People & Culture Manager (m/f/x)

As our People & Culture Manager based in Shanghai, you will take ownership of the local HR function and support the growth of our China organization.

As we are still building a small team, your initial focus will be on recruiting and onboarding. You will also manage the essential local HR processes and adapt existing frameworks from our German headquarters to the local requirements in China.

As the organization grows, the role will gradually expand across the full employee lifecycle.

• Own full cycle recruiting for office and production roles, from defining hiring needs and role profiles to sourcing, interviewing, offer management, and hiring decisions

• Manage job advertisements, active sourcing, and candidate pipelines across relevant Chinese recruiting platforms (including 51job, Zhaopin, and BOSS Zhipin)

• Partner with hiring managers to run structured and consistent selection processes, including initial interviews, technical interview stages, and interview scorecards

• Ensure a professional candidate experience through clear, timely, and reliable communication throughout the entire recruiting process

• Manage the applicant tracking system and provide transparent reporting on hiring progress, recruiting funnels, and relevant metrics

• Own preboarding and onboarding, including employment documentation, background checks, first day preparation, and structured integration plans for new employees

• Develop and implement core local HR policies and processes, including employment contracts, working hours, leave entitlements, probation periods, and the code of conduct

• Ensure that local HR practices comply with PRC labor law and align with the People frameworks of our German headquarters where appropriate

• Establish and maintain reliable HR operations, including employee documentation, personnel files, HR data, and the local use of Lark

• Prepare payroll inputs and coordinate payroll, social insurance, and housing fund administration with external providers

• Build and manage local performance management, compensation review, bonus, and employee engagement processes in coordination with the People Team in Germany

• Act as the first point of contact for employees and managers regarding local HR matters and employee relations topics

• Continuously improve local People processes as the organization grows and new requirements arise

• 3+ years of HR generalist experience, ideally in a manufacturing, engineering, or startup environment

• Demonstrated track record of independently managing full-cycle recruiting

• Working knowledge of PRC Labor Contract Law, employment contract requirements, probation rules, and social insurance/housing fund processes

• Experience designing or running structured onboarding programs, ideally including pre-boarding compliance steps 

• Comfortable working cross-border with an international HQ team, including aligning local practices with global reporting formats and standards

• Comfortable working in a fast-moving, early-stage environment with evolving priorities and limited existing structure

• Able to communicate effectively with both office-based and production/shopfloor employees

• Fluent in Mandarin and English, both verbal and written