People Operations Lead - Europe

Capi is building the financial infrastructure for emerging markets trade. Backed by $18M+ from top-tier investors like Creandum, Y Combinator, General Catalyst, and angels from Revolut, Checkout, Stripe, and Remitly, we’re building the financial infrastructure that emerging markets deserve. Our mission is to grow GDP in emerging markets by making the global financial system fairer and more accessible. We’re tackling global trade, making it easier for importers to pay their international suppliers. Our platform enables businesses to expand rapidly, create jobs, and be engines of prosperity for their countries. Our team is made up of approx 100 people across 10 countries; we are a group of a highly-ambitious, get-it-done people, who like to work hard on something that has a tangible impact in the world. And we’re looking for more people to join our team! Take a look through Capi’s mission & values. The Role: We are looking for an experienced and autonomous People Operations Lead to own and improve our People Ops function across France and our broader African markets. You will be the go-to expert for French employment law and the operational backbone for the employee lifecycle across multiple jurisdictions — building scalable systems, owning compliance, and partnering closely with the Head of People on our most complex people challenges. This is a high-ownership role for someone who has done this before in a fast-moving environment and is ready to build, not just execute. What you’ll do French Employment Law & Compliance Ownership Serve as Capi's internal subject matter expert on French employment law: contracts, works council obligations, terminations, leave entitlements, and statutory requirements. Own compliance documentation and ensure employment practices in France are current, accurate, and audit-ready. Partner with Legal to navigate complex or novel employment situations across our markets. Keep ahead of regulatory changes and translate them into practical process updates. People Operations Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle for direct employees and assigned EOR markets — onboarding, offboarding, contracts, payroll inputs, and benefits coordination. Build and maintain SOPs, templates, and playbooks that enable consistent, compliant People Ops delivery at scale. Manage EOR partner relationships across markets, identifying issues early and holding vendors to a high standard. Serve as a trusted point of contact for employees on all People matters — clear, empathetic, and solutions-oriented. Process Design & Improvement Identify operational gaps and own the improvement — don't just flag problems, build the fix. Lead or contribute to cross-functional People Ops projects (e.g. HRIS improvements, onboarding revamps, policy rollouts). Maintain high-quality People data and documentation across systems. Culture & Employee Experience Coordinate team gatherings, market visits, and offsites that connect our distributed team. Champion an outstanding employee experience from Day 0 onwards. Who you are Must-haves 6+ years in People Operations or HR, with meaningful time spent in a scaleup or startup environment. Strong working knowledge of French employment law — you are comfortable operating without a lawyer in the room for day-to-day questions. Proven ability to own People Ops processes end-to-end with limited oversight. Comfortable building structure in ambiguous environments — you create the playbook, not wait for one. Excellent communication skills; direct, clear, and appropriately warm with employees at all levels. Fluent in French and English (written and spoken). Based in Paris, with the ability to work from the office regularly. Nice-to-haves Experience supporting People Ops across African markets. Hands-on experience managing EOR partners and multi-jurisdiction compliance. Familiarity with our HRIS tools (e.g. Deel, Ashby) and Google Workspace. Experience designing or owning compensation or levelling frameworks. Arabic, Wolof, or other relevant language skills. What success looks like after 6 months French employment compliance is watertight and you are the go-to expert and the team trusts your judgement. New hires report a consistently smooth, well-organised onboarding experience. At least 2 People Ops processes have been materially improved - documented, owned, and running better than when you arrived. Managers rely on you as a proactive partner, not a reactive resource. You have built strong working relationships with internal stakeholders across Finance and Legal. Why join Capi Own a meaningful function. Work closely with a small, mission-driven team solving real financial access challenges across emerging markets. High growth trajectory: as the company scales, so does the scope of this role — toward broader ownership of People Ops strategy and leadership across our markets. A genuinely multicultural environment where your French language skills and cross-market instincts are an asset every day. Competitive compensation, health benefits, and equity participation. Additional Information This is a full-time position with competitive salary, share options, and benefits. Capi is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes candidates from diverse backgrounds. We’re all about building a diverse, inclusive team at Capi. Whoever you are, we’d love to hear from you. If there’s anything you need to make the interview process easier—whether it’s accessibility support, a different format, or just a heads-up about what to expect—just let us know, we’re happy to help. We've won some cool awards recently too! Check them out: Startups UK Top 100 (No. 24) Viva Technology Top 100 Welcome to the Jungle's Fintech's Finest Top 50