Version 1 has recently hired our 3000th employee, doubling in size since 2020. We plan to triple in size in the next 5 years. We’re looking for a People Director to evolve and build on the very successful People Strategy we’ve had to date: we are 12 years a Best Workplace in Ireland (GPTW 1st place), 3 in the UK (GPTW 6th place) and 1 in India (GPTW 1st place) and will be certified for the first time this year in Spain.

This role will enable us to scale from 3000 to 4000 and hopefully to 5000 people over the next few years and nurture a great team through all of the opportunities and challenges that will bring. Version 1 is a Core Values oriented, fast-paced, high-growth environment, with quarterly objectives to achieve and is continuously evolving and changing as it grows and acquires. This role will only suit someone who thrives in that environment and the opportunities, and demands, that it brings.

People Strategy

We must continue to be a great place for our people to work and that requires continuously evolving our people strategy to ensure we stay ahead. You’ll take responsibility for evolving our strategy to meet new and changing market demands and ensure that the approach to employee experience, talent development, people operations, communications, compensation & benefits, people analytics and people systems is scalable, clear and translated into achievable plans to support the next exciting next stage of our growth. You’ll work with your people partners in each portfolio to deliver on these plans and goals and consider the individual needs of our office locations as part of these plans.

Talent & Development

Ultimately, we are a people business and the responsibility for making sure our talent is continuously developing needs focus and innovation. Our organisational development function has a strong approach to coaching and management development which is well established. We have a career development framework and associated learning and development platforms and development interventions in place for our people. You’ll nurture this team to refresh and revamp our career framework to enable us to scale to 4000 people in the next few years, ensuring our people can continue to grow their careers at Version 1. We’d like do facilitate more rotations and movement of our people around the many opportunities we have available for them to enhance their skills.

Data & Analytics

Our business makes decisions makes on data and evidence. People Analytics has strong foundations, with extensive data available every quarter on employee sentiment, performance, recruitment, retention and pay. We want to take this data to the next level, providing personalised insight and specifics for each of our portfolios on the interventions they could make based on this data. You’ll guide our senior management and support with translating key data to shape an effective and commercially focused HR and people strategy, influencing them on the best course of action.

Compensation & Benefits

As we grow, we will need to be more agile and creative in our approach to compensation, reward, and recognition – reflecting the evolving technology market and demographic of the people we have and want to keep, as well as the people we want to attract. You will work on scaling our approach to benchmarking, transparency, and compensation review as well as looking at reviewing, designing, and implementing a benefits suite that is fit for purpose for our employee demographic across all our regions.

Employee Experience & Communications

We are evolving our employee experience into creating a more all-encompassing personal experience for our employees through our moments that matter programme, our “work-life fit” approach when it comes to flexibility and through our engagement model across our offices globally. In this role, you’ll protect and strengthen the organisational culture, ensuring that the core values continue to be at the heart of the organisation as we scale and our people know what to expect when they work for Version 1.

People Operations

We have a quarterly rhythm which underpins and is critical to our business model. Our Performance cycle, our Pay cycle, our Employee survey cycles all follow this rhythm and run like clockwork every three months. You’ll manage this team to make sure this continues, but also to ensure it is scalable by introducing more automation or evolving the way things are done to ensure it will be effective when we reach 3000+ people. This will include a review of our People Systems, alongside our Business Support team, to optimise our existing different applications supporting our people cycle activities. Our People Operations team also provide employee relations support to the business and give counsel and oversee complex employee relations issues such as grievance and disciplinary cases and manage difficult cases with professionalism. The team also ensure we have appropriate people policies and guidelines in place to support the culture and people.

Internationalisation and Integration

Version 1’s growth strategy will involve continuing to acquire more companies in the next few years. We’ve done 13 acquisitions to date and this is likely to increase considerably in the next few years. This role will ensure that the people element of integrations runs smoothly and that people joining Version 1 through acquisition have a great experience. Acquisition also often involve new countries and locations for us, so you will also help the team internationalise as we grow, considering cultural differences to successfully support new countries and teams.

• Ability to lead and inspire a fast-growing, high-performing People team. Understanding of / experience in a Private Equity-backed organisation and/or working in a Services business
• Experience as a Head of People or People Director level role
• A curious and growth-oriented mindset is essential, to think innovatively and rationally about concerns and come up with creative but practical solutions
• A pro-active attitude and a passion for leading with integrity.
• Proven ability to win the confidence of and counsel senior management on appropriate practice and decision-making.
• Commercial acumen and experience of using metrics for driving performance. You must have a hands-on / get-stuck-in approach to resolving challenges.
• International experience managing teams in India and/or the USA
• Experience in learning, development, performance and career coaching as this will be an area of focus for the role.
• Experience in relation to compensation and benefits
• Familiarity of overseeing complex acquisitions and/or TUPE
• Occasional travel required

At Version 1, we believe in providing our employees with a comprehensive benefits package that prioritizes their well-being, professional growth, and financial stability.

One of our standout advantages is the ability to work remotely or with a hybrid schedule along with business travel, allowing our employees to strike a balance between work and life. We also offer a range of tech-related benefits, including an innovative Tech Scheme, Octopus Car Lease, and MyGym Discounts to help keep our team members up-to-date with the latest technology.

We prioritize the health and safety of our employees, providing private medical and life insurance coverage, as well as free eye tests and contributions towards glasses. Our team members can also stay ahead of the curve with incentivized certifications and accreditations, including AWS, Microsoft, Oracle, and Red Hat.

Our employee-designed Profit Share scheme divides a portion of our company's profits each quarter among all full-time employees. We are dedicated to helping our employees reach their full potential, offering Pathways Career Development Quarterly, a program designed to support professional growth.