Global Head of HR Operations

Spire Global is a space-to-cloud analytics company that owns and operates one of the world’s largest multipurpose satellite constellations. Spire’s proprietary data and analytics provide critical insights across weather, aviation, maritime, and government sectors globally.

As Spire continues to scale globally as a public company, we are building a modern, strategic, and operationally rigorous People organization designed to proactively support the business, strengthen governance, and enable long-term organizational growth.

The Role:

Spire is seeking a Global Head of HR Operations to lead the operational infrastructure, systems, governance, and service delivery model of our global HR organization. Reporting directly to the Global Head of HR, this role will serve as a critical leader responsible for building and scaling the operational backbone of the People function across a complex, multi-country environment.

This is both a strategic and hands-on leadership role requiring strong operational rigor, systems expertise, process transformation capability, and executive partnership skills. The ideal candidate is someone who thrives in fast-paced, evolving environments and can effectively balance scalability, employee experience, governance, and business execution.

The Global Head of HR Operations will partner closely across HR, Finance, Legal, IT, Security, Payroll, and executive leadership to ensure operational excellence across the employee lifecycle while driving modernization of systems, workflows, controls, analytics, and global HR programs.

This role will play a foundational part in helping evolve HR from a reactive support function into a proactive, business-aligned organization supported by scalable infrastructure, strong governance, and data-driven decision-making.

Key Responsibilities:

HR Operations & Service Delivery

• Lead and scale global HR Operations across all employee lifecycle processes including onboarding, offboarding, employee changes, documentation management, compliance administration, and workforce data governance.
• Build and operationalize scalable HR service delivery models, workflows, SLAs, escalation paths, and operational standards globally.
• Drive operational excellence and continuous process improvement across the HR organization.
• Establish clear ownership models and operational governance frameworks across HR processes and systems.
• Partner closely with HRBPs, Talent Acquisition, Total Rewards, Payroll, and Finance to ensure seamless operational execution and employee experience.

HR Systems, Technology & Automation

• Own global HR systems strategy, administration, optimization, and governance, including HRIS, workflows, integrations, reporting, permissions, and employee data management.
• Lead continued evolution and optimization of Rippling and broader HR technology ecosystem integrations.
• Partner with IT, Security, and Finance to ensure HR systems maintain strong controls, audit readiness, data integrity, and scalable architecture.
• Drive process automation and systems enhancements that improve operational efficiency and employee experience.
• Manage HR technology vendors and support long-term HR systems roadmap planning.

Governance, Compliance & Risk Management

• Build and maintain strong operational governance frameworks that support a global public company environment.
• Partner closely with Legal and HR leadership to operationalize compliant employee relations processes, documentation standards, investigation workflows, and policy governance.
• Ensure operational readiness for audits, controls testing, and regulatory compliance requirements across jurisdictions.
• Maintain oversight of HR policies, records retention practices, compliance tracking, and employee documentation processes globally.
• Proactively identify operational and compliance risks and implement scalable mitigation strategies.

Workforce Analytics & Strategic Insights

• Build and scale HR reporting and workforce analytics capabilities that provide actionable insights to leadership.
• Develop operational dashboards, metrics, and reporting frameworks that support executive decision-making and workforce planning.
• Leverage data to identify organizational trends, operational gaps, employee experience opportunities, and talent risks.
• Partner with Finance and executive leadership on headcount governance, workforce planning support, organizational analytics, and operational forecasting.

Employee Experience & HR Programs

• Lead operational execution of key HR programs including performance management cycles, compensation processes, organizational changes, and employee communications operations.
• Support implementation and operationalization of leadership development, engagement, recognition, and career framework initiatives.
• Ensure employee and manager experiences are supported through scalable processes, documentation, automation, and self-service resources.
• Drive operational consistency and process clarity across a globally distributed workforce.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Partnership

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing HR Operations and HRIS team.
• Serve as a trusted operational partner to HR leadership and executive stakeholders.
• Partner cross-functionally with Finance, Legal, IT, Security, and business leadership to drive alignment and execution across organizational priorities.
• Foster a culture of accountability, operational rigor, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications:

Required Experience

• 10+ years of progressive HR Operations, HRIS, or People Operations leadership experience within complex, high-growth organizations.
• Experience operating within a global and/or public company environment.
• Deep expertise in HR systems, process optimization, operational governance, and scalable HR infrastructure.
• Experience leading HRIS implementations, integrations, and systems transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of global HR operations, compliance requirements, and employee lifecycle management.
• Proven ability to partner effectively across HR, Finance, Legal, IT, and executive leadership teams.
• Strong analytical mindset with experience leveraging workforce data and operational metrics to drive decisions.
• Demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution in fast-paced environments.

Preferred Experience

• Experience with Rippling or comparable modern HRIS platforms.
• Experience supporting SOX-controlled or audit-heavy operational environments.
• Experience building or transforming HR Operations functions, at scale.
• Experience supporting compensation cycles, workforce planning, and performance management operations.
• Strong change management and organizational transformation experience.

Leadership Competencies

• Operationally rigorous and highly organized
• Strong executive presence and communication skills
• System-minded and process-oriented
• Proactive, solutions-focused, and adaptable
• Collaborative cross-functional leader
• High integrity and sound judgment
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and organizational change
• Able to balance speed, employee experience, and governance

What Success Looks Like:

• HR Operations evolves into a scalable, globally consistent, and highly trusted function
• HR systems and workflows are optimized, integrated, and operationally mature
• Governance, compliance, and operational controls are strengthened across the employee lifecycle
• Leadership gains actionable workforce insights through improved analytics and reporting
• Employee and manager experiences become more streamlined, transparent, and efficient
• HR is increasingly viewed as a proactive strategic partner to the business supported by operational excellence and strong execution

Spire operates a hybrid work model, and this position will require you to work a minimum of three days per week in the office.

Access to US export-controlled software and/or technology may be required for this role. If needed, Spire will arrange the necessary licenses—this is not something candidates need to have before applying.