Senior People Partner & Operations

Role Overview

Smartsheet Bulgaria is looking for an experienced professional to represent our People and Culture team in Bulgaria. This role will require to support the EMEA region by aligning everyday people practices with organisational objectives to drive performance, streamline processes, and maintain operational compliance across multiple international entities. The role balances day-to-day manager coaching and employee relations with full ownership of local People Operations for Bulgaria, as well as broader compliance tracking for assigned European markets.

This is a hybrid position with occasional travel to Sofia. You will report to the Sr. Manager, People Partnerships who is based in the UK.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate closely with leaders across our EMEA Product & Engineering organisation to drive the successful implementation of company-wide people programmes, including talent reviews, compensation planning, and employee engagement initiatives.
• Partner, support, and coach management teams from first-line managers onwards through team dynamics, operational changes, and people strategies.
• Manage and resolve employee relations (ER) activities, including performance improvement situations, grievances, and investigations, working directly with managers, employees, and the legal team.
• Own the end-to-end People Operations lifecycle for all employees in Bulgaria, ensuring local operational compliance and seamless day-to-day execution.
• Act as the local subject matter expert on Bulgarian labour laws, employment practices, and regulatory updates.
• Maintain a working compliance framework and handle queries related to UK or German employment practices depending on the regional business units supported.
• Assist in the administrative creation and maintenance of local employment documents and compliance records.
• Support Health & Safety management processes on behalf of the company in Bulgaria.
• Analyse HR trends and metrics to deeply analyse employee data, helping to inform data-driven business decisions and deliver actionable insights.
• Collaborate closely with regional and global Centres of Excellence, including Talent Management, Total Rewards, Talent Acquisition, and People Analytics to deliver seamless HR operations.
• Build and maintain trust-based partnerships within the business to support the operational work of the wider People team.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience and hands-on HR operations.
• Experience working within a high-growth, fast-paced global or international organisation supporting multiple countries, legal entities, or cross-border matrix environments.
• Direct experience managing employee relations cases, performance management, and conflict resolution.
• Robust knowledge of Bulgarian employment law and practices is mandatory, coupled with a practical understanding or prior exposure to UK or German employment law frameworks.
• Proven experience managing core People Operations workflows for Bulgaria, while additional experience handling or supporting People Operations within France or Germany is highly beneficial.
• Professional fluency in either French or German is required to directly support specific European business units and multi-country stakeholders.
• Exceptional data acumen and analytical skills.