Interim Head of People - Fixed term contract

About Chain of Events

Chain of Events is a pioneering event organization company creating world-class, large-scale conferences at the intersection of blockchain, AI, and emerging technologies.

We are the force behind:

• Signal Week — Global epicenter where Traditional Finance and the Digital Asset ecosystem converge. This premier event brings together the architects of the modern financial landscape, from Central Bank governors and institutional investors to the founders of leading decentralized protocols.
• RAISE Summit — World's most influential gathering dedicated to Generative AI for Enterprise, bringing together the global 'AI Elite' — from pioneering researchers and LLM founders to Fortune 500 CEOs and Tier-1 VCs.
• Machina — Dedicated to the Future of Robotics and Embodied AI, connecting the world's leading roboticists with industrial giants to solve the most complex challenges in manufacturing, logistics, and human-machine collaboration.

Our Support Team (Finance, People) works transversally across all events. Our events bring together global leaders, innovators, investors, and regulators to spark dialogue and action in transformative industries.

About the Role & Impact

Chain of Events is kicking off its peak season—a high-tempo 10-month sprint from October 2026 to July 2027 driving our largest recruitment wave and major event deliveries. We are seeking an agile Interim Head of People to hit the ground running, take full ownership from day one, and scale our People function in stride with the business.

Acting as a trusted strategic partner to the CEO and leadership across Signal Week, RAISE, and Machina, you will oversee the complete People lifecycle—from hands-on recruitment and HRBP support to payroll and culture. You will ensure rapid expansion maintains top-tier hiring standards, seamless operations, and strong team engagement. If you excel in high-volume, dynamic environments with full operational autonomy, this role offers high-impact scope during our most transformative season

What You Will Do

1. HR Business Partnering & Support Ops

• Serve as the day-to-day HR advisor to all managers across CoE, resolving people issues before they become problems.
• Build a fine-grained understanding of each department's business priorities to anticipate HR needs tied to our strong seasonality (Q4/Q1 peak).
• Advise managers on performance, conflict resolution, and team structuring decisions with pragmatism and discretion.

2. Talent Acquisition & Strategic Sourcing

• Combine hands-on direct hiring with leadership of Talent Acquisition Partners to master volume recruitment peaks (notably the October–January surge across all brands). Anticipate scarce, high-demand profiles by building proactive pipelines to close critical hires ahead of need
• Mobilize and scale our current freelance pool to seamlessly handle seasonal surges, maintaining top-tier execution standards and swift turnaround times

3. Employee Lifecycle & Operations (Onboarding & Offboarding)

• Pilot new-hire integration end-to-end, ensuring every joiner is productive fast, whatever the volume of simultaneous starts.
• Manage departures cleanly and securely, protecting both the company and the departing employee's experience.
• Deploy and run automation tooling for IT/SaaS provisioning and deprovisioning, closing every access-security gap on time.

4. Payroll, HR Administration

• Track and pre-validate monthly payroll in coordination with Finance.
• Own HR administration and ensure full compliance with French labor law across all contract types.

5. HR Projects & Culture

• Deploy new HR tools and processes (e.g., a Freelance Management System).
• Animate a strong, cohesive culture across an international, multicultural, hybrid team spread across brands.

What We Are Looking For

Required

• 5+ years in HR / People roles with genuine generalist range: HRBP, recruitment, payroll oversight, and HR administration.
• Proven experience managing high-volume recruitment and seasonal hiring peaks, ideally in events, media, agencies, or other fast-cycle industries.
• Solid working knowledge of French labor law and payroll processes; comfortable being the last line of defense before errors reach employees.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage freelance/contractor pools at scale.
• Fluent in English and French; used to operating in international, multicultural teams.
• A genuine can-do attitude: autonomous, resourceful, unfazed by ambiguity or a packed calendar.

Why Join Us

• A front-row seat to Signal Week, RAISE, and Machina during their busiest, highest-visibility season.
• An international, high-performance culture that rewards initiative and speed of execution.
• A defined, high-impact mission with a clear start and end date — built for someone who wants to make a mark fast.

Sounds like your next challenge? Drop your CV and a brief intro explaining why you're ready to take ownership on day one to hr@chainof.events.