Head of People & Legal

About KayanaKayana is one of the fastest-growing companies, empowering small and medium-sized businesses with cutting-edge technology to compete with larger enterprises in the ordering and payments space. As a disruptive force in the industry, we provide everything from essential point-of-sale systems to advanced solutions like self-service kiosks, online ordering, payments, and AI-powered solutions, enabling brands to scale and succeed.Our mission is simple: to help businesses thrive through innovative technology. With operations across the UK, USA, Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, and UAE, Kayana is proud to foster an inclusive, dynamic, and high-performance culture.As an AI-centric technology company, we actively embrace AI and automation to improve how we work, make decisions, manage risk, and scale our operations.Every employee is supported with opportunities for professional growth, while also being trusted to take ownership and make a meaningful impact.Important Work Arrangement NoteThis role requires full-time, on-site work from Monday to Saturday (6 days a week). Candidates should be comfortable with a fully office-based setup, as remote or hybrid work is not available for this position.About YouWe are looking for an experienced, commercially minded, and highly proactive Head of People & Legal to take ownership of Kayana's global People, Legal, Compliance, and Risk functions.This is not a traditional HR or policy-writing role.You will be responsible for building and running the function across our operations in the UK, USA, Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, and UAE.You will work directly with the Chief Executive Officer and act as the central owner for people operations, employment compliance, commercial contracts, data protection, legal risk, and external legal counsel.The ideal candidate is comfortable operating independently, making informed decisions, managing complex situations, and building scalable processes from the ground up.Key ResponsibilitiesPeople & HRBuild and implement a clear performance and accountability framework across the organisation.Ensure employees have clear objectives, regular check-ins, and structured performance reviews.Manage performance concerns and sustained underperformance through fair and consistent processes.Own the end-to-end recruitment process across Engineering, Product, QA, Operations, Customer Success, and other business functions.Implement structured interviews, candidate scorecards, and efficient hiring processes.Ensure new employees are effectively onboarded and productive as quickly as possible.Manage employee offboarding and ensure timely removal of access from company systems.Manage employment compliance across the UK, USA, Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Australia, and UAE.Oversee employment contracts, statutory leave, working time, notice periods, terminations, right-to-work requirements, and visa-related processes.Develop and maintain appropriate compensation and employee levelling frameworks across multiple countries and currencies.Support employee engagement, retention, and the development of a high-performance culture.Use AI and automation to improve HR processes, reduce manual administration, and create scalable people operations.Legal, Contracts & ComplianceAct as the first point of contact for day-to-day legal and commercial matters.Draft, review, negotiate, and manage commercial SaaS agreements.Manage customer MSAs, order forms, SLAs, NDAs, DPAs, reseller agreements, partner agreements, supplier contracts, and Statements of Work.Develop and maintain standard contract templates and pre-approved negotiation positions.Establish and maintain contract approval and signing authority processes.Maintain an accurate contract register, including renewal dates, obligations, and key contractual risks.Lead data protection and privacy compliance across applicable jurisdictions.Manage requirements relating to UK GDPR, EU GDPR, UAE PDPL, Australian Privacy Act, PIPEDA, and applicable US privacy laws.Maintain Records of Processing Activities, DPIAs, sub-processor registers, international transfer mechanisms, breach response processes, and data subject requests.Support the commercial and contractual aspects of payment compliance, including PCI-DSS scope, Stripe Connect terms, and merchant obligations, in collaboration with Engineering and relevant internal teams.Own and maintain customer-facing Terms and Conditions, Acceptable Use Policies, Privacy Notices, and Cookie Policies.Manage external legal counsel, including UK firms and future international legal providers.Brief external counsel, oversee legal matters, manage budgets, and control legal spend.Maintain a live register of legal, employment, compliance, and data protection risks.Provide the CEO with clear recommendations and practical advice on material business risks.What We're Looking ForA law degree or equivalent legal qualification, such as LLB, LLM, GDL, CIPD Level 7 with employment law specialism, or a relevant qualification from a common-law jurisdiction.Minimum 4+ years of combined HR and Legal/Compliance experience, with strong practical experience in both areas.Hands-on experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating commercial SaaS and business contracts independently.Demonstrable experience managing employment, people, contracts, or compliance matters across at least three countries or jurisdictions.Strong practical knowledge of GDPR and data protection requirements.Experience managing external legal counsel, including briefing firms, overseeing matters, and controlling legal spend.Experience working in a company with fewer than 150 employees, with significant ownership and responsibility for the function.Excellent written and spoken English.Strong commercial awareness and the ability to balance business requirements with legal and compliance risks.A proactive and independent approach to problem-solving.Comfortable using AI tools and automation to improve workflows, documentation, decision-making, risk management, and operational efficiency.Strong organisational, stakeholder management, and communication skills.Highly PreferredExperience with UAE Labour Law, MOHRE, free-zone employment requirements, WPS, gratuity, and visa processes.Previous experience in SaaS, fintech, payments, or hospitality technology.Arabic or Spanish language skills.Experience implementing an HRIS from scratch.Experience implementing a contract lifecycle management or contract management system.Experience working in a fast-growing international technology company.Why Join Us?At Kayana, you will be part of a fast-growing global technology company where your work will have a direct and visible impact on how the business operates.We offer:A clear path for career growth and development.The opportunity to work with innovative technology that is reshaping the payments industry.A supportive and collaborative environment where your success is celebrated.Direct access to the CEO and genuine decision-making authority from day one.The opportunity to build and own the People and Legal functions across a global organisation.Exposure to international employment, commercial, data protection, payments, and regulatory matters.The opportunity to work in an ambitious, fast-moving, AI-centric technology company.A collaborative, high-performance environment where decisions are made quickly and ownership is encouraged.Salary: AED 20k/month Tax-free + bonus