People Partner | A-Players

Overview

A-Players is a bootstrapped talent and management company — $1M+ ARR, 7+ years in market. We place high-performing Business Associates (BAs) directly with early-stage US tech startups, embedded with founders and C-level executives as their main operations and communication layer. Our hires have supported Seed–Series A teams backed by YC, a16z, and other top VCs — some of those companies are now unicorns. We hire only true A-Players, and we hold ourselves to the same standard.

We're looking for a People Partner with an HR partnership, people development, or talent management background to own the growth, performance, and wellbeing of our BA team.

This isn't a classic HR role. You'll spend most of your time talking to people — understanding what's blocking them, helping them grow inside startup environments, and turning client feedback into something actionable. If you've mentored people in a startup accelerator, campus program, or early-stage company, you'll immediately recognize the dynamics here.

In this role you will

• Run regular 1:1s with BAs to track progress, surface blockers, and support goal setting

• Collect and translate client feedback into concrete individual development actions

• Build development plans and follow through on their implementation

• Catch early signs of performance or motivation issues and respond with structured coaching — not just escalation

• Document key insights, status changes, and performance trends in our internal systems

• Support onboarding and help new BAs integrate faster

• Contribute to internal improvement projects — workshops, knowledge base updates, process refinements

What makes you a great fit

• Background in HR partnership, people development, coaching, or talent management — in a startup, accelerator, or fast-moving environment

• Experience mentoring people navigating early-stage company realities — you understand how these teams work and what it takes to perform inside them

• You've had hard performance conversations and know how to give direct feedback without making it personal

• You can tell the difference between someone who needs direction and someone who needs support — and you adjust accordingly

• Comfortable working without a perfect process; you build structure as you go

• Organized enough to document well and track what matters without getting lost in admin

• Confident written and spoken English (B2+)

• Familiar with tools like Notion, Airtable, Claude and Google Workspace

What we offer

• Working hours: 10 am - 7 pm CET

• Competitive pay with annual performance reviews

• Unlimited vacation and sick days — actually encouraged

• Full access to premium productivity and AI tools, plus our internal library

• A small, high-standards team that moves fast and takes care of its people

Recruiting flow

1. Pre-screen interview

2. Take-home test

3. In-depth interview with the CEO

4. Final culture-fit conversation with leadership

5. Offer + reference check