and manage employment contracts through to signature - Candidate experience: every applicant, hired or not, leaves with a good impression of Zeit AI. You own interview guides, scorecards and the debrief rhythm with the hiring team - Onboarding: contracts, equipment, accounts and a first week that never feels improvised - Payroll and benefits: you run payroll with Project B, handle benefits and insurance, and keep finance up to date on headcount and people costs - HR systems and data: you own our People tools and keep employee records accurate and secure. You pull the numbers the founders need, such as time-to-hire, pipeline health and headcount plans - Compliance: you keep contracts, policies and processes in line with German and UK employment law and know when to bring in external counsel - Visa and relocation: you guide international hires through work permits, visas and moving to Munich if needed - People processes: you design how we run feedback, performance conversations and the operating rhythm, together with the founders - Team and culture: you lead offsites, team events, the office - Automation: you find the repetitive work in People Ops and automate it rather than just documenting it Your Skillset - what you bring to the table - 2+ years in People Operations, Recruiting, HR Generalist or Talent roles, ideally at a fast-growing startup or scale-up - Hands-on recruiting experience with an ATS. Ashby is a plus, but Greenhouse, Lever, Personio or similar count too - Solid working knowledge of German and UK employment law, contracts and payroll processes. - Very organised with real attention to detail. Contracts, payroll and candidate follow-ups are exactly where details matter - Excellent communication. You handle a senior candidate, a new joiner and a founder in the same afternoon and adjust for each - Strong ownership and a bias to action. You build the process when there isn't one yet - AI-native: you already use AI tools to work faster, and you're excited to automate People processes - German and English fluently - Munich, or ready to relocate. This role does not work remotely What We Offer - Full trust, maximum support. Full trust, maximum support. You build the People function from scratch - Munich is our hub. In-person by design, and we cover your relocation within Europe - Regular team offsites - Best tools, zero blockers. Daily lunch allowance, dinner covered in the office, Wellpass - €5k referral bonus if we hire someone you refer