Talent Lead

Your Impact

Tacto is building the intelligence layer for manufacturing. Engineering designs products in bits. Manufacturing builds them in atoms. Procurement connects both at the right quality, cost, and time - yet it runs on outdated systems. We're here to change that. Sequoia and Index backed us for the team we've built. This is Europe's chance to build a globally leading AI company, and we're at the center of it.

Now comes the hard part: scaling the team that scales the company. We're past 100 people, expanding internationally, and shipping AI-native products daily. The quality of the people we hire in the next 12 months will determine whether Tacto becomes a generational European tech company or not. Thus, People isn't a support function for us, it is the single biggest lever we have.

As People & Performance Lead
, you run and scale our people and performance function. You report directly to André (CEO), work closely with our leadership team, and have full ownership over how we develop, retain, and get the best out of our team. You're the sparring partner to every Team Lead and the person who makes sure our performance culture scales with the company.

We're not looking for someone who wants to run a traditional HR function. We're rethinking people from the ground up – focused on performance, not process theater. Your job isn't “people ops” – your job is to make Tacto as high-performing as possible.

• Be the sparring partner to Team Leads
  :
  Coach and challenge Team Leads on performance management, team composition, org design, and hard conversations. You're the person they come to when something is off – and you push back when standards slip.
• Drive performance management
  :
  Own calibrations, feedback frameworks, career progression, and comp benchmarking together with the CEO. High performers thrive, underperformance is addressed fast.
• Own org development & culture
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  Onboarding, leadership development, AI enablement, internal communication on key decisions. You make sure our culture stays strong as we grow past 100, 150, 200 people.
• Scale the function as we grow
  :
  Design the systems and processes that let Tacto operate at 200+ people without losing speed or quality. Build it hands‑on first, then build a team of your own around it.
• Optional – Talent exposure
  :
  Depending on your interest and profile, there is the opportunity to get involved in or take ownership of talent topics (recruiting, employer brand). Our talent function already has dedicated owners, but this role naturally touches talent through performance management and org design.

• 3-5 years of experience, with meaningful time spent in people, performance, or org development topics in a high‑growth environment (Series B+ SaaS, top startup, or similar).
• Alternatively: 2-3 years in Tier 1 consulting combined with hands‑on people or org development experience in a startup.
• You have a super high bar for great people – you know what excellence looks like and you won't lower the standard.
• You're a builder: you've created performance frameworks, onboarding programs, or org development systems from scratch – not just inherited them.
• You combine structured thinking with raw execution speed – you can design the system AND run it yourself.
• You're outgoing – you genuinely like working with people, convincing them, and building relationships.
• You use AI tools daily and experiment with new workflows.
• Native German + strong English (written and verbal).
• You're ready to commit – this role requires exceptional energy and intensity.

Bonus: Network in the DACH startup ecosystem (CDTM, MBB alumni, VC circles). Experience with or interest in talent/recruiting topics.

We know that nobody is perfect and therefore have no specific ‘minimum qualifications’. If the role sounds interesting to you, we would like to know more about you – whether you already fulfill all the qualifications or not.

• Growth at the frontier of AI
  :
  You shape how manufacturing is reinvented for the age of AI – surrounded by best‑in‑class talent and leading minds in tech. 95%+ of the company uses AI tools daily. A Sequoia board member: ‘I don't know of another company founded…