Equal1 is a fast-growing quantum computing company operating across Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania, the US, and Canada. We are looking for an experienced, hands-on HR leader to take ownership of the HR function and help us scale: building on processes already in place, partnering with external consultants, and creating a consistent employee experience across multiple jurisdictions.
As Head of People, you will shape the culture, leadership capability, and people experience of Equal1 as we scale a world-leading, high-growth deep tech company over the next 18 months.
Main Duties and ResponsibilitiesHR foundations & scalingDevelop and continuously improve scalable HR foundations, including core processes, templates, and policies, appropriate for a high-growth technology company operating across multiple jurisdictions.
Ensure HR compliance fundamentals are robust and audit-ready (right-to-work, data privacy/GDPR, mandatory training where applicable, employee relations processes, and required record keeping).
Lead the evolution of compensation foundations, including salary bands/levelling, location-based benchmarking, internal equity, and annual review cycles.
Establish a simple, high-signal people metrics cadence (hiring funnel health, time-to-hire, retention, onboarding completion, engagement indicators) to support leadership decision-making.
Own HR systems and data governance, ensuring strong data quality, reporting, access controls, and compliant handling of employee data.
Partner closely with managers as a trusted advisor, equipping them to lead effectively through practical coaching on feedback, documentation, fair process, and clear communication.
Implement and run a lightweight performance and development framework (goal setting, reviews, calibration, promotions), providing a practical manager toolkit to enable consistency and fairness.
Own and continuously improve the end-to-end employee experience across the full lifecycle, from onboarding and probation through role/contract changes and offboarding, ensuring a consistent, high-quality and compliant approach across jurisdictions.
Help shape and scale Equal1’s culture and ways of working across distributed teams, strengthening internal communications and reinforcing a high-performance, values-led environment.
Own and continuously improve the recruitment process as we scale the team, partnering with hiring managers and leveraging our external recruiting support to ensure a consistent, efficient end-to-end hiring experience.
Partner with Finance and leadership on headcount planning, hiring budgets, approvals, and tracking.
Maintain hiring governance: offer process, compensation alignment, approvals, contract issuance, and onboarding readiness.
Coordinate work permits, relocations and cross-border hires with external providers; track renewals and compliance.
Own day-to-day HR operations across five jurisdictions, ensuring compliant and consistent practices while adapting to local requirements
Coordinate with external legal/HR advisors on employment contracts, templates, policy updates, renewals, and contract reviews.
Manage HR documentation and data integrity (contracts, amendments, policies, employee files)
Manage contractor/EOR engagements (onboarding, renewals, offboarding) in partnership with Finance/Legal, ensuring correct classification and documentation
Lead the set-up and ongoing management of benefits across jurisdictions
Establish clear internal processes for changes (joiners/leavers, salary changes, allowances, bonus inputs) to ensure accurate payroll execution.
Manage relationships with external providers for payroll and HR administration (including local payroll partners/EOR).
5+ years of progressive HR / People Operations experience, ideally in a scaling tech or R&D environment.
Experience working with Irish employment legislation and HR compliance requirements.
Demonstrated experience managing HR across multiple countries/jurisdictions, with strong comfort coordinating external legal, payroll and benefits providers.
Strong working knowledge of employment contracts and HR compliance fundamentals
Experience partnering closely with Finance (budgets, headcount planning, approvals, compensation inputs).
Excellent communication skills, sound judgement, and high discretion with confidential information.
Highly organised, resourceful, and comfortable operating with ambiguity and minimal supervision.
Experience building HR processes from “early stage” to “repeatable and scalable”.
Experience supporting recruiting operations and vendor management (agencies, contractors, embedded recruiters).
Experience working across additional jurisdictions we operate in (Netherlands, Romania, the US, and Canada) is a strong plus.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of progressive HR / People Operations experience in tech or R&D
- Experience working with Irish employment legislation and HR compliance
- Experience managing HR across multiple countries/jurisdictions
- Strong knowledge of employment contracts and compliance
- Experience partnering with Finance on budgets and headcount planning
- Excellent communication skills and sound judgement
- Highly organised and resourceful
What We Do
Equal1 Laboratories is accelerating the introduction of useful, cost effective quantum computers within a three-year time horizon. The company has developed a disruptive, scalable and cost-effective quantum computing technology, based on a commercially available silicon semiconductor process. Our solution uses nanometer-scale quantum dots to form qubits on a standard silicon CMOS process. Along with silicon qubits, we have integrated all functions required for a quantum processing unit (QPU) – the brain of the quantum computer – which operates at 3 kelvin with over 10 million transistors. This is the first integrated quantum processing unit of its kind. The company’s server-sized demonstrator, called Alice, uses the second generation, fully functioning QPU. Alice uses our 424 quantum-dot-array structure to demonstrate early indications of the impact this technology can have on AI applications. Equal1 is developing its silicon-based quantum computer technology in collaboration with University College Dublin, with hardware development laboratories in Fremont, California and a silicon design center at NovaUCD in Dublin, Ireland
