VP People

As lemon.markets enters its next stage of growth, you will help strengthen the company from the inside out. This role goes beyond leading People & Talent — you will help move from a functioning setup into a more mature, scalable, and consistent organization. Reporting directly to the CEO and being part of the extended executive board, you will own the People & Talent function and help build the structures, principles, and rhythms that a more mature organization needs.

What you'll do

• Own the People & Talent function end-to-end, lead the team, and continue to strengthen existing foundations across talent acquisition, compensation, performance, feedback, career development, and people policies
• Embed and scale the processes, standards, and initiatives already in place, ensuring they are consistently lived in the day-to-day reality of lemon.markets
• Build and evolve our leadership setup, including Leadership Principles, Leadership Development, and other leadership-related frameworks and processes
• Act as a strategic partner to our CEO and leadership team on people, leadership, and organizational effectiveness topics
• Moderate key leadership forums, especially the Executive Board and Senior Leadership Board, driving strong preparation, focus, follow-through, and accountability
• Own important company-wide rituals and cadences such as All Hands, planning cycles, offsites, and other leadership ceremonies
• Strengthen the collaboration and culture bridge between lemon.markets and dwpbank, improving how both organizations work together in practice

What you'll need

• Extensive experience as a senior People leader in a regulated environment (ideally Fintech), having already done this kind of role before with maturity and judgment to help shape how lemon.markets leads, collaborates, and grows
• Broad People generalist expertise with core expertise in HR Business Partnering and/or People Development, complemented by credible exposure across Talent Acquisition, People Operations, leadership support, and culture/performance topics
• Hands-on experience with compensation models, performance frameworks, hiring processes, capacity planning, and budget planning
• Experience leading organizations through cultural transformation and change management, ideally including mergers, acquisitions, or other high-change environments
• Servant leader mindset with ability to develop others through feedback, mentoring, and active development
• Highly structured, organized approach with strong executive presence and comfort representing the People function in leadership settings
• Entrepreneurial mindset focused on getting things done
• Exceptional communicator in German and English (C1+)

What they offer

• Competitive salary based on your experience and value-add
• Flexible working hours with core collaboration hours 12:00-16:00
• Hybrid work setup in Germany; leadership team spends 7+ days per month on-site in Berlin
• Regular mentorship, stretch opportunities, career development framework, and annual learning budget
• Deutschlandticket sponsorship and 50% off Beatvest financial education platform
• Workation: up to 10 consecutive days and 60 days per year remotely within the EU