We are fonio.ai. A phone AI that sounds like a human and handles entire calls end-to-end. Our customers use it for customer service, appointment scheduling, and much more. Since launching just over a year ago, more than 6,000 businesses have adopted our solution.

We're growing fast - and we're growing globally. This year we're expanding into the biggest countries in the EU, the UK and the US. That means new markets, new teams, new structures - and someone who builds all of that from scratch.

So far, we've handled People topics operationally as we went. That worked. Now it's time to build a real People function - strategic, scalable, with full ownership. This role is the foundation for that.

You'll work directly with our C-Level and own everything related to building, structuring, and scaling our team - in Austria and across our new markets.

Responsibilities

Hiring & International Expansion

Build local hiring pipelines for all countries - including sourcing strategy, channel activation, and efficient pre-screening
Define clear role profiles in close collaboration with the respective hiring managers
Run screening calls with meaningful, actionable outcomes
Coordinate all steps of the hiring process efficiently - from first contact to signed contract
Negotiate employment contracts across all relevant jurisdictions

Culture & People Development

Build and actively shape a strong, consistent company culture - across locations and time zones
Develop structures for performance, feedback, and growth that match our pace of scaling
Plan and run team events and formats that create real cohesion
Work closely with the founders to make sure our values and mindset stay tangible even at 100 people

HR & Structures

Set up compliant employment structures in the UK, US, and France - contracts, benefits, local requirements
Build and orchestrate all HR-related administrative processes - efficient, lean, no overengineering
Develop and execute our employer branding strategy
Coordinate external partners (payroll, legal, tax advisory, local counsel)
Build onboarding and offboarding structures and set up the right HR tooling

Requirements

You've run recruiting processes in different shapes and for diverse role profiles - and have a clear picture of what excellence in recruiting looks like
You have a genuine feel for culture - and know how to actively shape it rather than just describe it
You can define and implement lean, scalable processes from scratch
You work data-driven and measure effectiveness in hard numbers
You have a broad understanding of recruiting and HR platforms and tools, and can set them up and use them efficiently
You're proven at quickly and accurately filtering the right candidates from a large pool - both on substance and cultural fit
You don't lower your standards under pressure - high quality is non-negotiable for you
Fluent in English; German a clear plus

What we offer

A role with extreme ownership: you build our entire People function from the ground up - directly with the C-Level
Three new markets, zero ready-made playbooks - you define how we do this
Extremely short decision paths, lots of speed, lots of freedom
Top equipment & a fully equipped office in Vienna
Strong growth potential: we always prioritize promoting from within before looking externally
Access to the latest AI tools & workflows from our own product

Interview process

15 min - Intro call
45 min - Skill Interview
30 min - Culture Interview