People Partner

About the Job

About Lean

• Lean is the leading financial infrastructure provider in the Middle East.
• We power some of the region's largest companies with APIs that enable payments, account verification, financial data access, and other critical financial infrastructure.
• What started as the region's pioneering Open Banking platform and quickly became the de facto leader in account aggregation and payment initiation in the region is now becoming something bigger: a multi-product infrastructure company powering payments, data, and lending across MENA.
• We've processed billions of dollars in transactions.
• We're trusted by 350+ clients, from Binance and Careem to Etisalat, and backed by General Catalyst, Sequoia, and Shorooq.
• Our $67.5M Series B was just the beginning.
• We're expanding into new markets, opening offices, acquiring businesses, and building capabilities that didn't exist here before.
• What you'll own
• Act as a trusted People advisor to department heads across all functions, from engineering to finance to commercial
• Own performance review cycles end-to-end: timeline, calibration, and execution across a \~170-person organisation
• Design and deliver Lean's manager enablement programme, including toolkits, training, and ongoing coaching
• Advise on high-trust people matters including ER cases, terminations, and policy interpretation
• Drive promotion processes, growth planning, and succession strategies
• Design org structures, team models, and job architecture to support Lean's continued growth
• Own engagement survey execution and follow-up, ensuring action at the manager level
• Identify people-related risks across the organisation and propose clear, data-informed solutions
• Collaborate cross-functionally to build scalable, repeatable People frameworks
• What we're looking for
• 5+ years of experience as a People Partner or HR Business Partner in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Proven track record in performance management, end-to-end review cycle ownership, and manager enablement
• Ability to coach and influence senior managers with confidence and credibility
• Strong judgment in handling sensitive and complex people matters (ER, terminations, policy)
• Data-informed decision making: you use data to diagnose problems and shape People strategy
• Excellent communication: clear, structured, and tactful
• Regional knowledge of UAE and/or KSA labour law and employment practices
• Experience building People frameworks or programmes from scratch
• Background in a tech company or high-growth startup
• Experience with L&D, engagement surveys, succession planning, or growth mapping
• HRIS tool proficiency
• Comfortable navigating hybrid and distributed teams across multiple markets