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✨️We'd love to hear from you Brief overview of this role:Level: DirectorLocation: Sydney, Australia.
Hybrid, 2 days in the officeTeam: 2 people: one in Talent Acquisition and a People Operations Manager.
Together, you cover payroll, people programs, Talent Acquisition and IT provisioning globallyRemuneration: AUD 140,000 - AUD 180,000 (excl. Super) About SitemateSitemate builds best-in-class software and AI agents for the built world, helping construction, infrastructure and industrial companies work smarter and faster.
Our mission is to multiply the engineering power of the built world.Storm is the #1 data capture agent for the front line of the built world - converting audio, photos and videos into clean structured records.With conversational support in-app and across SMS, Whatsapp and phone calls, Storm is shifting front line workers from paperwork and clunky digital forms, to natural language and multi-channel data capture.Our core platforms are Dashpivot (safety, quality and field reporting), Gearbelt (fleet and asset management), Flowsite (no-code integrations), and the Sitemate mobile app for every worker on site.We have strong product-market fit, generating thousands of new leads per month through word of mouth and organic channels.
We are backed by Blackbird, with 200 people across 18+ countries and entities in Australia, the UK, the US and Canada.
About the roleSitemate's Director of People Operations owns the People Operations function end-to-end, global payroll, the employee lifecycle, Talent Acquisition and IT provisioning, and the People programs every department runs to, from performance, engagement and learning and development to levelling and compensation.
The role leads a team of two: a Senior Talent Acquisition Manager and a People Operations Manager.The job is to architect the next version of People Operations at Sitemate, built for the AI era so the team stays small as Sitemate grows.
That only works if systems and AI agents do the admin, and managers and employees can get what they need at any hour, whether or not the People team is online.This is a hands-on, builder-first role.
You build the systems, agents and playbooks yourself, and set the bar through your own work.At Sitemate, managers are player-coaches at every level, including the executive team.
Time in the details sharpens the bar you hold, alongside the leadership work.
What the functions ownsThe People Operations architecture.
How our people system and tools work together across every entity, the data that flows between them, and which steps run without human admin.
You design for automation first, within the systems we already runPeople Operations' AI agents and automation.
What gets automated next, where agents get built, what stays human, and the guardrails, including which employee and payroll data each tool may touchThe frameworks and playbooks.
Written so managers can run a people process themselves, day or night, with a playbook or an agent to answer the question when the team isn't onlineThe People programs.
Career paths and levels, the promotion policy, the principles behind our compensation plans, learning and development, and the performance, engagement and promotion cycles.
Each one is run like a product: its users are every manager at Sitemate, and adoption is how you measure itPeople data and listening.
The engagement measurement system and the people reporting leaders use to make decisions, from how each metric is defined and kept confidential through to action and re-measurementThe People Operations function and team.
Its operating model, workforce plan and the breakdown standard beneath each initiative, with nothing entering execution until you've greenlit it.
You lead, coach and develop the team, and make the performance, promotion and exit decisions within itGlobal Payroll.
Accurate and on time every cycle, and reconciled with FinanceThe recruitment process.
Scorecards, interview loops and the sourcing pipeline, plus the speed and quality of hiring into Sitemate Who you work withCEO.




Sets company strategy.
You're responsible for translating it into clear people priorities, bringing synthesised options, and pushing back when warrantedFinance.
Your closest partner on payroll, headcount planning, compensation benchmarking and levelling.Legal.
Support on employee relations casework and compliance globallyYour team.
A Senior Talent Acquisition Manager and a People Operations Manager.
You set direction and standards, and they run their processes day to dayDepartment leaders across GTM, EPD and Marketing.
Your partners on org design, levelling, compensation and hiring.
They and their managers run their people cycles and hiring loops off the frameworks and playbooks you build⚡ What needs to happenPeople Operations at Sitemate is being rebuilt for the AI era, and this role leads it.
In rough order of priority:Keep what's in flight running.
Payroll, recruitment operations and compliance work are all in motion, and none of it can drop while the rebuild happensMap where the admin sits.
Every manual step across payroll, the lifecycle, hiring and the People programs; what each one costs, and which ones an agent or automation should take firstDesign the next version of People Operations.
How Rippling, Remote and Ashby work together with the agents built on top of them, written down so the CEO and the team can review itBuild the first agents and automations.
Starting with the steps that cost the most time or cause the most errorsTurn the People programs into self-serve playbooks.
So managers can run a cycle, a lifecycle change or a hiring loop themselves, at any hourSet up the People Operations Manager.
Their priorities, their SLAs, and a written split between what they run and what you own✅ What success looks likeBy 90 daysYou've mapped where manual admin sits across People Operations, and told the CEO in writing which steps you'll automate first and whyYour first automation or agent is live in a real People process, with the before and after measuredEvery payroll run across globally has closed on time, reconciled and signed off by FinanceEvery in-flight payroll, recruitment operations and compliance item has a named owner and a written next stepBy 6 monthsThe design for the next version of People Operations is written down, agreed with the CEO, and being built againstManagers can run at least one full people cycle from a playbook or agent without the People team stepping inThe function's SLAs and KPIs are agreed with the CEO and reported against without being asked, including the share of lifecycle steps running without manual touchBy 12 monthsCalibration and promotion outcomes hold to one standard across departments, with the data to show itThere's someone ready to step into at least one key role in your team if needed Day-to-dayPersonally build and fix People Operations workflows, automations and agentsDesign how Rippling, Remote and Ashby work together, and find the next manual step to removeWrite and maintain the frameworks and playbooks managers run offRun the function's weekly cadenceCoach your team on direction and standards, and hold the hiring barHandle complex employee relations and compliance cases with LegalOwn calibration, promotion and exit decisions across the function How we buildOur Operating Principles are non-negotiable behavioural standards, written down and used in reviews.
The ones this seat lives and enforces:Build the business like we build product.
People Operations is run like a product.
The systems and People programs have users, a roadmap and a scoreboard, and they're reviewed like a product surfaceBuild AI native.
The default question on any People process is which agent or automation should run it, and which part genuinely needs a personYou ship your org chart.
To hit a recent goal with the same small team,



we look at workflows, systems and role scope first.
Org design is People Operations work, for every departmentDon't offload the thinking to the next person.
A playbook, a brief to your team or an agent's instructions are complete enough to act on without a follow-up questionSingle responsible owner.
People initiatives that touch Finance, Legal or other Operations streams get one accountable owner, with sub-tasks delegated to othersGrow from within.
Before opening a search, ask whether someone on the team is ready or nearly ready.
You hold every department to the same question✅ Who this role is forYou've led People Operations through a high-growth, high-change period before, ideally a systems or process transformation at a 100 to 300 person scale-upYou think in systems: you'd rather design a process once so it runs itself than handle the same case twiceYou've personally built HRIS, ATS, automation or AI agent workflows while running the function, and can walk through the details under pushbackYou've written frameworks or playbooks that managers ran themselves without coming back to youYou have deep, current knowledge across payroll, compliance, employee relations, compensation and benefits, and recruitment, and handle complex cases yourselfYou thrive with ambiguity: given only a symptom, you move fast on your best hypothesis and adjust as you learn moreYou're measured by the people you grow as much as the systems you buildYou raise uncomfortable truths early, including upward Who this role is not forYour instinct on a broken process is a new policy, a new tool or more headcountYou rely on IT, vendors or specialist teams to build and own the detailYou measure your value by being the person everyone comes to with questionsYou'd treat AI and automation as someone else's projectYou'd want a full audit before touching a live payroll or onboarding problemYou need very stable, clearly defined reporting lines to stay consistent.
This role involves real ambiguity as the function evolves Skills and toolsMust havePeople Operations or HR leadership experience, ideally through a comparable growth-stage transitionSystems architecture thinking: designing how several platforms and their data work together so a process runs without manual adminHands-on experience building automations or AI agents yourselfPayroll and employment compliance across more than one jurisdiction, ideally Australia, the UK, the US and CanadaWriting frameworks and playbooks that other teams run off, across levelling, compensation, performance or learning and developmentDesigning and running people analytics and engagement measurement end to endEmployee relations casework handled end to endNice to haveSeries B or growth-stage scale-up experienceEssential toolsRippling or a comparable HRIS and global payroll platformRemote or a comparable employer of record platformAshby or a comparable ATSAI tools and AI coding tools (Claude, Claude Code)Project Management Tools (Slack, Jira, Confluence)Google SheetsBonus toolsZapier, Airtable or similar no-code automation Read before you applyThese are public, and they are how we actually operate.
Candidates who have read them tend to have better conversations with us.The Sitemate ManifestoOn How Sitemate Ships Now, In The Era of AIZero Click Forms and Conversational Data Capture, the thinking behind StormTaking AI To The Front LineOn Sitemate's Values, Culture and DNAFor The Managers and Leaders Building SitemateOn How Sitemate Makes DecisionsOn Operating Like a Pro Sports Team, Not a Family Life at SitemateFull transparency: monthly all-hands share metrics, hiring plans and financial performance.
Levels, career frameworks and pay ranges are visible to every employeePlayer-coach leadership at every level, including the executive teamGlobal team across Australia, the UK, the US and CanadaSydney HQEquity, 20 days annual leave plus sick, carer's and compassionate leave, 16 weeks primary and 6 weeks secondary carer parental leave, EAP, L&D; budget, home office setup, weekly catered lunches, work-from-anywhere weeks, flex daysPeople of Sitemate link to hear from the team directlyPLEASE Note:We hire directly and don't work with agencies

📌 Director Of People Operations (New South Wales)
🏢 Sitemate
📍 New South Wales