People & Culture Lead (18-month contract)

Location: Remote, Canada

Job Type: 18-month fixed-term contract, 0.6 FTE (22.5 hours per week)

Approximate dates: October 2026 to May 2028

Reports to: Chief Executive Officer, no direct reports

Compensation: $48,600 - $54,000 per year at 0.6 FTE (full-time equivalent of $81,000 - $90,000 on 37.5 hours per week)

About the Role

As the People & Culture Lead, you are Retreat Guru's HR function - a team of one, supporting a distributed team across Canada. You own the full employee lifecycle: hiring and onboarding mission-aligned people, running annual compensation and performance reviews, handling employee relations, and keeping our records, contracts, and policies compliant in every province where we employ.

You report to the CEO, but the function is yours to run. We look for people who are innately empowered - comfortable making decisions and moving, with the judgment to know which calls need buy-in first. In a team this size, that judgment matters more than any process we could write down.

Role Responsibilities

Talent & Growth

  • Lead full-cycle recruitment: sourcing, screening, references and offers, and coach hiring managers on structured interviewing and best practice.
  • Prepare and issue employment contracts for employees and contractors across Canadian provinces and, where applicable, the United States.
  • Design onboarding that sets new team members up for success remotely, and maintain the hiring processes and employer brand that attract mission-aligned candidates.

People Experience

  • Act as the first point of contact for employee questions and concerns, handling them with empathy, discretion and professionalism.
  • Support managers through performance and compensation conversations, escalating complex or legally sensitive matters to the CEO.
  • Own HR policy for a remote-first culture, keeping it current with employment legislation.
  • Administer employee benefits, including enrolments, changes, annual renewal and the broker relationship.
  • Own the design and cadence of the performance review and pulse-check cycles, and report on what the results show.

Culture & Development

  • Foster an inclusive, supportive culture across a distributed team through recognition programs, team events and the biennial company-wide retreat.
  • Support career growth and development planning within the levelling framework, and coordinate professional development opportunities.

Operations & Systems

  • Maintain accurate employee records, contracts and documentation across every jurisdiction in which the company employs.
  • Run the annual compensation and performance cycles end to end: review packs, completion tracking, and outcomes, compensation and Employee Stock Option Plan letters.
  • Administer the Wellness and Transformational Growth programs, support Finance with payroll, and act as backup to the Head of Finance during absences.
  • Maintain and streamline HR systems, applying AI tooling to administrative and drafting work while keeping human judgment where decisions affect people directly.

What You Bring

  • A bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organisational Psychology or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
  • A CPHR designation, or working toward CPHR, preferred.
  • 3-5+ years of progressive experience in HR, people operations or talent roles, with hands-on ownership of day-to-day delivery.
  • Demonstrated experience leading full-cycle recruitment, including process design, structured interviewing and onboarding.
  • Working knowledge of employment standards and labour legislation across multiple Canadian provinces.
  • Hands-on experience with employee relations and supporting managers through performance matters.
  • Experience administering benefits, supporting payroll processes and maintaining regulatory compliance.
  • Experience building and maintaining HR policies within a remote-first or distributed work environment.

Skills & Competencies

  • Strong administrative rigour and accuracy across records, contracts, enrolments and deadlines.
  • High emotional intelligence and sound judgment in handling confidential matters.
  • Clear written and verbal communication, including sensitive employee communications such as compensation and stock option letters.
  • Proficiency with remote collaboration tools (e.g., Slack, Google Workspace, Notion) and comfort adopting AI tools in operational work.
  • The ability to build inclusive, mission-aligned workplace cultures.
  • Strong coaching and communication skills to support managers and career development.
  • A highly organised, self-directed approach, and comfort operating as the sole practitioner in a fast-moving environment.
  • Prior experience working in a startup, SaaS, or purpose-driven organization; familiarity with wellness or retreat industries is beneficial

What We Offer

  • A part-time (0.6 FTE) role with flexible working hours, remote from anywhere in Canada.
  • Extended health and dental benefits.
  • Wellness and Transformational Growth programs.
  • Computer and remote start allowance.
  • Unlimited vacation program

How to Apply

Send your resume and a short note telling us why this role and Retreat Guru appeal to you to careers@retreat.guru. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis until the role is filled, but we would love to hear from you by Wednesday, September 2nd.

About Retreat Guru

Retreat Guru is the world’s largest marketplace and leading SaaS platform for retreat centres, helping people discover and book life-transforming wellness experiences. Since 2014, over 743,000 participants have used Retreat Guru to connect with trusted retreats offering yoga, meditation, mindfulness, psychedelics, and sacred plant medicines.

Based in Nelson, BC, we support 400+ retreat centres worldwide with software that helps them run and grow sustainable retreat businesses. We’re a small, dedicated team with a big mission: supporting a wakeful world.

Equity, Diversity & Inclusion

Retreat Guru is committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of the community we serve. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, identities and lived experiences, and we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every qualification listed above.

If you need an accommodation at any stage of the hiring process, please let us know at careers@retreat.guru, and we will work with you to make the process accessible.

Pay: $48,600.00-$54,000.00 per year

Benefits:

  • Casual dress
  • Company events
  • Dental care
  • Disability insurance
  • Extended health care
  • Flexible schedule
  • Life insurance
  • Paid time off
  • Wellness program
  • Work from home

Experience:

  • Human Resources: 3 years (preferred)

Licence/Certification:

  • CPR Certification (preferred)

Work Location: Remote

Back to blog

Other Jobs To Apply

No other job posts for this day.

Common Interview Questions And Answers

1. HOW DO YOU PLAN YOUR DAY?

This is what this question poses: When do you focus and start working seriously? What are the hours you work optimally? Are you a night owl? A morning bird? Remote teams can be made up of people working on different shifts and around the world, so you won't necessarily be stuck in the 9-5 schedule if it's not for you...

2. HOW DO YOU USE THE DIFFERENT COMMUNICATION TOOLS IN DIFFERENT SITUATIONS?

When you're working on a remote team, there's no way to chat in the hallway between meetings or catch up on the latest project during an office carpool. Therefore, virtual communication will be absolutely essential to get your work done...

3. WHAT IS "WORKING REMOTE" REALLY FOR YOU?

Many people want to work remotely because of the flexibility it allows. You can work anywhere and at any time of the day...

4. WHAT DO YOU NEED IN YOUR PHYSICAL WORKSPACE TO SUCCEED IN YOUR WORK?

With this question, companies are looking to see what equipment they may need to provide you with and to verify how aware you are of what remote working could mean for you physically and logistically...

5. HOW DO YOU PROCESS INFORMATION?

Several years ago, I was working in a team to plan a big event. My supervisor made us all work as a team before the big day. One of our activities has been to find out how each of us processes information...

6. HOW DO YOU MANAGE THE CALENDAR AND THE PROGRAM? WHICH APPLICATIONS / SYSTEM DO YOU USE?

Or you may receive even more specific questions, such as: What's on your calendar? Do you plan blocks of time to do certain types of work? Do you have an open calendar that everyone can see?...

7. HOW DO YOU ORGANIZE FILES, LINKS, AND TABS ON YOUR COMPUTER?

Just like your schedule, how you track files and other information is very important. After all, everything is digital!...

8. HOW TO PRIORITIZE WORK?

The day I watched Marie Forleo's film separating the important from the urgent, my life changed. Not all remote jobs start fast, but most of them are...

9. HOW DO YOU PREPARE FOR A MEETING AND PREPARE A MEETING? WHAT DO YOU SEE HAPPENING DURING THE MEETING?

Just as communication is essential when working remotely, so is organization. Because you won't have those opportunities in the elevator or a casual conversation in the lunchroom, you should take advantage of the little time you have in a video or phone conference...

10. HOW DO YOU USE TECHNOLOGY ON A DAILY BASIS, IN YOUR WORK AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE?

This is a great question because it shows your comfort level with technology, which is very important for a remote worker because you will be working with technology over time...