VP People

Job description

At Joko, our mission is to we help consumers save time and money when shopping online or in-store. Founded in Paris, Joko is a tech company and certified B Corp with over 105 talents across Paris, Barcelona, and New York (and beyond). More than 6 million users already save money every day at 10,000+ merchants with Joko. From cashback and automatic coupons to price alerts, we've kept expanding our products to make shopping smarter. Today, Joko is an AI shopping app: with Juno, our shopping assistant, users can find the right product at the best price in only a few seconds, with recommendations that get sharper the more they use it. Having reached profitability in our core market, we’re now scaling globally, with a strong focus on the US. It’s still day 1, come build the future of shopping with us! 🔥 THE PEOPLE TEAM At Joko, talent is our most valuable asset, and the People team is its guardian. Currently, it consists of six members: two People Ops Managers, a Lead People Business Partner, two Talent Acquisition Managers, and a Workplace Manager — and it is growing fast, with nine positions open today across Talent Acquisition, People Operations, and People Business Partnering: you will lead a team of about fifteen within a year. Your mission will be to expand and structure this team. 🎯 WHAT YOU WILL DO You'll own Joko's entire People function — Talent Acquisition, People Business Partnering, People Operations and Workplace Management — as one integrated department, and grow it from there. You will structure the team with departments, including by hiring a Head of Talent Acquisition and a Head of People Operations, and stand up the programs and infrastructure a company at this scale needs to run on. Along the way, you'll build a team people are proud to be part of. And you'll do it at a specific, rare moment in a company's life: a profitable scale-up entering its international chapter, set to grow from the 100+ people we are today to 200+ within 18 months, and investing heavily in AI. We operate across three countries (France, Spain, and the US and soon more), with a mature leadership team, a culture worth protecting, and a team that demands excellence. You'll report directly to Xavier (CEO) and sit on the Steering Committee among the top seven leaders of the company and the Chief of Staff — at the heart of every strategic decision the company makes. Beyond the People mandate itself, we're looking for a real additional leader for the Steering Committee: you'll be the go-to advisor to the executive team on org structure, headcount planning, and the highest-stakes people decisions in the company — with a voice that carries well beyond People topics. The People department is built around four areas — its four sub-teams — and you'll be the architect of all four. - Talent Acquisition. Hiring while keeping a high talent density is the engine of the next chapter, and you'll own the talent strategy end-to-end. You'll translate headcount plans and growth targets into a proactive hiring roadmap that keeps talent acquisition capacity ahead of the business's needs. You'll drive the hiring activity with clear performance indicators, effective hunting strategies, streamlined interview processes, and an outstanding candidate experience. With the marketing team, you'll enhance our employer branding so the best people come to us. - People Business Partnering. You'll stand up the People Business Partnering model: every functional leader gets a trusted partner for org design, performance, team development and compensation. You'll improve the performance review process, implement learning and development initiatives, and create development paths for our team members. You'll work closely with managers to offer proactive training, and leverage our surveys to foster engagement through concrete initiatives. - People Operations. You'll scale our core people processes — onboarding, benefits, payroll, and career frameworks — so they work perfectly in France, Spain, and the US. You'll make the most of our HRIS capabilities along the way. With our Head of Legal, you'll handle labor law topics, including compliance and working contracts. - Workplace Management. You'll make sure to gather the team together across offices and countries by creating delightful employee experiences, offsites, and company events — designing an employee experience that is just as strong for remote team members as it is in our offices in Paris, Barcelona, and New York. A word from Xavier "Most companies grow headcount and dilute their bar. The whole point of our next chapter is to do the opposite: double the team while raising talent density. That's why People is one of the highest-leverage seats at Joko — this role shapes who joins, how they grow, and what it feels like to build here." — Xavier Starkloff, CEO 👀 WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR - 10+ years of experience, including 5+ years managing a team, in high-growth tech startups or scale-ups — you've lived through a similar headcount inflection. - A full-function builder: You've owned a full People department — not a single sub-function — spanning talent acquisition, people business partnering, and people operations, ideally across several countries. You've stood up functions and programs from scratch rather than inheriting ones already in place. - Talent magnetism: Talent acquisition is where you shine — candidates want to work with you, and it shows in the teams you've built. - Architectural thinking: You're as comfortable designing a multi-quarter roadmap as you are fixing a broken process. You think in systems, not tasks. You connect organizational design, workforce planning, talent analytics, and leadership development to the business's goals — never treating them as standalone initiatives. - Emotional intelligence and stakeholder management: This role lives at the intersection of the CEO, the Steering Committee, the People team, and every team in the company. You read people well, build trust quickly across very different stakeholders, and handle sensitive conversations with care. You're a strong coach and counselor to leaders and team members alike. - Communication: You are clear, synthetic, and eloquent. You can explain something complex with simple words. - Energy: You bring genuine drive, warmth, and presence into a room. You'll be one of the cultural carriers of the company. - AI fluency: You already use AI tools fluently in your own work, and you have a point of view on how they reshape the way teams operate. You're excited to help Joko go further — the People team is expected to lead by example on this front. - Efficiency: You're fluent in productivity tools, ruthless about prioritization, and known for delivering on time across complex projects. You instinctively look for the highest-leverage version of any task. - Entrepreneurial mindset: You thrive in fast-moving, ambiguous environments. You take ownership without being asked, you welcome feedback, you're an insatiable learner, and you go the extra mile by default. - Languages: Fluency in French and English. - Location: Paris-based. - Bonus: Knowledge of European labor law, especially France and Spain; a strong external embodiment of the People function and a real presence in the ecosystem. 💎 OUR PERKS (Some of the benefits listed below are available to full-time positions only) At Joko, we believe that flexibility and trust are essential. Our work environment reflects this through: - Flexible remote : If you live in Paris, you can choose to work from our office or from home with no constraints. If you live elsewhere, we can provide access to a coworking space and a coworking budget. - Work from anywhere : Want to spend a month in Italy while working? You can work from most countries in the world for up to 3 months per year. On top of that, we offer plenty of perks: - 💸 Top-market compensation - 📈 Equity for everyone with the chance to own a piece of what you build - 🤖 Half-day each week dedicated to leveling up with AI by exploring new tools, iterating hard, and sharpening your skills - 🌴 Yearly offsite in amazing locations and budget for team-building events & monthly in-person gatherings - 💪 Contribution to your ClassPass subscription - 🍼 8-week leave paid 100% for the second parent - …and much more, check the full list here https://notion.so/joko/20f4ead2bfc54137b9d805bd9abbb758?pvs=4&v=e2baac50c1844149a219895e0d1c2912! 🤝 OUR HIRING PROCESS 1. Intro call: Quick screening with the Hiring Manager or the Talent team. 2. Step 1 – Team interview (45 min): Conversation with two Joko team members (could include the Hiring Manager, people from the team you’d join, or colleagues from other teams). 3. Step 2 – Role-specific assessments - For non-engineering roles: A take-home case study followed by a 45-min interview. We assess both your output and how you think in real time. The exercise will be relevant to your role (e.g. analysis, strategy, or process design). - For engineering roles: A 90-min live technical interview on CoderPad covering code understanding, review, system design, and product thinking (with AI serving as a collaboration tool). 4. Step 3 – Leadership interview (45 min): Conversation with a SteerCo member and a Founder. 5. References: Up to 3 calls with former colleagues or managers. ☕ You may also be invited for coffee with team members to get a feel for our culture.