Head of People & Performance

At Sunrise Robotics, we are dedicated to augmenting humanity through intelligent robotics. Our mission is to elevate manufacturing by introducing flexible, intelligent robots that enhance human capabilities, improve quality, reduce waste, and lower costs.

We envision a future where every element of manufacturing—from design to assembly—is optimized with intelligent automation. Our goal is to integrate flexible robotic solutions, powered by generic hardware and advanced software/AI, into manufacturing, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), making automation economically viable and accessible.

What You Will Do

• Own Performance: Design a single performance cycle for the entire company and execute the first cycle. Ensure every leader can articulate who is above, on, or below the performance bar and act decisively within days.

• Own Employee Experience: Build a seamless experience for employees from their first day to their last.

• Own Compensation and Levels: Develop compensation bands for current roles, not future ones. Standardize pay awards and equity top-ups to ensure defensible offers across the company.

• Own Hiring: Manage internal recruiting, embedded partners, and hiring managers. Standardize scorecards and interview packs—no role opens without them.

• Own People Operations End-to-End: Handle contracts, onboarding, offboarding, HRIS, employer of record, policies, benefits by country, and payroll inputs. Automate every possible step to eliminate manual processes.

• Coach Leadership: Guide leaders and team leads on setting expectations, giving feedback, and conducting hard conversations.

• Codify Culture: Translate the company’s culture into hiring, reviewing, and rewarding practices. Act decisively when culture isn’t upheld.

• Ensure Compliance: Maintain compliance across more than 10 European countries, including employment structures and ISO documentation.

Who You Are

• Built People Systems Before: You’ve worked at a fast-growing company where you built or refined people systems. Experience at a Series A startup (past 100 employees), a larger scale-up, or as an operator in consulting/venture roles is valuable.

• Systems Thinker: You understand how changes in one area impact others and design scalable, flexible systems.

• Data-Driven: Comfortable with comp bands, equity, and headcount planning. You treat spreadsheets as tools, not replacements for people.

• Global Experience: Proven ability to navigate employment complexities across 10+ jurisdictions.

• Detail-Oriented: You thrive on precision, write clearly, and value concise, high-impact documentation.

• Confidentiality: You respect and protect sensitive information.

• Direct with Founders: You challenge assumptions and push back when necessary to align with real intent.

• Curious About the Work: You understand the day-to-day realities of roles like robotics engineer or deploy engineer.

• Results-Oriented: You’re direct in 1:1s, move quickly, and leverage modern tools (including AI) and best practices.

Bonus Points

• Familiarity with tools like Deel, Shapes, or Ashby (or equivalents).

• Experience automating people-ops tasks with AI—not just adopting off-the-shelf tools.

• Background in a hardware or deep-tech company, where teams work alongside machines and in customer factories.

Why Sunrise?

• Join an early-stage team with direct access to the CEO, leadership, and founders in a high-impact role.

• Focus on talent density, speed of execution, and long-term tech leverage.

• Shape your trajectory while delivering results.