People and Culture Lead

We are looking for a hands-on People and Culture Lead to drive our global HR strategy and operations. You’ll report directly to the MD, lead a small team, and own all aspects of the employee lifecycle – from onboarding to development, engagement, and retention.

This role is ideal for someone with management experience in HR or People & Culture, preferably in startups or scale-ups, who is practical, data-driven, and thrives in a fast-moving environment.

What You’ll Do:

• Lead People & Culture initiatives globally, including engagement, performance management, learning, and wellbeing.
• Partner with leadership to shape organisational strategy, structure, and workforce planning.
• Manage the full employee lifecycle: recruitment, onboarding, asset management, performance management, and offboarding.
• Analyse HR data and trends to identify opportunities for improvement and make informed recommendations.
• Oversee HR operations, compliance, and people processes efficiently.
• Foster a positive, inclusive, high-performance culture aligned with Houst’s values.

Requirements

• 2–4 years’ management experience in People & Culture or HR.
• Bachelor’s degree, ideally in Human Resources.
• Practical experience with South African and UK HR frameworks and labour laws.
• Hands-on experience in startups or small-to-medium businesses; large corporate experience alone won’t fit.
• Strong data literacy; comfortable working with reports, metrics, and HR systems.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; able to coach, influence, and resolve conflicts effectively.
• Organised, proactive, and able to work independently.
• Comfortable working UK hours, 09:00–18:00 GMT (11:00–20:00 SAST).

Benefits

• 23 days paid holidays + public holidays
• Hybrid working, with access to our Co-Working Office Space in Kloof Street, Cape Town
• An extra day off for your birthday - because who wants to work on their birthday?
• Enviable company culture – we’ve put time into getting our work culture just right. Regular team social events, company-wide recognition of outstanding work.
• Regular team social events (both in person and virtual)
• Company-wide recognition of outstanding work
• Opportunities to innovate
• MacBook – For business use