Vice President, People & Talent

About the Company

Armada is the hyperscaler for the edge, delivering modular AI infrastructure from first deployment to AI factory with speed, scale and sovereignty. Named one of Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies and to the CNBC Disruptor 50, Armada’s solutions are deployed in over 60 countries globally for organizations ranging from energy to defense. With nearly $500 million in funding to date, Armada is backed by leading investors including Founders Fund, Lux, BlackRock and Microsoft (M12), alongside strategic partnerships with Microsoft, Dell, Palantir, NVIDIA, SpaceX, and Skydio. The company is building the infrastructure layer for sovereign and edge AI – rugged, deployable compute for customers that cannot rely on centralized cloud.

About the Role

Armada is hiring a Vice President, People and Talent to own the full People stack and build the infrastructure a globally distributed company needs to scale. This role encompasses Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, People Operations, and Compliance, with deep expertise required in global mobility, entity and employer‑of‑record management, and compensation design. In addition to the operating stack, the role includes employee experience and culture responsibilities such as workspace strategy, onboarding, and learning‑and‑development programming. The position is strategic, not merely execution‑only, and reports to the executive team.

Responsibilities

• Own global recruiting strategy across technical and non‑technical functions; personally run critical searches when needed.
• Implement structured hiring processes that raise talent density and hold hiring managers accountable; move time‑to‑hire and quality‑of‑hire against defined baselines.
• Partner with Finance to align headcount planning, workforce modeling, and geographic expansion with budget forecasting.
• Define and own compensation philosophy, band architecture, and equity strategy at the pre‑IPO stage, including new‑hire grants, refresh programs, 409A cadence, and exception processes.
• Run the annual compensation and merit cycle in partnership with Finance, managing geographic differentials across entities and employer‑of‑record markets.
• Design and manage global benefits programs and renewals, balancing cost, competitiveness, and local requirements.
• Prepare executive compensation recommendations and materials for the CEO, Board compensation committee, and Finance.
• Design and scale a People Operations framework that ensures global consistency while allowing local nuance.
• Own compliance posture across all operating jurisdictions, partnering with Legal on employment law, immigration, and risk mitigation.
• Oversee payroll operations, vendor management, audit readiness, documentation standards, and internal controls.
• Manage the People technology stack (HRIS, ATS, payroll, performance, analytics) and data governance for trustworthy workforce reporting.
• Define entity strategy, deciding when to use an employer of record versus standing up a local entity, and execute conversions as needed.
• Manage employment, labor compliance, and employee relations across international jurisdictions.
• Own global mobility, relocation, and immigration programs in partnership with Legal.
• Define workspace and physical environment strategy across offices, remote environments, and field deployments.
• Own end‑to‑end onboarding to ensure new hires are productive and connected from day one.
• Partner with Finance and Operations on real‑estate strategy, cost management, and vendor selection.
• Set standards for workplace experience, safety, and compliance across all locations.
• Build learning and development programming from the ground up, aligned with business needs.
• Partner with the executive team on organizational design, leveling frameworks, and job architecture.
• Implement performance management that provides clear, usable standards for managers.
• Develop manager capability through explicit leadership expectations, development, and coaching.

Requirements

• Proven experience running the full People stack end‑to‑end: Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, People Operations, and Workspaces.
• Expertise in global mobility, employer‑of‑record versus entity management, and compensation design.
• Built and scaled a People function in high‑growth environments (250–1,000+ employees), establishing programs, policies, and team headcount from scratch.
• Experience taking a company through an IPO or similar exit, with insight into