Your Role

Vogel is building the leading consulting platform for the German medium-sized businesses — by consolidating a fragmented market and simultaneously transforming the underlying structures. Several thousand medium-sized companies trust us. People Operations at Vogel is intentionally not a standalone HR unit. People Development lies with the managers, culture with the executive board. You are the operational interface that ensures the platform remains administratively sustainable with every acquisition and every hire — from onboarding to payroll to compensation transparency.

You bring two to four years of professional experience as a People Operations Manager, HR Operations Manager, or Senior HR Generalist at a tech scale-up, a professional services firm, or a service brand close to the medium-sized business sector. You have learned there that People Operations is primarily an operations job — clean processes, precise data, reliable contracts, correct payroll — and not a strategic HR BP track. You are moving because your current setup has slipped into generalist HR mode and your craft has become shallow.

You will be responsible for the operational people layer of the Vogel Group — onboarding, contract workflow, Personio maintenance, Ashby integration, payroll interface, comp implementation, compensation transparency documentation, legal compliance. You will report directly to Moritz Vogel, as the People Operations function is being newly built here, and work closely with the Manager Operations & Automation and Manager Finance & Accounting on a scalable People Operations architecture. The natural development will lead to a Senior People Ops role within 24 to 36 months, with responsibility for the entire People Operations function across all locations.

Your Responsibilities

Onboarding, Contract Workflow, and Personio Maintenance

• Be responsible for the end-to-end onboarding process from the signed contract to productive day one — contract documents, IT setup triggers, welcome materials, first weeks.

• Maintain Personio as the central data system — master data, contracts, absences, organizational assignment — cleanly and audit-proof.

• Manage our recruiting process in Ashby and work on automations that scale our growth.

• Keep People workflows automated and scalable — repetitive tasks belong in tools, not in increased staffing needs.

Payroll, Compensation, and Compliance

• Be responsible for the group's payroll interface — clean data transfer for payroll accounting, monthly run checks, correction mechanisms for discrepancies, data consistency between Personio, contracts, and payroll system. Particularly sensitive at Vogel: payroll accounting itself is part of our client business, so our own payroll process must run exemplarily.

• Operationally implement the Vogel compensation band logic — contract components, adjustment logics, annual reviews.

• Maintain the compensation transparency documentation in an audit-proof manner and ensure that we can cleanly meet the legal obligation for compensation transparency at all times.

• Keep the group's people compliance clean — labor law hygiene, social security law issues, payroll tax interfaces — in close coordination with Finance and external legal counsel.

Integration after Acquisitions and People Operations Architecture

• Be responsible for the personnel administrative integration of acquired entities — contract harmonization, Personio migration, comp adjustment, payroll takeover, compliance review.

• Develop a People Operations architecture that scales with each acquisition without the function having to grow linearly — automated workflows, documented processes, clear ownership.

• Work with the Manager Operations & Automation on tools and interfaces that productively connect People data with other data flows — Personio, payroll system, DATEV client payroll, reporting layer.

Your Perspectives

What you will have delivered after 6 months:

• Onboarding runs structurally from the signed contract to day one, Personio is cleanly maintained, payroll interface runs error-free.

• You have completed at least one personnel administrative acquisition integration — contract harmonization, Personio migration, comp adjustment, payroll takeover.

• You have put initial automation steps in the People Operations layer into productive use.

What you will have delivered after 12 months:

• You have completed at least three personnel administrative acquisition integrations.

• People Operations workflows are documented and automated — new locations and hires become productive faster.

• You are visibly working with management on compensation band logic, performance cycles, and people compliance.

What you will have delivered after 24 months:

• The People Operations layer of the Vogel Group supports growth — hires, acquisitions, locations are administratively integrated without the function growing linearly.

• You will take on initial technical sparring tasks for junior People Ops profiles.

• You are a concrete candidate for the Senior People Ops level.

Where the position is developing:

The next step is Senior People Operations Manager — responsibility for the entire People Operations function across all locations. Beyond the senior level, the Lead/Director path opens up along our Career Framework.

What you bring with you

Experience & Track Record

• Ideally, you have two to four years of experience as a People Operations Manager, HR Operations Manager, or Senior HR Generalist at a tech scale-up (Personio, Pleo, Celonis, Forto, comparable brands), a professional services firm, or a service brand close to the medium-sized business sector.

• You have operationally managed Personio (or a comparable HRIS) and know the typical problems in detail.

• You know Ashby or are motivated to learn it independently.

• You have supported at least one contract, payroll, or comp migration in a growing or acquiring organization.

• Profiles that do not fit the above description but bring substantial operational depth are expressly invited — we evaluate based on contribution, not label. Specifically: Operations profiles from Vertical SaaS with People Ops build-up experience; former tax assistants with payroll depth and a transition to People Ops; legal profiles (LL.M. Labor Law) with operational experience and a transition from a law firm to an in-house function.

Skills & Working Style

• You work analytically and structured — a contract or payroll harmonization across multiple companies is a process, not guesswork.

• You master Personio (or a comparable HRIS) at a level that goes beyond standard clicks — workflows, reports, interfaces to payroll.

• You handle payroll, payroll accounting, social security, and payroll tax matters cleanly — not with legal depth, but with operational certainty. You know the difference between gross-to-net logic, lump-sum mechanics, and payroll tax declarations.

• You use AI as a natural tool for research, drafting, documentation, and workflow automation.

• You communicate compliance, contract, and payroll issues in a way that management and employees can understand and act upon them.

Mindset & Personality

• You understand People Operations as operations — clean data, clear processes, reliable compliance, correct payroll — and not as a coaching or strategic HR role.

• You have a natural aversion to inaccuracy — neither reliable contract nor comp decisions can be made based on unreliable personnel data or incorrect payroll.

• You want to build processes that scale with acquisitions — not manage an HR function that grows linearly with every acquisition.

• You strive to set the highest standard in everything you deliver — not because someone checks it, but because mediocrity personally bothers you.

What you will NOT find with us

• No classic HR role in a personnel department. We deliberately have no People Unit. You are the operational interface, not a strategic HR BP.

• No People Development mandate. Employee development lies with the managers, culture with the executive board — you build the operational infrastructure beneath them.

• No playground of topics. You will work on processes that need to be productive in the next twelve months — not on concepts that are intellectually beautiful but operationally inconsequential.

• No partner companies with competing self-interests. We are one company with a One-Firm logic — one brand, one culture, one hiring bar.

FAQ

1. What is Vogel — and where do you operate?

Vogel is one of Germany's leading consulting firms for medium-sized businesses — a family company since 1959, originating from Aalen — and is building the leading consulting platform for the medium-sized sector from it. We are growing at several locations: in Aalen/Ostwürttemberg as the established headquarters and in Munich as a new hub. At both, we are looking for people across all functions — from tax consulting to general consulting to the strategic teams building the platform.

2. How should the salary bands be understood?

Intentionally broad — and specified at every point. We differentiate based on track record and market value, not on degrees: scarce, highly sought-after profiles at the upper end, less scarce ones at the lower end. We calibrate exclusively on the market — two people with similar experience can earn differently with us.

3. How much — and how — do people work at Vogel?

We measure by what you achieve, not by hours. But it's also true: if you're looking for 9-to-5, we're not your first choice. We are looking for people who work intensely out of their own drive because the tasks are worthwhile. How you distribute your time is largely up to you. What we share: we work together in person — culture, sparring, and the best ideas arise from daily proximity. We are not a remote company and do not have extensive home office policies; individual remote days are not a problem.

4. What is the application process like?

Lean, fast, transparent — and tiered by profile. For entry-level roles (internships, working student positions, career entry), usually two interviews and a short work sample are sufficient; experienced roles are a bit more extensive. For selected senior roles, we are exploring the possibility of incorporating a joint working day in the future so that both sides can get to know each other better. Always applies: scheduled appointments, quick decision, substantial feedback — regardless of the outcome.

5. How does variable compensation work?

Tied to performance quarterly, qualitatively assessed. The scale increases with the level: up to 20% Associate, 27.5% Manager, 35% Senior Manager, 42.5% Director, 50% VP. The expected value with good performance — you meet the requirements, set your own accents, pass the keeper test — is around 50% of the maximum; the maximum bonus is not the norm. The focus is on a holistic assessment by your manager: ownership, quality, learning curve, collaboration, impact.

6. How do I develop myself — what career paths are there?

Two active paths: Mastery (technical depth, expert career) and Pioneer (leadership, management). You choose the direction after onboarding, usually in years 1-3. Career entry is not a special path, but the early part of the same track — from working student or intern to Associate, for the best without a new application process.

7. Team, culture, vacation?

A shared lunch is an open daily offer — not mandatory; whoever wants to join, does, and everyone can eat at any time. Additionally, dinners, social events, and offsites at regular intervals — not as a mandatory program, but because a good team also shares time outside of work. Benefits: well-thought-out and substantial, not symbolic. Vacation: 28 days.

8. I know someone — is there a referral bonus?

Yes — €2,500 for every successfully filled position (no internships). A short context is enough: who you are thinking of, for which role, why. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it should be substantial.

Compensation: €95,625 – €114,750 • Fix: €75k - €90k · Bonus: €20,625k - €24,75k · EV: €87,75k - €105,3k

• • OTE €95,625 – €114,750 • Fix: €75k - €90k · Bonus: €20,625k - €24,75k · EV: €87,75k - €105,3k

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