Head of People

Substack is building a new economic engine for culture, giving the brightest, most interesting, and most creative people on the internet the power of their own publishing platform. Substack empowers independent writers, artists, videographers, podcasters, and creators of all types to create, share, and make a living off their work through subscriptions, while offering them creative freedom, ownership, and a direct connection to their audiences.

• Partner with leadership to develop and execute a people strategy that supports Substack's mission, values, and business goals

• Lead and scale the People function across recruiting, onboarding, compensation, benefits, employee experience, performance management, and talent development

• Own our compensation, benefits, and leveling frameworks, and run the feedback, review, and promotion cycles

• Build and run training, learning and development, and leadership coaching programs

• Shape the employee experience, including office culture, people surveys, orientation, and onboarding

• Lead recruiting strategy and make sure we hire exceptional people

• Advise leadership on organizational design, workforce planning, and succession planning

• Build and continuously improve the people systems, policies, and programs that help employees do their best work

• Coach managers and leaders on performance, team effectiveness, and organizational challenges

• Oversee employee relations and ensure issues are resolved thoughtfully and consistently

• Use people analytics, reporting, and workforce insights to guide decisions

• Ensure compliance with applicable employment laws and regulations

• Build, mentor, and develop a high-performing People team

• 8+ years of progressive experience in People or HR, with multi-functional expertise and leadership across:

  • Benefits, compensation, leveling, and feedback, promotion, and review cycles

  • Training, L&D, and leadership coaching

  • Employee experience, including office culture, people surveys, orientation, and onboarding

  • Recruiting

• Startup or growth-stage experience (required)

• A track record of excellence and best practices from strong, well-regarded companies

• A self-starter who sets the pace and pushes the team

• Resourceful: hands on and delegating to others

• Range: demonstrated understanding, empathy, and familiarity with multiple company building disciplines (e.g., engineering, product, business, etc.) is a plus.

• Proven ability to influence and advise executive leadership, with excellent communication and coaching skills

• Strong analytical skills and comfort using data to inform People decisions

• Nice to have: experience building a People team from scratch; knowledge of employment law and compliance across the regions we hire in

Substack’s compensation package includes a market-competitive salary, equity for all full-time roles, and exceptional benefits. Our cash compensation salary range for this role is $250,000- $295,000. Multiple factors, including candidate experience and expertise, determine final offer amounts and may vary from the amounts listed above.

Substack is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or transgender status), age, national origin, veteran or disability status. We’re seeking people passionate about enabling independent expression and building a better business model for creators. If you want to see what media, communities, and content can become when unmoored from advertising models, and you have the skills and experience to contribute, we’d love to meet you.

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