Position Summary
Vaulted Deep is hiring a strategic, business-minded people leader to build and lead its people function as the company scales from Series A through Series B and beyond. Reporting directly to the CEO and sitting on the leadership team, the Head of People will shape Vaulted Deep's culture and talent strategy, serve as a trusted advisor to the CEO and executive team, and build a people function spanning the full employee lifecycle. The successful candidate will have the opportunity to define what a high-performing people function looks like for a fast-growing, multi-site organization.
People Strategy, Culture & Executive Partnership
• Partner with the CEO to define and operationalize a holistic people philosophy, translating company mission, vision, and values into tangible people strategy, programs, and day-to-day practices.
• Serve as a trusted strategic advisor to the CEO and executive team on organizational design, talent, and culture, bringing independent judgment and sound business instincts to key decisions.
• Own the ongoing evolution of company culture. Develop people metrics and dashboards to make organizational health measurable and track progress.
• Prepare people-related materials and analysis on a monthly and quarterly basis for the leadership team and board.
• Organizational Development & Workforce Planning
• Conduct ongoing organizational assessments to confirm the company has the right talent in the right roles, partnering with leaders to identify and close capability gaps.
• Partner with functional leaders to evaluate team structure, levels, and headcount needs over a multi-year horizon, accounting for planned expansion into additional operating sites.
• Evaluate and manage leveling frameworks, career pathways, and individual development plans (IDPs) that support internal mobility and promotion readiness.
• Lead organizational design and change management initiatives - including restructures and new-site stand-ups - proactively anticipating and managing sources of resistance.
• Facilitate periodic leadership team effectiveness assessments, engaging external executive coaching or assessment resources where appropriate.
Talent Management & HR Business Partnership
• Serve as strategic HR business partner to people managers, advising on team composition, succession planning, and critical talent decisions.
• Provide direct, hands-on coaching to leadership team members and people managers
• Evaluate and improve performance management frameworks, including goal-setting, feedback, and calibration practices appropriate in a fast-growing organization.
• Manage and inform talent acquisition strategy, partnering with hiring managers to maintain a consistent, high-quality hiring process across roles.
• Build learning and development programs, with a focus on enabling manager and leader effectiveness.
• Develop succession plans and leadership pipelines for key roles across the organization.
Total Rewards, HR Operations & Compliance
• Enhance Vaulted Deep's total rewards philosophy, including compensation structure, bonus design, equity guidelines, and benefits programs
• Own core HR systems and infrastructure, ensuring accurate records and efficient, scalable processes.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment law across all current and future operating locations, including wage-and-hour, leave, and recordkeeping requirements.
• Evaluate and strengthen people metrics and dashboards (e.g., turnover, time-to-fill, engagement, pay equity) to inform strategy and support board and investor reporting.
• Manage HR vendor, broker, and PEO relationships, evaluating and negotiating contracts
• Partner with Finance on HR budget planning and ongoing management.
Employee Relations & Field Operations Partnership
• Own sensitive and complex employee relations matters, including investigations, performance issues, and terminations, applying sound judgment and current employment law knowledge.
• Partner closely with Operations leadership to ensure field teams across current and future operating sites are supported, engaged, and positioned to succeed.
• Build people practices, policies, and employee relations capability tailored to an hourly, multi-site, industrial workforce, including experienced handling of on-site incidents (e.g., safety violations, substance-related issues, workplace conflict).
• Partner with Operations and EHS/Safety functions on workforce-related safety programs, workers' compensation administration, and incident response processes.
• Champion fair, consistent treatment and meaningful career pathways for all employees, ensuring people investment extends equitably across the full organization.
Team Leadership
• Hire, onboard, and lead a small people team, with scope designed to complement this role's strengths (e.g., HR operations, compliance, or total rewards ownership).
• Manage the transition from the company's current fractional-led HR function to a permanent people function, determining what is brought in-house versus outsourced.
Qualifications
Required
• 10+ years of progressive People/HR leadership experience, including senior leadership experience at a venture-backed, high-growth company.
• Demonstrated success building and scaling a people function through a company's high growth period
• Direct experience operating in a founder- or CEO-led organization, serving as a close partner and advisor to that leader.
• Experience supporting an hourly, industrial, or multi-site field workforce in addition to corporate or technical employee populations, with comfort handling the realities of operating-site employee relations.
• Strong working knowledge of U.S. employment law, with hands-on experience managing complex employee relations matters and terminations.
• Demonstrated coaching skills, with a track record of coaching managers and employees.
• High emotional intelligence and sound judgment under pressure.
• Strong business acumen and an ownership mindset, with comfort operating in ambiguous, low-structure, fast-paced environments.
• Proven ability to lead organizational change and manage resistance to change.
• Experience building or overseeing core HR infrastructure, including compensation, benefits, HRIS, and compliance programs, whether personally or through a team.
• Experience presenting people data and analysis to executive leadership, with comfort supporting board or investor reporting.
• Excellent written, verbal, and executive-level communication skills.
Preferred
• Formal coaching certification (e.g., ICF or equivalent).
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent HR certification.
• Experience with HRIS upgrades.
• Experience with workers' compensation, OSHA, or EHS partnership in an industrial, manufacturing, or energy environment.
• Multi-state employment law experience
• Experience supporting international workforce expansion.
• Experience as a company's first or founding people leader, building a function from limited existing structure.
• Experience supporting M&A diligence or integration from a people/HR perspective.
• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Psychology, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
What You'll Gain
Vaulted offers comprehensive medical, dental, vision, and life insurance for our team members, putting safety, well-being, and health above all.
• A flexible workplace, with hybrid work options plus generous paid time off, paid leave options, and 13 company holidays to ensure our Vaulters have ample opportunity to rest and recharge.
• Employer-sponsored 401(k) plans with matching contributions, along with opportunities for career growth both within the company and beyond.
