Head of People
About the role
Location: Austin, TX | Hybrid | Full-time. Every day, over 10,000 eye care professionals log into Crystal PM’s software before they see their first patient. We’re the operating system behind independent eyecare — the EHR, practice management, billing, scheduling, and payments platform that keeps these practices running smoothly. With new leadership, fresh growth capital from top-tier software and search fund investors, and a clear runway to $35mm+ in ARR, Crystal is at an inflection point. We’re not a startup – we’re a market leader focused on long-term value creation. That means building the team, the product, and the go-to-market engine to execute on our ambitious goals. We’re assembling a team that matches the opportunity.
Responsibilities
You report to the CEO and own everything people: how we hire, develop talent, pay, measure performance, and how Crystal feels as a place to work. This is a strategy seat where HR is one of the levers you pull. You will be the CEO’s thought partner on org design, compensation, and the calls nobody else gets to make. You will also be the operator who picks up the phone, finds the candidate other firms missed, and closes them before a competitor knows their name.
What success in this role looks like:
- Built a hiring engine that finds A players on a predictable cadence; time to fill under 60 days for most roles.
- Close more than 70 percent of the offers extended.
- Recruiting feels like a system, not a fire drill; A players don’t leave; voluntary regrettable attrition stays under 8 percent.
- Performance management is real: every employee has clear goals, regular feedback, and a clear sense of where they stand; leaders coach, not just manage.
- Culture is defined and lived: five values show up in interview scorecards, performance reviews, promotions, and terminations; new hires can tell within their first week what we actually care about.
- You become the CEO’s first call on hard people decisions: org structure, comp philosophy, executive conflict, hires that aren’t working out.
Qualifications
- 7+ years in people leadership roles, with at least 3 years owning the function (Head of People, VP People, CPO, or equivalent) at a growth‑stage company between 50 and 300 employees.
- Direct recruiting experience: personally sourced, screened, and closed senior candidates; able to build a pipeline from scratch.
- Built a performance management system from the ground up or significantly rebuilt one.
- Compensation and leveling experience: can build the framework, defend it to a board, and explain it to a frustrated employee.
- Strong operational and compliance side: HRIS administration, multi‑state employment law, benefits renewals, HIPAA awareness.
- SaaS, healthcare software, or vertical SaaS exposure preferred; PE‑backed or search fund‑backed company experience a plus.
- Active experimentation with AI for sourcing, drafting offer letters, summarizing interviews, pressure‑testing policies.
Skills
- Talent magnet: the best people you’ve worked with want to work with you again.
- Truth‑teller: gives and receives hard feedback without softening it.
- Builder, not maintainer: prefers designing systems over running existing ones.
- Operationally rigorous: believes spreadsheets and frameworks strengthen culture.
- Calm under heat: handles layoffs, terminations, executive conflicts, compensation disputes with steadiness.
- Low ego, high standards: willing to write offer letters, run engagement surveys, and tell the CEO they’re wrong about a hire.
Benefits
- Competitive compensation based on experience
- Health, dental and vision benefits
- Hybrid work flexibility with in‑office collaboration in Austin
- 401(k) with matching company contribution
- Flexible PTO policy
- Ground‑floor opportunity in a well‑funded, fast‑growing healthcare technology company