About this role
Are you passionate about learning languages? About helping people connect and communicate across cultures, for travel, friendship, or career advancement? About making an impact to our company and our 25MM+ learners? Come join our NY-based team as a People Operations Lead.
About the Role
Babbel is hiring a People Operations Lead to be a hands-on operator who will partner closely with the US leadership team to ensure the People strategy drives company performance.
The People Lead owns all aspects of People Operations, Employee Experience, Compliance, and Talent Development, building on the existing systems, processes, and culture that support Babbel’s US operations. In this role, you’ll balance strategic leadership with tactical execution; from onboarding and managing benefits to coaching managers and building scalable programs. This is an ideal role for a hands-on builder who thrives in fast-paced environments and wants to touch all aspects of the employee lifecycle. This role reports into the US CEO.
What You’ll Do
Manage payroll, benefits, onboarding and offboarding, and compliance via Justworks
Maintain and scale People processes, policies, documentation, and programs that reduce risk and drive clarity
Lead employee engagement, recognition, and culture initiatives
Serve as a trusted advisor to managers on performance, feedback, and employee relations
Manage performance evaluation cycles; create frameworks for promotions and compensation adjustment
Oversee full recruiting processes, including sourcing, screening, managing the candidate experience, and closing candidates
Design and deliver learning programs and career frameworks
Ensure clear internal communication and alignment across teams
Create People analytics dashboards and provide insights to CEO and US leadership team
Partner with the Berlin People team
Supervise the office/operations manager
Who You Are
You are a hands-on operator and strategic partner who thrives at the intersection of people, culture, and business. You balance empathy with operational rigor and enjoy creating structure in fast-moving environments.
Experience
5-6+ years in People Operations, ideally in growing companies
Prior experience as a Senior Manager or People Lead in a high-growth SaaS startup
Proven success managing a PEO (preferably Justworks)
Strong understanding of employment law, compliance, and people analytics
Experience designing and implementing manager enablement programs from scratch
Track record of partnering with leaders and managers to align people and business strategy
Strong proficiency in Google Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides)
International experience a plus
Enthusiasm for language-learning a plus
This position is located in NYC and requires a minimum of 3 days/week in office.
Salary Information
In New York City, the reasonable annualized full-time salary for this role is $125,000 - $155,000, and placement within this range will vary based on several factors including, but not limited to experience, education, licensure/certifications, training and skill level.
Babbel is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion.