Hiring your first Head of HR is different from replacing one. There is no predecessor to learn from, no existing function to inherit and often nobody inside the business who has done the job. The brief has to come from the leadership team, and it is usually written by people who have never hired for the role before.
This guide covers when a business tends to need a first Head of HR, how to define the role, where to look, how to assess candidates and what to agree before the person starts. It draws on searches for first-time and regional HR leadership roles across Europe and the Gulf.
When a business needs its first Head of HR
There is no headcount at which a Head of HR becomes necessary. In the searches we run, the role usually opens at one of three moments.
- International expansion. The business is entering new countries and needs a people function built from scratch, with someone who can set up the basics and advise the founders at the same time.
- A new region. A group opens or grows a regional business, in Benelux, the Nordics or the Gulf for example, and needs someone who can adapt group practices to local employment law and culture.
- A change in leadership or direction. An ownership change, a new regional leadership team or a shift in strategy exposes the gaps in how people decisions are made.
A common thread runs through all three: HR work has been spread across founders, finance and line managers, and it no longer holds together. If people decisions are slowing the business down, or carry legal and cultural risk that nobody owns, it is worth starting the conversation.
Start with what the person will own
Before you look at a single CV, work out three things: what prompted the hire, what the person will own and what support they will have.
That sounds simple, but first-time briefs often describe an ideal HR leader rather than a real job. Work through these questions with the people the Head of HR will work with most closely:
- Who will they report to, and how much access will they have to the founders or leadership team?
- Which decisions will be theirs, and which will still sit with the leadership?
- What needs fixing first: contracts and compliance, hiring, reward, performance, leadership development, or something else?
- Which countries and employment-law systems will they cover?
- Will they have a team or a budget, or will they be building both?
If parts of the brief are unclear or unrealistic, deal with that before the search starts. A brief that asks for a strategic adviser, a hands-on generalist, a reward specialist and an employment lawyer in one person will either fail to attract anyone or attract people who will be disappointed within months. It is better to decide now which of those matters most in the first year.
Strategic or hands-on? Usually both
A first Head of HR almost always needs two things at once: the credibility to advise the founders or leadership team, and the willingness to do the practical work of setting up HR.
In one search for a business building its people function during international expansion, the person appointed designed the core HR processes, launched the company’s first leadership development programme and helped put its values into practice across countries. That combination is typical. The same person who argues a point on organisational design in the morning may be fixing a contract template in the afternoon.
This is why some strong CVs are a poor fit. A candidate who has only led large, established HR functions may struggle without a team, systems and processes already in place. A candidate who has only worked in operational HR may not yet have the standing to challenge the leadership. Be honest in the brief about the balance you need, and test for it during interviews.
Look beyond the job title
The people who can do this job well do not all carry the same title. They may be a Head of People, an HR Director, a senior HR business partner who has run a region, or an HR leader in a different sector who has faced the same kind of challenge.
Look for evidence that a candidate has handled a similar situation:
- building or rebuilding an HR function rather than only running one
- supporting a business through expansion, an ownership change or a restructuring
- adapting group HR practices to local employment law and culture
- advising founders or a leadership team on difficult people decisions
Many of the strongest candidates are not actively looking. They are busy doing similar work somewhere else and will not respond to a job advert. Reaching them means researching the market and approaching people directly, with a clear explanation of why the role might interest them.
For regional roles, add the practical requirements early. Our searches for regional Heads of HR have called for employment-law knowledge across several countries, experience with GCC employment and expatriate workforces, or fluency in a local language alongside English. These requirements narrow the field quickly, so it pays to know which ones are essential.
Assess for your situation, not the CV
Interviews for a first Head of HR should focus on how the candidate would handle your circumstances, not just what they have done before.
Useful questions include:
- What would you look at first in your first few months here, and why?
- Tell us about a time you set up an HR process where none existed. What did you keep simple?
- How have you advised a founder or leadership team when you disagreed with them?
- How have you adapted a group policy for a country with different employment law or working culture?
Involve the people the Head of HR will work with most, but agree in advance what each interviewer is assessing. Otherwise every interviewer tests for the same thing and nobody tests for the rest.
Use references to check how the person worked when there was little structure around them. Ask referees what the candidate built, what they chose not to do, and how they handled pushback from senior colleagues.
Be clear with yourself about where you may need to compromise. Very few candidates will meet every point in the brief. Decide which gaps you can support and which would cause real problems in the first year.
Keep the search confidential when you need to
Some first-time HR searches cannot be announced. You may be replacing someone who is still in the business, going through a transaction or opening a region that has not been made public. In a confidential search, you agree what can be shared with candidates, and when, before anyone is approached. That protects the business without making the role sound vague to the people you want to attract.
Agree expectations before they start
Once you have made an offer, talk through expectations for the role before the person joins, so everyone starts with the same understanding. Agree the first priorities, who they will work with most closely and how you will judge progress.
Make sure the leadership team is ready for what a Head of HR changes. Some decisions that founders or finance used to take informally will now go through HR. If that shift is not discussed early, the new hire can end up with the title but not the authority, and the role will be harder to make work.
Getting help with the search
Hiring a first Head of HR is a decision most leadership teams make only once, and it shapes how the business handles people decisions for years. A retained search gives you one person responsible for shaping the brief, researching the market, approaching candidates and supporting you through to the appointment.
MVRK runs Head of HR searches for first-time and regional roles, and our track record includes Heads of HR placed across Europe and the Gulf. If you are still working out whether you need a Head of HR, get in touch and we can talk it through.