Founding HR Manager (HRBP Mentality)

Do you get energy from building the foundation not just standing on one someone else poured Do you love being the person leadership turns to when a people decision gets hard not just the one who processes it after the fact Do you want to build an entire people function from the ground up rather than inherit someone elses playbook Are you motivated by shaping the culture of a company early enough that your fingerprints are still on it at 100 people

With most HR Manager roles you walk into a structure that already exists. Processes are set culture is defined policies are written. You maintain it. You might improve it. Thats fine. But this is different.

You would be the first. Every hire every process every culture decision you put that in place alongside your direct line: the CEO. When Sendent is at 50 people youll be able to look at it and say: I built the foundation for this. I managed the process from A to Z.

That kind of opportunity is genuinely hard to find. Companies that need an HR Manager at your level already have one in place or a Head of HR above them. We dont yet. Were not looking for someone to run HR operations in isolation. Were looking for an HR Manager who thinks like an HRBP by default: someone who sees a policy gap and also sees the org-design question behind it who runs a hiring process and also asks whether the role is even the right one to be hiring for.

This is a genuinely broad role. Theres no team beneath you to hand pieces off to and no HR function above you to lean on. Whatever needs to exist you design it build it and execute on it yourself. That spans strategic people planning hands-on recruitment policy and contract work culture and compliance all at once. If youre someone who wants a narrow well-defined lane this isnt it.

About Sendent
Sendent is a fast-growing software company focused on privacy-first enterprise collaboration and communication.

Our mission is to empower teams to secure their workflow effortlessly. We do so by building secure user-friendly integrations between Microsoft tools and Nextcloud enabling organizations to keep working with familiar software while retaining full control over their data.

We believe in sustainable software ownership and trust; both in our products and in how we work together.

Youll join a growing international team working closely with experienced engineers and the founders in an environment where quality autonomy and learning are valued over speed for speeds sake.

Tasks

What Youll Do

HR Business Partnering

• Sit close to the CEO and leadership team as the person who translates business goals into people decisions
• Define company culture and help it take root across the team
• Design how Sendent hires retains and develops people as it scales
• Advise on people decisions that shape the companys future not just execute them
• Plan for how the company operates and can grow sustainably at 25 50 and 100 people not just today

HR Management Building and Executing

• Build onboarding policies and HR foundations from scratch and run them day-to-day once they exist
• Own recruitment end-to-end: job descriptions interviewing offers
• Manage Dutch employment contracts payroll basics and compliance flagging issues before they become problems
• Stay close to the detail see your decisions play out not just hand them off

Delegated Operational

• Direct an admin allrounder who supports you on operational tasks
• Keep your own time focused on the management and strategic judgment calls only you can make

Requirements

What Were Looking For

• Solid experience as an HR Manager or senior HR Generalist with real HRBP instincts and exposure you naturally connect a day-to-day HR task to the bigger business question behind it
• Comfortable owning a genuinely broad remit from strategic people planning down to drafting a contract template without needing it narrowed or divided up
• Experience running recruitment end-to-end: writing job descriptions screening interviewing and closing offers
• Comfortable building processes policies and structure where none exist yet rather than optimizing something already in place
• Confident advising a CEO or senior leadership directly this role has a direct line to the top with no HR layer in between
• Relevant HR work experience in the Netherlands with a solid working knowledge of Dutch labour law you dont need to be a lawyer but you know enough to flag this is probably how it works lets confirm with legal counsel before an issue becomes a problem. You should be able to advise the founders on employee-law matters with more depth than just the basics
• B2 (or higher) level Dutch spoken and written working fluency
• Comfortable managing and delegating to a supporting admin resource
• Energized by early-stage fast-growing environments

This Role Probably Isnt for You If...

• You want a playbook a team or a Head of HR to report into here you are that layer
• You want a role with a tightly scoped lane this one spans strategy execution and admin all owned by you
• You see yourself as purely operational HR without an interest in the business strategy behind it
• Youd rather optimize an existing process than build one from a blank page
• Youre not comfortable being the one to tell the CEO this isnt compliant lets fix it directly without a buffer
• You dont have hands-on HR experience in the Netherlands or youre not at least at working fluency (B2) in Dutch
• You need a lot of structure or precedent before you can move most days there wont be any

Benefits

What Youll Get

• /month depending on experience
• Hybrid setup with an in-office days 2-3 a week in an office right across from Eindhoven Central station with strong autonomy and real ownership
• 8% holiday allowance 25 vacation days plus public holidays
• Pension
• Company laptop of your choice and company phone
• Home-office and internet allowance
• NS business card or full public transport reimbursement (or the legal km rate if you drive)
• Hybrid setup with real autonomy over your time and output
• A genuinely rare opportunity: sole ownership of the people function from the ground up

Ready to Apply

If this sounds like your kind of work and you get energy from keeping things running smoothly wed love to hear from you.

Due to the hybrid nature of this role applicants must be based in the Netherlands and have a valid work permit.

Acquisition mid-lance or offshore constructions are not appreciated.