Head of People

Soil Capital is on a mission to regenerate over 10 million hectares of land by 2030, addressing our environmental and food security challenges through regenerative and low-carbon agriculture. As a leading expert in this field, we have developed the first payment for ecosystem services programme for farmers in Europe.

Through our certified programme and our platform, Soil Capital leads the food and ag sector transformation by engaging with blue chip organisations who seek to deliver on their environmental commitments and build supply chain resilience. These businesses purchase regenerative units, acting as an incentive for farmers to improve their agricultural practices.

Our technology supports farmers by allowing them to efficiently and accurately quantify farming practices and their environmental impact (GHG balance, biodiversity, water quality, etc), which we then audit and certify, to generate certificates. This helps farmers understand the levers to accelerate their adoption of regenerative practices.

Over the last ten years, Soil Capital has established itself as a thought leader and a driver of change at scale in France, the UK and Belgium. Pursuing its ambitious growth trajectory, it is now expanding geographical and product scopes. Interested in learning more about our story? You can watch the video of Chuck & Nico, co-founders, here.

Over this time, we have built a team of 65 excellent and motivated team members, which are central to the work we do.

Role Purpose

As a hands-on Head of People, you will be asked to lead the transformation of our People management function from that of a structured start-up, to that of a professional and highly performing scale-up of more than 100 colleagues within 3 years. You will have the opportunity to pick up the progress achieved so far and transform it strategically to enable our team to deliver their best to our mission. You will report to the Co-founder and CFO Alex, and will be a member of our Management Team, driving the company's strategy.

Key Responsibilities

• Strategic direction: Review & set the goals for the People team as a key component of the company strategy, to enable the company to perform and grow at a fast pace.
• Business partner: Act as a strong business partner to our team leads, providing guidance in every step of their team journey, to ensure we attract, develop and retain high-potential and high-performing talents.
• Growth forecast: Planning for growth and implementing necessary change, including our talent management strategy and compensation and benefits policies.
• Culture development: Continue building and bringing our company culture alive to ensure that our mission and values are at the centre of every one of our decisions. Infuse into our existing culture a practice to nurture, reward and celebrate performance. 
• Learning & development: Envision and build the training and professional development path to support the evolution of all team members, with a focus on assisting the leadership capabilities of our team leads.
• Data & systems: Identify and implement best HR practices (including HRIS and the use of AI) to maximise data-driven effectiveness & efficiency. Challenge and improve the assessment process to support our strategic direction.
• Team management: Managing and growing the People team as needed, today composed of Head of People and Charlotte, our People Specialist.
• HR Ops: Support the People Specialist in administrative tasks such as payroll, contracts signing, onboarding & offboarding, etc.

Your profile

Required Skills & Experience

• Growth experience: 10 years+ of experience in the HR function of one or several companies in a growth stage, ideally to scale-up stage. Ability to manage the friction points of transitioning from a structured start-up to a professional scale-up. Comfortable in change management.
• Multi-geography HR: Experience managing decentralised teams & payroll
  across different legal jurisdictions (Belgium, France, UK). Some knowledge of French labour law is welcome.
• Talent & performance management: Excellent organizational and project management abilities, including the ability to manage the continuous process of attracting, developing and retaining high-potential and high-performing talents.
• Software proficiency: Experience with HRIS migration (e.g., BambooHR, Figures, HiBob, Personio, Lucca, others) and how AI can be integrated into HR workflows.
• Language & communication: Fluent in French and English. The ability to communicate clearly and to the point, both written and verbal.
• Hands-on attitude: An ability and a desire to be in the day-to-day of the People function work, in addition to thinking and strategy. A tendency to roll up your sleeves and do the work, side-by-side with your colleagues.

Desired Attributes

• Our mission: A strong alignment with Soil Capital's mission.
• Entrepreneurial mindset: Comfortable in an entrepreneurial setting, able to thrive in a fast-paced, mission-driven, and scaling environment, managing multiple projects with agility and high quality work.
• Decentralised management methods: Knowledge and affinity towards decentralised management methods.

What We Offer

At Soil Capital, we are committed to building a sustainable and regenerative food system, with farmers at the heart of this mission. By joining us, you'll have the opportunity to grow your career in a mission-driven company, surrounded by passionate colleagues.

• A mission-driven career: Join a company on a mission to transform the farming & food sectors, with a team driven by and committed to our mission
• Unlimited holidays policy: Take the holidays you need, while coordinating with your team and respecting the demands of your role.
• Health insurance with Alan for you and your family.
• Reimbursement if you come to the office by public transport.
• Team incentive bonus: based on your total salary package.
• An excellent office in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium (or possibly our offices of London or Paris), and the ability to work remotely on a hybrid basis
• Company events and travels: Join quarterly company events and visit our offices in Paris (France), Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium) and London (UK).
• Gross salary in the range of EUR 75 to 85k, depending on location.

Our recruitment process

In order to find the perfect match, we have set up a comprehensive hiring process to give you the opportunity to get to know all the key contributors to the role. Between each step, you'll always receive feedback:

• People interview (30 min) with Charlotte, People Specialist, to get to know you
• Hiring lead interview (45 min) with Alex (Co-founder and CFO) and another team member, to go much more in depth into the role
• Technical interview (1 hour) with our external advisor Florence Bonpaix & Charlotte, People Specialist, to evaluate the technical aspects - you will receive more details during the interviews
• Last interview (15 to 30 min) with Chuck, CEO and Guillaume, COO
• And references check

Be part of a supportive, dynamic team that celebrates successes together and works toward a shared mission of transforming the future of agriculture

Soil Capital is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from all candidates who meet the job requirements, regardless of their race, colour, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, or disability.

Location

Louvain-la-Neuve, Brabant Wallon (Hybrid)

Department

People

Employment Type

CDI (Belgium)

Minimum Experience

Experienced