Director of People Operations

About Instead

Instead is a tax platform designed to help taxpayers and tax professionals collaborate to save money on taxes. As the first company in decades to receive IRS approvals to E-file 1040, 1041, 1120, 1120S, and 1065 — we’re re-inventing a complex category. Founded in 2023, Instead combines LLMs with tax law to make tax management a continuous, proactive process rather than a dreaded annual deadline.

Instead’s investors include Sarah Guo from Conviction (conviction.com), IRIS (irisglobal.com) the largest tax software provider in the UK and many of our partners and customers who believe in our mission and vision. The Instead team comprises talented leaders from leading tax, financial services and fintech companies — Gusto, Intuit, Zenefits, Thomson Reuters, Wolters Kluwer — as well as top tax & accounting firms such as PwC, BDO, RSM, and KPMG.

Instead was a 2024 Innovation Award Finalist in CPA Practice Advisor. Instead’s CEO, Andrew Argue, is a CPA and has been named Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession twice — Ones To Watch and CPA Practice Advisors 20 under 40.

About the Role

Instead is growing fast — with teams across the US and India — and we need a people leader who can own the full scope of People Operations globally. Based out of our Hyderabad office, you’ll be the driving force behind how we attract, retain, and enable world-class talent across all Instead locations. You’ll build and lead the People Operations function end-to-end: from talent acquisition and culture-building to HR operations, policy design, and organizational development. This is a high-impact, in-office leadership role for someone dynamic and ready to shape people strategy at a company that’s scaling rapidly across borders.

What You’ll Do

Global People Strategy

• Own and lead the People Operations function across all Instead locations (US and India), ensuring a consistent and high-quality employee experience globally.
• Talent Strategy: Build and lead a talent acquisition team to attract top-tier professionals in tax, tech, and ops across geographies.
• Organizational Development: Design org structures and talent strategies that support scale from 50 to 500+ employees across multiple offices and countries.
• Performance Management: Lead performance cycles, goal setting, and continuous feedback loops across all teams globally.
• Employer Branding: Strengthen Instead’s brand as an employer of choice in both the US and Indian talent markets.
• Business Partnership: Collaborate with leadership across the company to support people-related decisions, workforce planning, and change management.

Culture & Operations

• Drive Workplace Culture: Foster an inclusive, high-performance culture aligned with Instead’s values across all offices.
• HR Operations & Compliance: Oversee daily HR operations globally — from onboarding to exit — ensuring legal and policy compliance in every jurisdiction we operate in.
• Policy Design: Create and implement global HR policies from scratch, navigating the nuances of a cross-border, early-stage environment.
• HR Tech & Systems: Manage tools and systems to ensure seamless HR service delivery and data-driven decision-making across the organization.
• Office & Team Expansion: Support expansion plans, including setup and hiring in new cities and regions.
• Travel Flexibility: Willingness to travel across offices in India and to the US as needed for team-building, hiring, and strategic alignment.

What We’re Looking For

• 5–7 years of experience in HR management, preferably in fast-growing startups or tech-enabled businesses with a global or cross-border workforce.
• Proven success aligning HR strategies with business goals and scaling organizations from ~50 to 500 employees.
• Experience building policies and people ops processes from the ground up across multiple geographies.
• Strong understanding of labor law in India (especially in the context of offshoring and tech/ITES industries), with exposure to or willingness to learn US employment practices.
• Track record of executing DEI initiatives and building positive, inclusive workplace cultures.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to influence stakeholders and leadership across time zones.
• Hands-on experience with HRIS, compliance, recruitment, and employee engagement initiatives.
• Ability to work full-time from our Hyderabad office, Monday–Friday, 2 PM–11 PM IST.
• Flexibility to travel as needed — across cities in India and to the US for strategic alignment and team-building.

Nice to Have

• Experience working in global or US-based companies with cross-border teams.
• Familiarity with tools like Deel, RazorpayX, Greenhouse, Notion, Slack, and Google Workspace.
• Exposure to tax, fintech, or accounting services industries.
• Professional certifications like SHRM-CP, PHR, or equivalent.

Why Join Us

Instead is on a mission to transform how taxes are managed — combining technology and expertise to simplify one of life’s most complex problems. As our Director of People Operations, you’ll have the rare opportunity to build the people function for a company scaling across the US and India — shaping culture, processes, and teams from the ground up. If you’re excited about owning global people strategy at a fast-growing startup and making a real impact, we’d love to have you on the journey.

Equal Opportunity Employer - M/F/D/V

As a global business, we rely on diversity of culture and thought to deliver on our goals. To ensure we can do that, we seek talented, qualified employees in all our operations around the world regardless of race, color, sex/gender, including pregnancy, gender identity and expression, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, citizen status, veteran status, or any other protected classification under applicable law. We also make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and for sincerely held religious beliefs in accordance with applicable law.

We trust our team with sensitive information, so all candidates who receive and accept employment offers must complete a background check before joining us.