People Manager

CO2 AI helps the world's largest companies measure their carbon footprint and actually reduce it. Our platform tracks emissions down to the product and supplier level, models the levers that would cut them, and makes the whole thing reportable.

We were built inside Boston Consulting Group and became an independent company in 2023, backed by BCG, Partech and Unusual Ventures. We work with major companies across France, Europe, the UK and the US, including Pernod Ricard, Reckitt, Campbell's, General Mills and Volvo.

We are 45 people. Most of us sit in the Paris office, with a few elsewhere in France, in the UK and in the US. Our working language is English.

As People Manager at CO2 AI, you will own the People function and act as the HR counterpart for the entire company, working closely with Maud, our COO.

The role combines two dimensions. The first is business partnering: supporting managers on development, performance, compensation and organisation, and leading the People projects that shape how the company works. The second is accountability for HR operations, payroll, recruitment and the day to day running of the office. Both are integral to the role, and we prefer to set this out clearly at the outset.

The reason we are recruiting at this level lies in the relationship between the two. We are looking for someone who takes ownership of the operational processes in order to systematise and automate them, and who reinvests the time this frees up into the partnering and project work. Progressively shifting that balance is the central expectation of the role.

WHAT YOU'LL DO (AND WHY IT MATTERS)

• Business partnering. Act as the trusted advisor to every manager at CO2 AI. Build development plans and career paths, prepare promotion and calibration cycles, coach managers on feedback and underperformance, and support them through more difficult situations. With no HR layer between you and the teams, this is where the role has the greatest impact.

• People projects. Own and deliver the People roadmap alongside Maud: performance reviews, compensation review and salary structure, engagement, onboarding, remote working policy, the handbook, and how the organisation evolves as it grows.

• AI and automation. You will use AI to reduce manual work across HR: drafting and reviewing documents, maintaining internal knowledge, analysing People data, improving workflows, and building lightweight automations. We expect you to question existing processes and find better ways of doing things rather than simply adding AI on top of them. A Claude licence is provided from day one.

• Recruitment. Manage hiring end to end, at a rhythm of roughly one hire per month including interns. Define the brief with the hiring manager, source and screen candidates, structure the process in Teamtailor, benchmark salaries and position offers, conduct reference checks, close candidates, and develop how we present ourselves as an employer.

• HR operations and payroll. Hold accountability for the full employee lifecycle and for French compliance: contracts and hiring formalities (DPAE, avenants), onboarding and offboarding, employee records and payroll in Malibou, leave and absences, benefits (mutuelle, prévoyance), and the Syntec collective agreement. Plus our teammates in the UK and the US through our EOR platform Deel. The extent to which this remains manual work a year from now is largely in your hands.

• Office and team life. Suppliers, equipment and workplace organisation, alongside afterworks, team celebrations and our annual company offsite.

WHAT YOU BRING (EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS)

• 4 to 8 years of HR experience, including genuine business partnering. You have advised and challenged managers, not only executed on their requests

• A strong track record of autonomy. You set your own priorities, arbitrate between competing demands, and communicate clearly on what will not be addressed

• Demonstrated experience automating or redesigning HR processes, with concrete examples of what changed as a result. Familiarity with AI tools is not the same as having removed work

• Hands-on credibility across HR operations: contracts, formalities, payroll preparation and benefits. Not because the role is centred there, but because you cannot be accountable for, or automate, processes you have never run

• Working knowledge of French employment practice: Code du travail, Syntec, ruptures conventionnelles, CSE, mutuelle and prévoyance

• Reliability, rigour and comfort handling confidential information

• Fluent English, written and spoken. It is our working language

• You should be comfortable reading French employment documents and dealing with French administrative organisations. Conversational French is a plus, but not required

• A degree in human resources or employment law is an advantage rather than a requirement

WHY CO2 AI

• A team that stands out. CO2 AI ranked #8 in Nova's first Top 50 most talent-dense scale-ups in France.

• The mission. You spend your days on climate, on a product that moves real numbers for some of the largest emitters in the world

• People who care. Everyone here chose this work. Climate is not a side project at CO2 AI, it is the whole point

• A human-sized company. At 45 people you see the effect of what you do, and taking initiative is rewarded rather than processed

• AI first, in what we sell and in how we work. Everyone here uses AI daily, and we would like you to use it better than we do

• High standards and fast minds. People here move quickly and expect a lot of themselves

WHERE YOU WILL BE BASED

Paris. In the office during onboarding, then up to 2 remote days per week and up to 3 fully remote weeks per year.

YOUR TEAM

You report to Maud, our COO. You work closely with her on People topics, with Marion on everything that touches payroll and finance, and with every manager in the company.

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

€51,000 to €62,000 base, no variable component, plus BSPCE. Health insurance with Alan. Meal vouchers with Swile. 50% of commuting costs covered, including bike leasing. A Mac and the tools you need, including a Claude licence.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS

• Screening call (30 min)

• Live case study with Maud, at our Paris office (60 min)

• Interview with one of our managers (30 min)

• A reference call with one of your former managers

• Final conversation with Charlotte, our CEO

• At least one informal conversation with a member of the team, and more can be arranged on request

We provide detailed feedback at each stage. Where either side has specific questions or reservations, we are willing to adapt the process to address them properly.

HOW TO APPLY

No cover letter is required. Please send an up to date CV and answer the four questions in the application form. Every answer is read, and it is on that basis that we decide whether to arrange a call.