Head of People

Head of People

Location: Novi Sad, Serbia (on-site, 4-5 days per week)

Reports to: CEO (US-based)

Company size: ~35 employees (Serbia and US)

The Opportunity

Our client is looking for its first Head of People: a senior, hands-on partner to the US-based CEO and the leadership team. You will build and protect the culture of the Novi Sad office, support managers, and make sure the Serbian engineering team and the US team work as one. You’ll be the only person in HR at first, so you need to be comfortable covering a lot of ground.

The Role

You’ll be in the Novi Sad office every day, working directly with the team. The core of the job is people and culture: helping teams when problems come up, coaching managers, keeping expectations clear, and building an environment of trust, transparency and ownership. You’ll work closely with our Chief of Office in Serbia and the VP of Engineering, and report to a CEO who moves fast.

Key Responsibilities

1. Culture and Team Health

• Build and maintain a strong, unified culture in the Novi Sad office and keep it aligned with the US team.
• Step in when issues arise (policy compliance, team conflicts, underperformance) and handle them directly and fairly.
• Run regular pulse checks and give the CEO a clear picture of how the Serbian team is doing.

1. Management and Performance

• Coach engineering leads and managers to lead their teams effectively.
• Introduce clear, objective performance expectations and review cycles.
• Help identify top performers and address underperformance.

1. Hiring and Onboarding

• Own the hiring process end to end: define roles, run interviews, make sure candidates have a fast, quality experience.
• Manage and work with freelance recruiters for sourcing. You don’t need to source candidates yourself.
• Own onboarding and offboarding.

1. HR Operations and Compliance

• Keep contracts, policies and benefits compliant with Serbian labor law and aligned with market practice.
• Work with the Chief of Office (who handles payroll) and external legal support where needed.
• Support onboarding of future US and EU employees.

About You

• 7+ years in HR / People Ops, including time in a senior or leadership role with real responsibility for people and culture, not only HR operations or recruiting.
• Hands-on experience dealing with personnel issues: working with managers, teams and individuals, coaching, difficult conversations.
• Experience in a software or tech company and with international teams. Experience with US-based companies is a plus.
• University degree (law, HR, psychology, business or similar is a plus).
• Working knowledge of Serbian labor law and employment contracts.
• Fluent English and Serbian. Comfortable presenting to the CEO and sitting down 1-on-1 with a junior developer.
• Based in Novi Sad (or ready to relocate before the start date) and committed to working from the office 4-5 days a week.
• Available for an occasional evening call with the US (1-2 per week, typically 30 minutes).

Nice to have

• Experience in technical recruiting or in automotive / embedded software.
• Experience managing an HR team or freelance recruiters.
• Law degree.

What we offer

Full-time contract, private health insurance, 20 days of paid vacation plus sick leave and Serbian public holidays, a direct line to the CEO and real influence on how the company grows.