5-7 years of HR experience in a standalone or carve-out environment
Proven track record in building HR infrastructure from scratch
Bilingual in English and Spanish, with international HR experience
Hands-on experience with HRIS implementation, preferably HiBob
Strong judgment and ability to operate independently in ambiguous situations
Experience managing TSA exits and payroll/benefits transitions
Full-cycle recruiting experience, directly sourcing and closing candidates
Responsibilities
Design and implement the company's HR infrastructure from the ground up
Lead the HR workstream for the TSA exit plan, ensuring timely cutover of systems
Set up payroll and benefits administration for a multi-country workforce
Ensure compliance with local labor laws across the U.S., Mexico, and Panama
Own the HR integration for future acquisitions, harmonizing policies and practices
Manage employee relations and compliance operations across all locations
Run end-to-end recruiting for all open roles, establishing hiring infrastructure
Benefits
Flexible work environment
Opportunity to shape the HR function from inception
Direct impact on company culture and employee experience
Collaboration with executive leadership
Professional development opportunities
Potential for future team expansion as the company grows
Full Job Description
The Head of HR will be Tideworks' first and, initially, only HR hire - responsible for building and running the entire people function from the ground up while the business operates under a Transition Services Agreement with its former parent. This is a true solo generalist role to start: the same person who sets HR strategy also runs payroll, sources and interviews candidates, and answers an employee's benefits question. It is not a steady-state HR leadership role; it is a hands-on build-and-exit mandate that requires equal parts strategic judgment and personal execution, since there is no team to delegate to at launch.
The ideal candidate has done much of this before - stood up payroll, benefits, HRIS, and policy infrastructure for a newly separated entity or a startup and operated without a supporting team. They are comfortable being the lead HR voice in the room from day one, making judgment calls under ambiguity, and then rolling up their sleeves to execute the administrative and transactional work themselves - including full-cycle recruiting.
What You'll Own:
Carve-Out Build & TSA Exit
Design and stand up: Build the company's standalone HR infrastructure from scratch: HRIS, time & attendance, leave administration, and core policies/handbook.
Lead the transition: Collaborate with operating partners, the CFO, and the TMO to execute the HR workstream of the TSA exit plan - sequencing cutover of payroll, benefits, and systems away from the parent company well ahead of the 12-month deadline, with contingency planning for anything that risks running past it.
Implement systems: Set up HiBob HRIS, payroll, and benefits vendors/brokers appropriate for a ~120-FTE, multi-country employer, balancing cost, compliance, and speed to independence.
Own payroll & benefits administration: Lead end-to-end payroll and benefits operations across the U.S., Mexico, and Panama, including payroll processing and reconciliation, benefits administration, employee changes, and coordination with Finance. Manage PEO, EOR, payroll, and benefits partners during the transition period, and design and execute the eventual migration to standalone, in-house payroll and benefits administration as the company's infrastructure matures.
Multi-Country HR & Compliance
Maintain compliance: Ensure compliant employment practices across the U.S. (WA and FL primarily), Mexico, and Panama, including local labor law, statutory benefits, contractor arrangements, and termination requirements - partnering with legal and finance on structural decisions (e.g., entity vs. EOR) as needed.
Manage EOR/PEO relationships: Serve as the primary point of contact for Employer of Record or PEO partners, ensuring a smooth employee experience and clean handoffs as/if the company's own infrastructure comes online in those markets.
M&A Integration
Lead people integration: Own the HR integration workstream for future tuck-in acquisitions, including harmonizing payroll, benefits, HRIS, and policies; mapping compliance requirements in newly added countries; and running clear, empathetic employee communications through the transition.
Foundational People Programs & HR Operations
Employee data migration & records: Own the secure transition and validation of employee records, compensation/history data, payroll data, benefits elections, leave balances, personnel files, and other required HR records from the parent company's systems into the standalone environment.
Stand up total rewards: Establish pragmatic compensation governance, market benchmarking practices and job/leveling principles appropriate for the company's size and growth stage.
Build core programs: Implement onboarding, performance management, and career development practices suited to a lean, standalone SaaS organization.
Manage employee relations & compliance operations: Handle day-to-day employee relations, workplace investigations, leave administration (e.g., FMLA and equivalents), workers' compensation, and required labor law postings/notices across all locations.
Shape culture & communications: Own internal HR communications, employee handbook maintenance, and culture-building initiatives appropriate for a newly independent company finding its own identity.
Partner with leadership: Serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and leadership team on organizational design, workforce planning, and people strategy as a newly independent company.
Full-Cycle Talent Acquisition
Run all recruiting: Own recruiting end-to-end for all open roles - writing job descriptions, sourcing, screening, coordinating interviews, managing offers, and running onboarding - across the U.S., Mexico, and Panama.
Build hiring infrastructure: Stand up the basic infrastructure needed to hire efficiently as a standalone company (careers page, applicant tracking, offer templates) and manage relationships with any external recruiting agencies as needed.
HR Function Design
Evaluate future team structure: Assess the company's evolving people needs and recommend the right shape, timing, and sequencing for any additional HR headcount, building the business case and operating model for leadership's approval.
International HR experience: Experience running HR for an internationally distributed workforce, including working with Employer of Record or PEO providers. Basic familiarity with LatAm labor laws required; experience with other international employment practices is a plus.
Bilingual English/Spanish: Spanish fluency strongly preferred given the company's employee population in Mexico and Panama.
Carve-out or stand-up experience: Prior experience building or materially rebuilding an HR function or infrastructure in a carve-out, spin-off, newly independent business, startup, or similarly complex transformation environment strongly preferred.
Transition experience: Experience managing a TSA exit, payroll/benefits migration, entity transition, HR systems separation, or similarly complex HR infrastructure transition strongly preferred.
M&A integration experience (a plus): Prior experience leading HR diligence and post-close integration for an acquisition (harmonizing payroll, benefits, systems, and culture) is a plus, given the likelihood of future tuck-ins.
HRIS implementation experience: Hands-on experience implementing an HRIS from the ground up; experience specifically with HiBob is a plus.
Hands-on recruiting experience: Proven full-cycle recruiting experience - sourcing, interviewing, and closing candidates directly, not solely overseeing a recruiting team.
Solo operator mindset: Demonstrated ability to operate as an individual contributor at senior altitude - comfortable doing payroll administration, benefits enrollment, and recruiting personally, not only directing others to do it.
PE-backed company experience: Comfort with a PE ownership structure, board/operating-partner reporting, and the pace and ambiguity typical of portfolio-company environments.
Strong judgment under ambiguity: Sound judgment on when a decision is genuinely strategic versus purely administrative - and the versatility to execute both personally.
Relevant industry experience (a plus): Experience in SaaS/software companies, or in marine port, maritime, logistics, or broader transportation infrastructure businesses, is a plus.
