HR Manager

Description

Summary: zentra is seeking an HR Manager to build its HR function from the ground up, designing processes, policies, and systems to support a fast-growing international company. Highlights: 1. Opportunity to build HR function from scratch and shape company culture 2. Design and own the full employee lifecycle across international markets 3. Strategic influence on people and culture decisions **About zentra:** zentra is the fastest growing international network of estate agents and properties. Our proprietary real estate tech platform gives every agency its own branded app. It helps capture leads instantly, keep buyers engaged with property alerts, and offer access to a global property network. **The role** We're hiring our first HR Manager. Until now, people operations at zentra have been handled informally — which has worked fine for a small team but won't scale. As we grow across multiple markets and hire rapidly, we need someone to build the HR function properly from the ground up. This is a hands\-on, build\-it\-yourself role. You'll design the processes, write the policies, set up the systems, and be the person every employee turns to when they need support, clarity, or guidance. You'll report directly to the COO and work closely with every team lead in the company. If you want to inherit a polished HR department and maintain what someone else built, this isn't the right role. If you want to build something that genuinely shapes how a fast\-growing international company operates — and leave your fingerprint on the culture — read on. **What you'll actually do** Design and own the full employee lifecycle — from job posting and hiring through onboarding, development, performance management, and offboarding. Build the processes that don't yet exist and make sure they actually work in practice, not just on paper. Lead recruitment across all functions. Write job descriptions, manage job boards, screen candidates, coordinate interviews, and own the offer process. Work with hiring managers to define what great looks like for each role before the search begins. Build and manage a structured onboarding programme. New hires at zentra should be productive, confident, and genuinely connected to the team within their first 30 days — not still waiting for a laptop and a login. Own HR compliance across our operating jurisdictions — primarily Spain, with awareness of UK and UAE employment law as we grow. Keep contracts, policies, and practices aligned with local legal requirements. Know when to get external legal advice and do it proactively. Develop and maintain HR policies — a proper employee handbook, absence management, disciplinary and grievance procedures, performance improvement processes. Write them in plain language that people actually read. Support managers in having difficult conversations — performance issues, role changes, team restructures. Be the person they call before the situation escalates, not after. Build a compensation and benefits framework. We want to pay people fairly and competitively. Help us understand what that means for each role, each market, and each stage of the company's growth. Champion culture and engagement. We have a strong culture already — curious, direct, ambitious, and genuinely good\-humoured. Your job is to protect it as we scale, not replace it with corporate process. Manage our intranet and internal communications rhythm — company updates, team announcements, policy changes — so everyone feels informed and connected regardless of where they're based. Own people data. Headcount, attrition, time\-to\-hire, absenteeism — know the numbers, track the trends, and bring insights to leadership rather than waiting to be asked. **Who you are** You have at least five years of HR experience, including time as a generalist with exposure to the full employee lifecycle. Some of that experience should be in a growing company where you've had to build, not just maintain. You know Spanish employment law well. This is non\-negotiable — our primary entity is in Spain and you need to be confident navigating contracts, dismissals, social security, and statutory obligations without needing to look everything up. You're pragmatic. You know the difference between a policy that protects the company and a policy that just adds bureaucracy. You default to practical over theoretical. You're trusted. People talk to HR managers about things they don't tell anyone else. You understand that confidentiality is the foundation of the role and you protect it absolutely. You communicate with clarity and warmth — in English and Spanish. You can write a policy that is legally sound and also human to read. You're commercially aware. You understand that HR exists to help the business grow, not to slow it down. You find solutions, not reasons why something can't be done. You're comfortable with ambiguity. In a company at zentra's stage, not everything is defined yet. You're energised by that, not unsettled by it. **What we offer** A competitive salary commensurate with the seniority of the role and the responsibility it carries. Real strategic influence. You'll sit at the table where decisions about people and culture are made — not implement decisions made without you. An initial mandatory in\-office period in Fuengirola, then hybrid working with genuine flexibility. The opportunity to build an HR function from scratch at a company that is growing fast and takes its people seriously. A diverse, international team spanning Spain, the UK, Dubai, and beyond — genuinely interesting work across multiple cultures and contexts.