Senior Director, Global HR

At Nova Sky Stories , we empower artists and producers to bring awe and wonder to live audiences around the world. As the global leader in drone entertainment , we’ve been redefining live shows for over a decade—merging cutting-edge drone technology with imaginative artistry.

With a veteran team of engineers and creatives, we design and operate lightweight, small, precise, and safe drones that perform in the most demanding environments—urban centers, extreme temperatures, and high winds. The result? Sky Stories that inspire, captivate, and transform the sky into a canvas of imagination.

Headquartered in the U.S. with teams across Europe and the UAE, Nova Sky Stories works with the world’s leading brands, venues, and events.
Follow us: @NovaSkyStories

We are seeking a strategic and hands-on Senior Director, Global HR to build, scale, and lead our global People function. This is a builder role: you will design the infrastructure, systems, and frameworks that enable a high-performance organization to scale responsibly across multiple countries. You will bring structure without bureaucracy and serve as a trusted strategic partner to leadership — balancing business outcomes with a people-first approach.

In this role, you will build core HR administration and systems, partner closely with Recruiting, strengthen culture and internal communications, and develop people analytics that clearly demonstrate impact and inform decision-making. You will collaborate with external HR/legal partners as needed and may lead/mentor recruiting resources as the team grows.

As a Senior Director, Global HR, you'll be responsible for:

Build-Out: HR Systems & Administrative Ownership

• Build core HR administration from the ground up: policies, workflows, documentation standards, and scalable operating rhythms.
• Select, implement, and own HRIS and supporting tools; establish governance, data integrity standards, and reporting cadence.
• Establish compliant onboarding/offboarding and lifecycle processes across multiple countries; ensure audit readiness.
• Create and maintain SOPs, templates, checklists, and service-level expectations for People Operations.

Strategic Thought Partnership & Organizational Design

• Serve as an independent thinker and strategic thought partner to leadership on organizational design and scaling decisions.
• Build and execute a People strategy aligned to business objectives, with clear prioritization and measurable outcomes.
• Influence without micromanagement: identify needs, bring forward ideas, and drive initiatives end-to-end.
• Provide managers with pragmatic coaching on performance management, accountability, and feedback.

Compliance, Governance & Risk (Global)

• Own global compliance strategy and execution, partnering closely with Legal; proactively identify and mitigate risk.
• Oversee employment classifications (employee vs. contractor) and contractor lifecycle management (agreements, renewals, expirations).
• Maintain compliance calendars (trainings, acknowledgements, required postings) and track completion to closure.
• Lead employee relations matters and investigations with discretion, consistency, and documentation discipline.
• Own leave management processes (including parental/maternity/paternity), ensuring compliant administration and communication.

Recruiting Partnership & Forecasting

• Partner with Recruiting to support forecasting, headcount planning, and hiring execution; align hiring priorities to business needs.
• Support role clarity, leveling, and job description development; ensure consistent interview practices and decision quality.
• Improve candidate experience and communication; support streamlined, high-urgency hiring processes as needed.

Culture, Internal Communications & Manager Enablement

• Own People-related internal communications (policies, launches, training rollouts, process changes) with clarity and consistency.
• Help scale culture intentionally while avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy; preserve a “not too corporate” operating style.
• Develop light-weight manager enablement and training where leadership capability needs exist (feedback, performance, communication).

People Analytics & Business Case Development

• Use strong data analytics to create clear business cases: present options, tradeoffs, and a recommendation.
• Build dashboards and metrics to show why initiatives matter, what is changing, and the measurable impact over time.
• Communicate crisply and effectively to different leadership styles (concise, decision-ready summaries when needed).

Required qualifications:

• 7+ years of progressive HR / People Operations experience with increasing scope and ownership.
• Proven experience building HR systems, processes, and governance in a high-growth, ambiguous environment (builder mindset).
• Demonstrated capability partnering with Recruiting and leaders on workforce planning and hiring strategy.
• Experience supporting multi-country or globally distributed teams; familiarity with international employment considerations.
• Strong business acumen and ability to balance business needs with employee experience and compliance requirements.
• Advanced communication skills—clear, direct, and able to influence across levels and functions.
• Strong analytical skills with ability to build business cases and use data to drive decisions and demonstrate impact.
• High discretion and professionalism in handling sensitive information.
• Ability to travel approximately 15%–20% including international travel.

If you're ready to play a key role in supporting the operational backbone of a company redefining storytelling in the sky, we’d love to hear from you. Apply now to help keep Nova Sky Stories flying high.