HR Business Partner

Octo Games is a Netherland studio creating story-driven visual novels and management games for an 18+ audience. We operate fully remotely and are scaling fast while keeping a flat, transparent culture.

For which tasks (responsibilities)?

Your mission

As our first dedicated HR Business Partner you will own the full HR cycle for a 120-person distributed team and lead a three-member HR squad. Your mandate: build mature people operations that support rapid growth to 200+ employees.

Key responsibilities

• Design and roll out end-to-end HR processes (talent acquisition, onboarding, performance, L&D, engagement) from the ground up.

• Drive recruiting for critical roles together with hiring managers; keep time-to-hire and quality-of-hire metrics on target.

• Implement and maintain company-wide OKR / KPI framework; coach leaders on goal-setting and tracking.

• Act as strategic partner to the executive team on org design, workforce planning and culture topics.

• Lead, mentor and develop a three-person HR team; establish clear responsibilities and growth paths.

• Ensure HR policies comply with EU labour standards and the specifics of remote, multi-country employment.

• Champion our inclusive, open-minded culture while communicating clearly that we create 18+ content.

What kind of professional are we looking for?

• 5+ years in HR, including 2+ years as HR BP / HR Lead in a company of 200+ employees.

• Demonstrated success building HR policies and workflows from zero in a high-growth environment.

• Strong hands-on recruitment background (full-cycle, tech or creative profiles preferred).

• Proven experience introducing or operating OKR / KPI performance systems.

• People-management track record: you have led and coached an HR team.

• Excellent written & spoken Ukranian or Rsussian

• Solid command of remote-work tools (Peopleforce, Jira/Confluence, Google Workspace).

What is important for us in a person?

• Strategic mindset – sees the “big picture”, links HR initiatives to business goals and studio roadmap.

• Influencing & stakeholder management – builds trust with C-level and team leads, knows how to say “no” and still keep engagement high.

• People leadership – coaches, mentors and develops a small HR team; delegates, gives feedback, celebrates wins.

• Data-driven decision-making – comfortable working with KPIs/OKRs dashboards and translating numbers into actions.

• Change management – guides teams through organisational shifts, remote-first practices and culture updates.

• Excellent communication – clear, concise, culturally sensitive; adapts tone for executives, creatives and engineers alike.

• Conflict resolution & mediation – spots tension early, facilitates win-win conversations, keeps discussions adult-content-appropriate.

• High emotional intelligence – reads the room in distributed calls, balances empathy with objectivity.

• Resilience & adaptability – thrives in start-up-speed, adult-game specifics, shifting priorities.

• Confidentiality & ethics – handles sensitive personal data, performance issues, HR investigations with discretion.

Why do we enjoy working here?

• Fully remote contract with flexible core hours.

• Competitive salary up to 2 500 USD gross paid via secure international payroll.

• 14 calendar days of paid vacation per year

• Paid sick leave from day 1.

• The opportunity to build a modern HR function almost from scratch and leave a visible mark on the studio’s culture.