Aelum Consulting - Director - Human Resource

Human Resource Director (15-20 yrs)

About the Role :

Aelum is at an inflection point. We are scaling rapidly and need a seasoned HR leader who has walked this road before - someone who has taken an organisation from 250 to 1,000+ people and knows exactly what breaks, what to build, and when.
This is not a transactional HR role. You will report directly to the CEO and sit on the leadership team, owning the full people agenda : culture, talent strategy, compliance, and organisational design. You will bring structure to ambiguity, accountability to people processes, and build a function that can sustain aggressive growth without losing our core identity.
What You'll Own :
Culture & Organisational Identity :
- Define, codify, and operationalise Aelum's culture and values across all levels
- Build rituals, recognition systems, and communication structures that reinforce culture at scale
- Partner with the CEO to ensure culture remains a competitive advantage, not just a talking point
Talent Acquisition & Strategic Hiring :
- Build and lead a high-performing recruitment function capable of hiring at volume without compromising quality
- Design structured hiring processes, scorecards, and interview frameworks for leadership and critical roles
- Own executive search strategy for senior and C-suite hires in partnership with the CEO
- Reduce time-to-hire and improve offer acceptance rates through employer branding and candidate experience
Retention & Attrition Management :
- Conduct deep-dive analysis on resignation patterns and root causes
- Design and implement retention frameworks : career ladders, compensation benchmarking, performance incentives, and stay interviews
- Establish early warning indicators for at-risk employees and proactive intervention processes
Employee Relations, Discipline & Compliance :
- Build a robust Employee Relations function to manage disciplinary processes, performance improvement plans (PIPs), and conflict resolution with fairness and legal rigour
- Ensure all employment agreements, NDAs, and contracts are compliant, consistently enforced, and regularly reviewed
- Manage any existing or future agreement breach cases in partnership with legal counsel
- Develop HR policies, handbooks, and governance frameworks that are clear, fair, and enforceable
People Operations & Process Design :
- Audit and redesign core HR processes : onboarding, offboarding, performance reviews, compensation cycles, and promotions
- Implement or optimise an HRIS (HR Information System) fit for a scaling organisation
- Define HR metrics and dashboards to give leadership real-time visibility into people health
Leadership & Team Building :
- Build, hire, and mentor an internal HR team as Aelum grows
- Coach and upskill line managers on people management, feedback, and accountability
- Act as a trusted advisor to the CEO and leadership team on all people matters
What We're Looking For :
Must-Have Experience :
- 8 - 10 years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3-5 years in a senior HR leadership role
- Demonstrated experience scaling an organisation from ~250 to 1,000+ employees, ideally in a high-growth or tech-adjacent environment
- Deep hands-on expertise in employee relations, disciplinary processes, and employment law
- Proven track record managing contract compliance, agreement breaches, and sensitive HR investigations
- Strong background in talent acquisition strategy, not just oversight - someone who has rebuilt broken hiring functions
- Experience designing and implementing retention programmes that demonstrably reduced attrition
The Person We Need :
- Commercially minded - you connect people decisions to business outcomes
- Direct and courageous - you will have difficult conversations with senior leaders when needed
- Systems thinker - you build processes that outlast your personal involvement
- Empathetic but structured - you care deeply about people while enforcing clear accountability
- Calm under pressure - you have managed crises, investigations, and transitions without losing composure
Nice to Have :
- Experience in a founder-led or PE/VC-backed environment
- Exposure to multi-country or remote-first workforce management
- Prior involvement in an organisational restructure or workforce transformation
What Success Looks Like in Year One :
Priority Outcome :
- Attrition - Measurable reduction in voluntary resignations within 6 months
- Hiring - Structured, scalable recruitment process live across all functions
- Compliance - Full audit and remediation of all employment agreements and HR policies
- Culture - Aelum values defined, communicated, and embedded in core people processes
- ER Framework - Clear disciplinary and performance management frameworks in place
- HR Team - Core HR team hired and operational
Compensation & Benefits :
- Competitive senior leadership salary benchmarked to market
- Performance-based bonus
- Equity / long-term incentive plan (details discussed at offer stage)
- Direct access and influence at the CEO and Board level