Head of People

About the Role

We're scaling fast, and how we develop, reward, and support our people needs to keep pace with the business. We're ready for a dedicated People leader, reporting to the CEO, to own everything post-hire: performance, comp, culture, L&D, and HR operations (Talent Acquisition is a separate function you'll partner with). Most of this doesn't exist yet. You'll build it from scratch, not inherit it.

Responsibilities

• 30 Day: Meet leadership, managers, and employees across the company; audit current programs, systems, and compliance; establish your operating rhythm with the CEO and Head of Talent.
• 60 Day: Deliver a diagnosis of the People function and a prioritized 12-month roadmap; ship quick wins on the most urgent gaps; stand up baseline people metrics the exec team can rely on.
• 90 Day: Launch the first major program from your roadmap (performance cycle or comp bands); put manager development in motion; operate as a trusted thought partner to the leadership team.

Requirements

• 8+ years in People/HR, including leading the function at a high-growth tech company.
• A builder: you've created performance, comp, and culture programs from scratch, not just run inherited ones.
• Strong judgment on hard calls: employee relations, managing out, restructures. Direct, kind, and decisive.
• Data-driven: you build and defend people metrics with an executive team.
• Low ego, high ownership: comfortable being hands-on while building the team underneath you.

How We Work

• Build something worthy of love: Craft matters. We aim to build products and experiences customers genuinely love, not just tolerate.
• Commit and follow through: We finish what we start and build trust by being people others can count on.
• Why not today?: We value urgency and momentum. The fastest path to customer value usually wins.
• Seek raw input: We go directly to customers, data, and teammates instead of relying on summaries or assumptions.
• It’s our problem: We operate as one team. We share credit, own mistakes together, and support each other when things get hard.
• Be direct and kind: We give feedback clearly, respectfully, and without delay.

Why Vapi

• Generational impact: Build the human interface for every business.
• Ownership culture: Many of us are previous founders.
• Kind team: The founders, Jordan and Nikhil, are Canadians.
• Tier-1 Investors: YC, KP seed, Bessemer Series A.

Benefits

• Real stake: Competitive salary and excellent equity ownership.
• Comprehensive health coverage: Medical, dental, and vision plans.
• Team love: Quarterly off-sites and a culture of hanging out.
• Flexible time off: Take what you need.
• More: Catered meals, transportation, gym, and a $10k annual L&D budget.