People Lead, UK

ABOUT US: AI needs a new infrastructure layer. We're building it at Modal. Every era of computing brought new workloads that previous infrastructure couldn't support: mainframes, databases, and the cloud. Each time, the company that rebuilt the layer underneath defined the decade. AI is no different, except it touches everything instead of one slice, and the window to build the layer underneath it is open right now. Our customers include category-defining companies like Lovable https://modal.com/blog/lovable-case-study, Ramp https://modal.com/blog/how-ramp-built-a-full-context-background-coding-agent-on-modal, Cognition, DoorDash, and Suno. They rely on Modal for instant GPU access, sub-second container starts, and native storage, so it's simple to serve low-latency inference, fine-tune models, and access production-ready sandboxes at scale. We recently raised a $355M Series C https://modal.com/blog/modal-series-c at a $4.65B valuation, led by General Catalyst and Redpoint Ventures. We've crossed $300M+ ARR and grown fivefold since last September. Our team includes creators of popular open-source projects (e.g.,Seaborn https://github.com/mwaskom/seaborn,Luigi https://github.com/spotify/luigi), academic researchers, international olympiad medalists, and experienced engineering and product leaders with decades of experience. THE ROLE: We are hiring our first People team member on the ground in London - the person who builds and runs the people foundation for the UK as our London office grows from a small team today into one of Modal’s core hubs. You‘ll help build out of the people function in London end to end, ensuring we create the best environment for our team. You will be the person who meets a new hire on day one, the person anyone on the team goes to when something comes up, and the owner of all things people operations (systems, benefits, onboarding). This is a foundational, high-ownership role. We’re looking for someone who wants to build a region, and who is energized by being the go-to person from everything People in London. WHAT YOU’LL DO: PEOPLE OPERATIONS & COMPLIANCE - Own core people operations for the London team - onboarding, offboarding, payroll coordination, and benefits administration so every experience is smooth and nothing falls through the cracks. - Be the first, trusted point of contact for London employees on questions about policies, benefits, pay, and people matters, handling sensitive topics with clarity, discretion, and pragmatism. - Support managers on the ground: help them set their teams up well, spot early performance or people issues, and know when to loop in the broader People team. - Keep our people data clean and current in our systems (departments, titles, managers) as we stand up a single global source of truth, and help operationalize the new HRIS locally. - Make sure our UK benefits are competitive and in line with the local market, and that time-off and policy messaging is clear and consistent for the London team. - Own the people side of building out Modal’s UK presence - partnering with external vendors and global people operations to keep us compliant with UK employment. WORKPLACE & OPERATIONS - Keep the London office running smoothly day to day (space, supplies, setup) and be a thoughtful steward of a welcoming, functional environment. - Own local events, team bonding, and the in-office experience that makes London somewhere people want to be. - Coordinate with vendors and building management as needed. RECRUITING OPERATIONS - Own local recruiting operations for the London office in partnership with our global Talent team, including interview logistics and candidate experience on the ground. REQUIREMENTS: - 5+ years experience in a People Ops or People & Talent generalist role, ideally in a fast-growing tech environment - Working knowledge of UK employment norms, compliance, and labor environments - Comfortable working autonomously and owning outcomes with minimal oversight - you see gaps and fix them - Strong organizational skills and attention to detail - you notice what others miss - Clear, thoughtful communicator with candidates, employees, and stakeholders - Comfortable shifting between strategic thinking and hands-on execution - Excited to be a foundational hire and help build people processes from the ground up