(Senior) People Operations & Excellence Manager (f/m/d)

OUR PURPOSE AT PLANCRAFT

Building the backbone of European trades – together, with modern software and smart AI solutions.
We don’t just develop software – we’re on a mission to give tradespeople and contractors more room to focus on what matters. We do this by providing a practical SaaS solution that works the way they do: fast, efficient, and without unnecessary administrative overhead. Supported by smart AI features exactly where they make a real difference in everyday work.
Backed by Tier 1 investors from Europe and the US such as Headline and Creandum, and with more than 30,000 craftspeople as our customer base, we are scaling across Europe to turn individual, scattered businesses into connected and successful communities.
We believe in zero admin, not zero personality – and we build every feature with the people wearing safety boots in mind, not suits. We’re excited to shape the future together as a team, staying grounded in our mission to empower the builders and makers of tomorrow.

YOUR MISSION AT PLANCRAFT

As (Senior) People Operations & Excellence Manager, you build and continuously improve the operational foundations that enable our People Operations & Partnering function to scale. You design efficient processes, strengthen our systems, automate repetitive work, and create the standards that allow managers and employees to navigate People Operations matters with ease.

As plancraft continues to grow with 160+ employees across Germany and Europe, this role is key to building a scalable, data-driven, and future-ready People Operations function. You combine reliable operational execution with a continuous improvement mindset—using day-to-day operational insights to simplify workflows, improve data quality, expand self-service, and drive practical automation across the employee lifecycle.

Next to the operational day-to-day business, a key part of your role is translating operational insights into better processes. You design standardized workflows, build SOPs and knowledge resources, improve data quality and reporting, and identify practical opportunities to leverage automation and AI across our People Operations landscape. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, you help establish an integrated operating model that combines operational reliability with continuous improvement.

You will work particularly closely with:

• our Lead People Operations & Partnering, who will be your direct manager and strategic counterpart for continuously evolving our People Operations & Partnering model across Germany and international locations.

• our broader People & Organization team, to align seamless end-to-end people processes.

• technical stakeholders, to bring more complex processes and automations to life.

• employees across the organization, you are supporting in their employee lifecycle.

This is a role with broad cross-functional exposure, significant ownership, and the opportunity to shape how People Operations scales at plancraft. If you enjoy combining operational excellence with systems thinking, process design, automation, and continuous improvement, you'll have the opportunity to leave a lasting impact on one of the company's core enabling functions.

Your Responsibilities

End-to-End People Operations

• Own the day-to-day delivery of core People Operations processes, including HRIS administration (Personio), contract amendments, payroll inputs, employee data management, and recurring documentation requests.

• Ensure reliable, compliant, and high-quality execution across the entire employee lifecycle

• Support the operational implementation of international employment setups, entity transitions, and evolving People Operations requirements as we continue to grow across Europe.

Operational Excellence, Automation & Insights

• Own the continuous improvement of People Operations processes by identifying repetitive friction, manual effort, unclear handovers and opportunities to simplify or standardize how work gets done.

• Design better end-to-end workflows and implement practical improvements through existing tools, low-code or no-code solutions, AI-enabled workflows and scalable self-service formats.

• Lead automation initiatives from problem identification and process design through implementation and adoption, partnering with internal technical experts where deeper integrations or more complex builds are required.

• Build ways to monitor meaningful operational metrics, create dashboards and reporting and translate data and operational patterns into concrete recommendations, improvement priorities and accessible insights for relevant stakeholders.

• Continuously develop and maintain the manager enablement and self-service ecosystem, including practical guides, playbooks, templates, knowledge resources and learning formats.

YOUR PROFILE

Must-Have Skills

• 2–3 years of experience in People Operations, or a comparable operational People role.

• Proven experience in managing core employee lifecycle processes, including HR administration, contract management, payroll inputs, and HRIS maintenance.

• Strong process thinking with a passion for improving workflows rather than simply executing them with high affinity for HR systems, structured documentation, and data quality.

• Experience managing operational employee and manager requests with accuracy, reliability, and a strong service mindset.

• Strong analytical skills with the ability to identify patterns, prioritize improvements, and translate insights into scalable solutions.

• Great curiosity and ideally first experiences in applying automation and AI to improve operational efficiency.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in German & English (C1/C2 level); additional European languages are a plus.

• Experience in a scale-up or high-growth environment .

• Located within Germany with willingness to come to our Hamburg HQs minimum once per quarter, ideally every few weeks.

Nice-to-Have Skills

• Working in an HR function in a company with international employment setups.

• Familiarity with Personio, Leapsome, Notion, Slack Workflows, or similar HR technology.

• Exposure to no-code automation, AI-assisted workflows, or reporting and dashboard tools.

• Additional European language skills.

Who this Role is for
You're someone who enjoys bringing structure to complexity. Rather than accepting inefficient processes, you naturally look for better ways of working and get energy from making systems simpler, smarter, and more scalable.

You enjoy balancing hands-on operational work with continuous improvement. Solving recurring challenges through better processes, automation, AI, and self-service feels just as rewarding as delivering an excellent employee experience in the day-to-day.

You are someone who:

• enjoys building scalable processes instead of repeatedly solving the same problem

• combines operational excellence with a pragmatic, hands-on mindset

• naturally spots inefficiencies and turns them into practical improvements

• is curious about leveraging AI and automation to simplify repetitive work

• enjoys creating clarity through documentation, playbooks, and structured ways of working

• uses data and operational insights to prioritize improvements and measure impact

• takes ownership while collaborating closely with colleagues across the business

• values accuracy, reliability, and compliance without losing sight of the employee experience

• enjoys building solutions that make life easier for managers, employees, and the People team alike

If you're excited by the idea of building the operational backbone that enables our People function to scale, we'd love to meet you.

WHY PLANCRAFT?

• Team Spirit: We’re driven by passion, commitment, and a shared mission. Team spirit matters to us — and we make it visible: with four major team event weeks per year, casual monthly on-site and remote formats, and a strong recognition culture where we regularly celebrate both the big and small wins together.

• Ownership: You’re encouraged to take ownership from day one. In a flat hierarchy and high-trust environment, you’re empowered to make meaningful decisions and drive real impact.

• Learning & Growth: We invest in your personal and professional development through a strong feedback culture with 6-monthly 360° growth reviews, a personal learning budget (1.500€/year), 2 paid days of educational leave, and targeted enablement formats. Our goal is to help you unlock your full potential.

• AI Enablement: Our internal tools and workflows are AI-enabled by design. We support every team and individual in applying AI at the next level in their daily work.

• Tech & Tooling: You’ll receive a MacBook, premium headphones, and everything else you need — from hardware to tools — to be effective in your daily doing.

• Flexibility: Whether remote, hybrid, abroad or on-site — you work where you’re at your best. Our Hamburg office (with a rooftop terrace) is always open, and you decide each week how often you come in. And if you need a change of scenery, working abroad worldwide up to 2 months is always an option.

• Recharge: To ensure the needed rest, we offer 30 vacation days per year (based on a 5-day week) plus Dec 24th off. We also subsidize your Urban Sports Club membership and organize internal sport meetups.

• Mobility: You can lease a "JobRad" (Bike) and get a subsidized "Deutschlandticket" or "BahnCard" for public transport to be supported in your commute.

• International Environment: We’re becoming more international every month, with team members already in Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, and Austria — which is why English is our internal company language.

We’re #stoked to shape the future, #together as a team, and #humble in our mission to support the builders of tomorrow. For a first impression of us, take a look at our Instagram and LinkedIn page.

Diversity makes us better.
We welcome people of all backgrounds, identities, abilities, and experiences, and we believe that different perspectives lead to better ideas, stronger products, and a healthier workplace. If you’re excited about our mission but your experience doesn’t align perfectly with every requirement, we encourage you to apply anyway. You might be exactly who we’re looking for.

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On the application process
We want your candidate experience with us to be smooth, transparent, and enjoyable. We aim to get back to you regarding your application within 5 business days. Our interview process typically takes about 4 weeks from start to finish, though this may vary by role. You can learn more about our process here. If you need adjustments or flexibility at any stage, please don’t hesitate to let us know — we’ll do our best to make it work for you.

Note on creating a test account:
If you would like to create a test account as part of the challenge, please enter "Applicant" in the relevant field during registration and select "Other" under Trade. This ensures that our sales team does not mistakenly register you as a craft business and reach out to you unnecessarily.