HR Operations Specialist

At Catawiki, every day brings the extraordinary! Whether it’s Daniel Ricciardo’s Formula 1 Car, a Woolly Mammoth’s Skeleton, Lady Gaga's Jumpsuit or Usain Bolt’s running shoe, we encounter exceptional objects every day.

We’re a one-of-a-kind marketplace for buying and selling special objects. Each week, more than 100,000 unique items are auctioned, all carefully curated by our passionate in-house experts.

Having sold over 25 million unique objects, our mission is to become the world’s most popular destination for special objects. As a growing, diverse and sustainable scale-up, we proudly live by three core values. If these values resonate with you, we’d love to explore how you can join us.

- Taking ownership and driving impact

- Being open to change and feedback

- Being passionate about our mission and our customers.

About the role

We’re looking for a proactive and detail-oriented HR Operations Specialist to join our People team in Lisbon. In this hybrid role, you’ll be supporting the People Operations Team with a full range of tasks related to our employee lifecycle processes while also owning the accuracy and execution of our people operations. You will play a crucial part in supporting a seamless employee experience for 700+ employees that work in different countries, ensuring compliance, driving efficiency and partnering cross-functionally with our wider HR, Finance and external providers.

What You’ll Do

- Manage a full range of day-to-day employee life cycle processes, including on-/off boarding, issuing contracts and amendments and first line support for employees’ requests.

- Ensure our HR system is up to date and maintained accurately.

- Responsible for preparing and sending employment agreements and change letters.

- Maintain and improve operational documentation, including policies and SOPs.

- Serve as a first point of contact for employee queries related to policies, benefits, leave etc.

- Ensure compliance with local labor law regulations and CBAs, with main focus on Portugal.

- You will actively support the People Operations team in reducing administrative tasks via clearer processes and automation.

What You’ll Bring

- 2+ years of experience in People Operations or similar roles.

- Fluency in English to a professional business level, both spoken and written.

- Hands-on experience managing high-volume onboarding and offboarding processes, ideally covering the full employee lifecycle.

- Strong knowledge of Portuguese HR Operations, including local HR processes, employment practices and labour legislation.

- Knowledge of HR Operations in France, Italy and/or other European countries is a plus.

- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, international environment, managing multiple priorities and adapting to changing needs.

- Proactive, hands-on and solution-focused mindset, with a willingness to take ownership, solve problems and go the extra mile.

Where you'll be

This position is a hybrid role based in Lisbon, Portugal that requires working a fixed 2 days per week in our office.

Why You'll Love Working with Us

- Create a visible impact by working at scale in a global organisation serving millions of customers across 80+ categories. In our flat structure, every role has a broad scope and directly impacts both our customers and the business.

- Learn and grow through our Learning & Development initiatives, including clear development plans and mentorship programmes to support your career progression.

- A culture of connection defines us. We’re a passionate, diverse team of 800+ Catawikians representing 60+ nationalities. We foster an inclusive and queer-friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to bring their full self to work.

- Celebrate life’s moments with us. You’ll receive a €100 Catavoucher when you join, a €50 Catavoucher on your birthday, and an extra day off each year to “Pursue Your Passion”. We also offer additional leave for key work anniversaries