Chief People Officer

Consider this the people case. Would you back it?

We’re looking to a new member of our management team. In this role, you’ll set the direction for People at memoQ and own what comes of it, make the decisions that are genuinely yours to make. You’ll fit right in if you’d rather design an organisation than administer one, and if you’re comfortable making the people case to the management and the CEO. This is a hands-on leadership role. You’ll lead a small HR team while actively contributing to both strategic initiatives and day-to-day HR operations.

As HR Manager, you’ll work closely with the CEO and leadership team to shape our people’s practices, culture, and employee experience. We’re looking for someone who is comfortable moving between strategic discussions and operational challenges, and who isn’t afraid to have difficult conversations when important decisions need to be made.

And here’s what’s on our side of the table: a seat where the decisions actually get made, a mandate broad enough to be worth taking – strategy, culture, talent, reward and the HR team itself – rather than a title with someone else’s plan attached, and smart people who are willing to contribute to make memoQ a great place to work at.

What you’ll do in this position at memoQ

The decisions here are yours to make, and yours to defend. In practice, that looks like:

Shape the people strategy

• Define, own, and execute memoQ’s People strategy and annual HR roadmap, aligned with the business strategy.
• Represent the people perspective in management team decisions, as a strategic partner to the CEO.
• Lead organizational design, workforce and capability planning, and strategic organizational changes.
• Own the HR budget and make sure every part of it earns its place.
• Report to the CEO, the management team and, where required, the board on people metrics, risks, and progress.

Own culture and engagement

• Be the owner of memoQ’s culture and values, making sure they show up in everyday leadership, not just on the wall.
• Measure and improve engagement and wellbeing, and turn survey and exit insights into actions people actually notice.
• Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion across the organization.

Build talent and leadership

• Own the full employee lifecycle, from recruitment and onboarding through performance and development to offboarding.
• Run talent reviews and succession planning for key roles, and build real career paths for high-potential colleagues.
• Coach and advise the management team on people leadership, and build leadership development programs.

Design reward that is fair and transparent

• Own the compensation and benefits strategy, including job architecture and grading, salary reviews, and market benchmarking.
• Lead memoQ’s response to the EU Pay Transparency Directive, including pay equity analysis and reporting.

Run HR as a modern, compliant function

• Keep policies and procedures up to date and compliant in Hungary and in the other countries where we employ people, including GDPR for employee data.
• Drive the digitalization of HR processes and our HRIS, and build people analytics that inform real decisions.
• Manage employee relations, including close cooperation with our employee representatives.

Lead the HR team

• Lead, develop, and inspire a team of three: an Office Manager & HR Coordinator, a Senior HR Generalist, and an HR Generalist.
• Raise the bar on HR operations and processes, and give your team room to grow.

What we think will help you succeed in this role

It’s hard to tick all the boxes. But here is what helps make a difference:

• 10+ years in HR, with at least 3 of them leading the function as Head of HR, HR Director or similar
• A real business partnership with a CEO and executives: you’ve been in the room when the hard calls were made, and you helped shape them
• Organisational design and change you can talk through: what changed, what it cost, and what you would do differently
• Building, not just running: HR functions and processes you set up from scratch, or rebuilt when they stopped working
• Depth in talent, performance and reward, including the conversations nobody enjoys having
• Coaching that leaders actually ask for, and the credibility to challenge them when they need it
• Integrity and discretion you never have to prove, because people already trust you with what matters
• Solid grounding in the Hungarian Labour Code, so compliance is a foundation rather than a worry
• A degree in HR, business, psychology, law or similar is expected, though what you’ve actually done matters more to us
• Operational experience with HRIS is something you will need in this role, if you know HiBob that is a strong plus
• Fluent Hungarian and English, since Budapest is our home base and English is our working language
• We will need a valid certificate of good conduct to comply with strong ethical expectations.

The terms on our side of the table

You’re evaluating us too. Here’s the pitch:

• An international team spread across 10 countries, serving clients in 15+ languages
• A seat on the management team, and a mandate broad enough to be worth taking
• A flat organisation with no micromanagement, and the autonomy to make your own decisions
• 2 days/week home office opportunity, on the remining days a nice, cozy office
• Annual learning budget for courses, certifications, conferences
• Private health insurance and AYCM access to keep you well, in every sense
• Annual salary reviews
• And the one that matters most: actual work-life balance. Doctor’s appointment at 11? Go. Finished everything by 3? Don’t sit there until 5. We hire you for your output, not your hours

Why memoQ?

Every time a global company launches a product in a new market, someone’s translation technology is doing quiet, load-bearing work behind the scenes. Often, it’s ours.

memoQ is a global market leader in translation technology and one of the 500 fastest-growing SaaS companies in the world. Our software sits inside the workflows of enterprises, such as ASUS, Hubspot, or DHL. This is memoQ, handling work most people never think about and no product launch can happen without.

It’s a niche industry. It’s also a genuinely fascinating one: full of linguists, engineers and AI problems that don’t exist anywhere else. Most marketers have never heard of it. The ones who find their way in tend to stay.

So this is a leadership job with something actually at stake. You would be deciding what kind of company memoQ becomes for the people in it, not just keeping an HR machine running.

How to apply

If you think you possess the necessary skills and experience, please apply with your CV, cover letter (in English) to careers@memoq.com.

You’ve applied. What’s next?

We want all of our candidates to have a smooth and efficient experience with us, which is why we aim to get back to you regarding your application within a short time. As we receive numerous applications for our positions, if your profile corresponds to our requirements to continue the process, we will contact you. Please be aware that we might not be able to reach out to everyone whose profile was not selected.

The first step of the selection process is a screening call. This is followed by an online meeting with the hiring manager and relevant stakeholder(s).  For C level roles we also run an assessment centre.  The final step is a chance to meet your potential teammates.