People Operations Manager

Description

As our People Operations Manager, you are the architect of our internal team experience and our corporate foundation. Reporting to the COO, you will be driving our People Operations and the employee experience by balancing high-touch people management with high-stakes Business Operations. We are looking for a sharp, analytically-minded "fast-riser" who wants to master the internal mechanics of a Series B startup—from scaling our employee engagement and global benefits to managing equity grants and corporate governance.

Responsibilities

• People Operations: Own the end-to-end execution of the employee lifecycle, from seamless contracting and visa renewals to coordinating laptop procurement and supporting our monthly payroll and benefits cycles. Build and improve the operational systems that underpin People Ops and Business Ops: documenting processes, closing gaps, and designing workflows that hold up as we scale.
• Global Benefits: Serve as the primary point of contact for our team’s benefits across the Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as managing the ongoing coordination for our growing US and remote teams.
• Employee Experience & Analytics: Manage the administration and analysis of our employee engagement surveys. You will use these insights to execute initiatives that elevate the daily experience of being a "Cradler."
• Investor Relations & Equity: Act as the custodian of Cradle’s equity records and shareholder registries. You will administer employee grants and provide critical support during fundraising cycles by managing our investor data rooms.
• Various Operations Projects: Contribute to high-impact initiatives that transition from design to reality. Current priorities include a total overhaul of our Knowledge Management structure, setting up the US office operational footprint, and leading specific pension reviews.

Qualifications

Must-haves:

• 2–4 years of experience in an operational, generalist, or analytical role with a lean to people empathy (e.g., startup ops, consulting, or project management).
• A track record of building or improving processes in fast-changing startup environments. You're quick to spot something sub-optimal, designed a fix, and see it through.
• Comfort connecting the dots across different operational domains (People, Finance, Legal). You understand how a change in one area ripples into others.
• High "numerical intuition": Comfort with Excel/Google Sheets for managing data-heavy tasks like equity grants, payroll inputs, or survey analysis.
• A versatile communicator who can handle sensitive employee topics with empathy and technical legal documents with precision.
• Ability to be in the Amsterdam or Zurich office at least 3 days a week.

Nice-to-haves:

• Experience with equity/ESOP platforms (e.g., Ledgy, Carta).
• Prior exposure to Dutch or Swiss labor regulations.