Head of People Operations (m/f/d)

About the Position

Buena, backed by GV, is transforming the real estate industry by making everything related to property as simple and transparent as buying an ETF. Whether searching, buying, or financing an apartment, we achieve this by taking over property management companies across Germany and turning them into technology companies. In the past three years, with fewer than 25 full-time employees at our headquarters, we have become the third-largest property management company in Germany.

As the Head of People Operations, you will build the operational HR foundation for our soon-to-be 1,000+ employees in our Berlin headquarters and our portfolio companies across Germany.

We are growing monthly through acquisitions of property management companies. This means different contracts, data sets, and working methods come together. You will ensure that reliable HR processes emerge from this, which work with each acquisition.

Your focus will be on Personio, accurate employee data, standardized HR processes, and handling specific HR and labor law cases. You will design the workflows, implement them yourself, and ensure they function in daily operations. For terminations, contract issues, and conflicts, you will be a competent partner for our executives and managers, involving Legal or external legal counsel when necessary.

Leadership development, performance reviews, and the design of salary bands and benefits are handled by Operations and the responsible managers.

Responsibilities

• You will be responsible for Personio and our employee data. Personio is already running nationwide. You will further develop the configuration, permissions, and workflows, ensuring the data is complete, up-to-date, and reliable.
• You will integrate new companies into our People Operations. You will review existing data and processes, resolve discrepancies, and transfer new portfolio companies into our systems and standards.
• You will build repeatable HR processes and implement them. From contract creation and onboarding to contract changes and promotions to offboarding, you will define clear responsibilities, approvals, and controls.
• You will support specific labor law cases. You will clarify facts, advise our executives and managers on possible next steps, and steer the implementation together with the responsible decision-makers and legal advisors.
• You will ensure the quality of our payroll data. You will ensure that relevant changes are correctly and timely communicated to those responsible for payroll and resolve any discrepancies.
• You will improve the system behind individual cases. You will translate recurring problems into better templates, clear workflows, and suitable automations. With operational reporting, you will make data gaps, open cases, and integration progress visible.

Requirements

• You have already taken on operational HR responsibility for several hundred employees, ideally across multiple companies or locations.
• You have set up, introduced, and subsequently managed HR processes.
• You have independently configured Personio or a similar HR system and are familiar with data migration, permissions, workflows, and data quality.
• You have in-depth knowledge of German labor law and practical experience with complex HR measures, especially terminations and conflict cases.
• You recognize which cases you can handle independently and when to involve legal support.
• You set clear priorities even with incomplete information and reliably steer processes to completion.
• You have experience in a rapidly growing company, such as a VC-backed startup, a PE-backed company, or a company with many acquisitions.
• You speak German at C2 level.
• You want to work on-site in our Berlin office every day.

Benefits

• Career advancement opportunities in one of Europe's fastest-growing startups.
• MacBook & Studio Display.
• Attractive salary, including a €500 "Close-to-Office" bonus.
• €110 food allowance and €50 fitness allowance.
• Books: Buena pays for every book you want to read.
• Daily breakfast and specialty coffee in the office.

Why Join Now

• You will shape our operational HR foundation. You will develop the systems and processes with which we reliably support over 1,000 employees and integrate further companies.
• Your work will have a direct impact across the entire portfolio. Better data, clear contract processes, and well-handled HR measures make everyday life easier for our companies.
• We are growing rapidly with a small team. In the last three years, with fewer than 25 full-time employees at HQ, we have become the third-largest property management company in Germany.
• Those who deliver, get responsibility. Our CEO was a Junior Product Manager three years ago, our COO was Chief of Staff two years ago.
• We are building Buena for the long term. The homeownership rate in Germany is far below the European average. We are changing that.

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For this position, we use the hosted application form because additional mandatory fields are required, which are currently not supported in the direct Buena form.

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