Director of People and Culture (f/m/d)

Director of People and Culture (f/m/d)

Location: Munich

Employment Type: Full time

Department: Business

Compensation: €120K – €135K • €120K – €180K Equity

We see the potential inside everything and everyone. Starting with you. Orbem uses AI to industrialize MRI, delivering non-invasive insight into everything from fruits to eggs to the human body. We are transforming what is becoming the world’s largest biological dataset into actionable intelligence to reduce waste, increase quality, and accelerate the shift toward a more sustainable and healthier future.

Headquartered and founded in Munich, Germany, with an office now in Houston, Texas, our world-class team is scaling inside-out technology to transform how humanity sees and understands biological matter. Help us see what's possible. Join us.

Your Role

Scaling culture doesn’t happen by accident. At Orbem, we’ve spent the last 6 years building something genuinely distinctive: a team of 200+ people from 40+ nationalities, united by rigorous science and a shared belief that biology, understood deeply enough, can make the world healthier and more sustainable. Now we need someone to continue to scale that culture intentionally. We’re growing deliberately, into the US, into new markets, toward 400+ people, and the risk at this stage isn’t losing momentum. It’s losing what makes us exceptional.

As our Director of People & Culture, you’ll partner directly with our leadership team, lead a 10-person P&C team, and own the strategy that keeps Orbem’s identity intact as the company grows. Not to preserve it in amber, but to build the people infrastructure that lets it grow without losing its integrity.

Your Day-to-Day

• People Strategy, Global Workforce & Compliance: Define and execute a global People strategy aligned with business goals. Balance local needs with global consistency across regions. Partner with leadership on headcount planning and team structures. Ensure compliance with German labor law and works council topics. Partner with external advisors for international employment topics. Build scalable and compliant people processes globally.
• Attract, Retain, Develop: Set and evolve the company-wide strategy for attracting, developing and retaining talent. Anticipate future leadership and skill needs as the business scales. Ensure leaders across Orbem build strong, sustainable teams.
• Culture at Scale: Scale Orbem’s culture intentionally through deliberate growth. Translate values into daily behaviours, decisions, and rituals. Support teams through change, ambiguity and growth phases. Ensure culture remains strong across locations and functions.
• Team Leadership & Development: Set a clear direction for the P&C team, grounded in Orbem’s values, and build an environment where people feel safe to challenge, contribute and do their best work. Develop the P&C team. Invest in their growth, raise the bar and build a function that leads by example. Coach the leadership team. Build performance processes and connect individual impact to company priorities.

Your Experience and Skills

• Senior leadership experience in HR or People & Culture roles. Proven track record in building People & Culture strategy in scaling companies.
• Hands-on and comfortable in a scale-up environment. Strong coaching skills and genuine interest in developing leaders.
• Deep knowledge of German labor law and employee relations. Experience supporting global or multi-country organizations.
• Excellent communication and ability to present to the full organization; trusted voice for 200+ people from 40 nationalities.
• Fit to our values: We Own Every Challenge, We Strive for Better, We Imagine New Frontiers.

What Makes You Stand Out

• Experience through major growth phases with a track record of building effective people systems.
• Ability to translate business strategy into simple, effective people processes.
• Ability to lead with clarity, calm, and momentum during change.

What We Offer

International environment with 40+ nationalities across continents. Comprehensive benefits and relocation support to Germany. Learning & development budget, wellness and family benefits, flexible work arrangements, and more. Stock options available. Compensation range: €120K - €135K.

Join an ambitious, fast-growing team working on breakthrough technology. In our scale-up environment, you’ll have the freedom to lead your projects and make an impact.

Compensation Range: €120K - €135K