People Ops Excellence Manager

About the Role

We are hiring a People Ops Excellence Manager to strengthen and scale our People Operations foundation. This role is about building operational reliability: clean processes strong systems usage high data quality and a smooth employee experience across the full lifecycle.

You will work closely with People Finance IT and business leaders to continuously improve how we operate. As part of this role you will also support payroll cycles by ensuring that inputs and changes are accurate and delivered on time to our external payroll partners.

Your Mission

Build a scalable People Operations engine that is consistent compliant and trusted by employees and leaders.

What Youll Own

People Ops Excellence

• Own and improve core People Ops processes end-to-end (onboarding employee changes off-boarding documentation approvals)

• Build scalable standards across workflows templates and operational handoffs

• Create clarity through SOPs checklists and internal enablement material

• Drive continuous improvement through issue spotting root cause analysis and process fixes

Systems & Data Quality

• Improve how we use HR systems by strengthening workflows permissions templates and adoption

• Own data quality standards so our People records are accurate auditable and reporting-ready

• Reduce manual work through smarter operational design and automation where possible

• Ensure process consistency across locations while staying pragmatic and compliant

Payroll Support (in partnership with external providers)

• Coordinate and validate payroll inputs for Germany and the US working closely with PEOs and external payroll partners (changes allowances terminations variable pay)

• France payroll exposure or experience in another European country is a plus

• Ensure deadlines and cutoffs are met and inputs are clean before handover

• Support troubleshooting when questions arise during payroll cycles

Occupational Safety Coordination (Germany)

• Coordinate core occupational safety (H&S) processes in Germany in partnership with internal stakeholders and external providers

• Support required trainings documentation and follow-ups (e.g. safety onboarding medical checks where applicable)

• Ensure our operational cadence is audit-ready and executed reliably

Stakeholder & Partner Collaboration

• Be a trusted operational partner to Finance IT and People colleagues

• Drive clarity across responsibilities timelines and dependencies

• Communicate structured calmly and with high ownership

How Youll Measure Impact

• Core People Ops processes run consistently end-to-end (onboarding changes offboarding) with clear ownership and minimal exceptions

• HR systems are used with discipline (clean workflows permissions templates) so execution becomes simpler not more complex

• Data quality is reliable and audit-ready especially for payroll-relevant fields and employee lifecycle changes

• Payroll handovers (Germany US via PEOs/partners) are predictable and clean with accurate inputs on-time delivery and fewer corrections

• Occupational safety coordination in Germany runs without gaps with required documentation follow-ups and stakeholder alignment in place

What Were Looking For

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in People Operations ideally in a scaling environment with proven track record building scalable processes improving system adoption and raising data quality

• Youve owned ambiguity and turned it into repeatable operating standards

• Strong process mindset and love for operational quality

• Experience working with HR systems and improving how teams run workflows through tools

• Confidence working with data and maintaining high standards of accuracy

Strong stakeholder management and clear communication

Willingness to work onsite in Darmstadt 4 days per week

Preferred Qualifications

Experience supporting payroll preparation processes (Germany and or US)

Exposure to France or Italy employment administration

Experience in international technical or high-growth environments

Working Model

This role is based in Darmstadt with a hybrid setup. Given the operational nature of the role 4 days per week onsite are required.

Focused Energy is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive environment. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender perception or identity national origin age marital status protected veteran status or disability status.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Focused Energy will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.

Compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location level job-related knowledge skills and experience. Certain roles may be eligible for incentive compensation equity benefits.

Required Experience:

Manager