[Hiring] Vice President, Global People Operations @Athena

Role Description

Athena is seeking a high-impact, systems-oriented People leader — likely at the Director or Senior Director level today — who is ready to step into enterprise VP scope. You will lead a global team of approximately 20 and own the operational backbone of the employee lifecycle across multiple countries. This role does not oversee Talent Acquisition or Learning & Development. Instead, it focuses on:

• People Operations strategy & governance
• Compensation and organizational design infrastructure
• Workforce planning and analytics
• HR systems (including WorkDay optimization)
• Global process standardization
• End-to-end employee lifecycle execution

If you are energized by building structure, modernizing systems, and scaling operational excellence — this role is for you.

Qualifications

• 10–15+ years progressive HR / People Operations leadership
• Currently Director or Senior Director (or equivalent) in a global organization
• Experience leading HR Operations, Total Rewards, or People Infrastructure
• Direct experience with enterprise HRIS implementation (WorkDay preferred)
• Compensation architecture and org design exposure
• Experience managing multi-country processes

Requirements

• Systems thinker who builds scalable infrastructure
• Strong financial and workforce planning acumen
• Data-driven and analytically rigorous
• Experienced people leader comfortable managing distributed teams
• Strong cross-functional partner with Finance and Technology
• Builder mindset — comfortable operating in evolving environments

Benefits

• True VP scope with enterprise visibility
• Lead a global team of ~20
• Opportunity to build — not inherit — a mature system
• Direct exposure to executive leadership
• Chance to modernize People Operations for a 4,000-person organization