Head of People at Sur in San José, San Jose Province, Costa Rica

As the Head of People, you will be the go-to people partner for a small, fast-growing, fully remote coaching and consulting business, owning the people function end to end from hiring and onboarding through culture and leadership development. You will report directly to the COO and bring a warm, solutions-oriented approach that helps the business grow while keeping the team supported, aligned, and engaged. This is a hands-on role for someone who enjoys building people systems from the ground up in a startup environment.

Responsibilities:

• Manage the hiring pipeline for open roles, making the initial cut on high-volume applications and coordinating candidates through interviews with multiple internal stakeholders

• Partner with leadership on capacity planning, flagging when it is time to hire and confirming budget alignment before roles open

• Own salary negotiations with incoming hires and run smooth, full-cycle onboarding, including clear and accurate contracts

• Manage a mixed workforce of employees and contractors, both in the US and internationally, and research the tax and legal requirements when hiring in a new US state or country

• Build and run core people programs such as performance reviews, learning and development, and culture initiatives

• Lead leadership and professional development initiatives that help coaches and consultants keep growing in their roles

• Serve as a trusted, approachable resource for the team, helping people work through workplace challenges with a coaching mindset

• Identify gaps as the company grows and proactively recommend and lead new people initiatives

• Support leadership with day-to-day HR needs while keeping a warm, relationship-first culture in a fully remote team

• 10+ years of experience in HR or People Operations

• Strong verbal and written English. C1 equivalent

• Experience working with US-based companies, including owning HR for a company, business unit, or team

• Hands-on experience negotiating compensation and managing full-cycle onboarding

• Working knowledge of employee vs. contractor classification, including international hires and multi-state US employment considerations

• Experience with Gusto

• Experience building people processes such as performance reviews, onboarding programs, or learning and development initiatives

• A warm, people-first communication style, with the ability to act as a coach and advocate rather than a compliance enforcer

• Comfortable with Microsoft Office and Google Workspace

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a small business or startup that grew from roughly 8 to 40 or 50 employees

• Experience with Asana and Airtable

• Experience supporting coaching, consulting, or other client services teams

• Familiarity with using AI tools to build presentations and streamline people processes

• Compensation: $3,500 to $4,200 USD per month, depending on experience

• Schedule: Full-time, EST business hours

• Location: Fully remote from Latin America or the Caribbean

**We only accept CVs submitted in English**