Head of People

At Black Forest Labs, we're building the future of visual AI from our roots in Freiburg, Germany - the birthplace of Latent Diffusion and Stable Diffusion. Our team didn't just contribute to generative AI; we invented the foundational architectures that power the industry.

Today, FLUX.1 and Kontext are used by millions worldwide, from independent creators to Fortune 500 enterprises. As we scale from 50 to 150+ employees, we're looking for our first Head of People to architect the infrastructure, culture, and talent systems that will carry us through hypergrowth.

Why This Role Matters

This is a rare opportunity to be the first dedicated senior People Operations leader at Black Forest Labs. You’ll partner closely with our founders, recruiting, and senior leadership to shape how we hire, develop, engage, and retain exceptional talent at scale.This isn't a typical "scale-up People hire." You're joining at an inflection point where: We're building for ambition, not comfort: BFL attracts people who want the highest ceiling - researchers who could take jobs at Google, Open AI, Anthropic, engineers courted by every major tech company, operators who thrive in zero-to-one environments. They choose us because we're building something that matters, at a pace that challenges them.

We’re looking for a hands-on builder - someone who thrives in fast-paced, high-growth environments, can navigate ambiguity with confidence, and builds trust quickly across all levels of the organization. Your job is to scale this culture without diluting it. You’ll own the full People Ops strategy and operations, creating scalable systems and meaningful employee experiences that align with BFL’s mission and velocity. To help us win talent wars against companies with 10x our resources by making BFL the most compelling place to do the best work of your career.

About You

• Thrive on velocity and ambiguity - you move fast, make informed decisions, and iterate quickly.
  
  
• Take full ownership of outcomes and do what it takes to support the business.
  
  
• Build trust and credibility through discretion, responsiveness, and follow-through.
  
  
• Stay organized under pressure and manage multiple priorities seamlessly.
  
  
• Combine strategic thinking with tactical execution - you can zoom out to advise the exec team and zoom in to solve day-to-day People Ops needs.
  
  
• Are energized by building - excited to design a people foundation that scales with the company.
  
  
• Navigate the hyper-competitive AI talent market where researchers and engineers are courted by every major tech company, well-funded startups, and academia.
  
  
• Understand what motivates top-tier ML researchers. Design compelling value propositions that differentiate BFL in a market where compensation alone isn't enough.
  
  

What You’ll Do

Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute BFL’s global People strategy aligned with rapid growth.
  
  
• Partner with the Recruiting team to ensure People programs scale alongside hiring velocity.
  
  
• Advise executives on org design, leadership development, compensation, performance frameworks, and people risk.
  
  
• Drive culture, inclusion, and values alignment as we expand across Germany, the UK, US, and Europe.
  
  
• Develop retention strategies for critical talent in an environment where poaching is constant and aggressive.
  
  

Operational Excellence

• Build and refine People operations, including contracts, payroll, benefits, HRIS/ATS integration, and global mobility.
  
  
• Design scalable systems for performance reviews, career frameworks, and leadership development.
  
  
• Establish compliant and efficient people operations processes across regions, maintaining rigor with startup agility.
  
  

People Development & Enablement

• Hire, mentor, and lead a high-impact HR and People Ops team.
  
  
• Coach managers and leaders on effective feedback, performance, and engagement.
  
  
• Build programs that strengthen management capability and career growth company-wide.
  
  

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ years in a leadership role.
  
  
• Proven success building or scaling HR functions in high-growth, global tech companies.
  
  
• Experience operating across European and US employment frameworks.
  
  
• Trusted advisor with strong relationship-building skills across all levels.
  
  
• Deep familiarity with modern HRIS tools, data-driven decision-making, and compliance frameworks.
  
  
• Excellent written and verbal communication.
  
  

Preferred

• Prior experience at a research-first AI lab (or managing talent at the intersection of academia and industry.
  
  
• Prior experience as the first or early people ops hire at a scaling startup.
  
  
• Strong collaboration with Recruiting/TA teams.
  
  
• Experience with equity compensation and high-stakes employee relations.
  
  
• Technical fluency and comfort engaging with engineering and research teams.
  
  

The Challenge

• Build HR infrastructure for a company competing directly against AI giants with 10x our resources - where agility and mission are your advantages.

• Design HR systems fast enough to support aggressive hiring velocity while maintaining the technical quality bar that defines BFL.

• Balance researchers who thrive on autonomy and publication freedom with the structure needed to triple headcount and ship world-class products.

• Navigate complex compensation conversations where candidates compare BFL's equity and mission against cash packages from Big Tech.

• Shape a high-performance, inclusive culture across continents - Freiburg (Germany), London, San Francisco, and beyond - where research excellence and commercial impact coexist.

• Operate in one of the most talent-competitive sectors in tech, where every hire, every retention decision, and every cultural choice has strategic consequences.

• Work at the intersection where deep research breakthroughs become tools that millions use to create.