Leader, People & Talent

SkyCan Systems | Toronto (Bloor & Yonge) and Barrie, ON | Full-time, on-site
The MandateSkyCan is a Canadian defence manufacturer building uncrewed aerial systems for Canada and its allies. We are about 10 people today. By the end of 2027 we will be about 300, most of them skilled production staff at our new facility in Barrie.
This is our first People hire. The mandate is to hire the people who build the company and to build the HR foundation they work in. It is a hands-on role: you will run recruiting yourself while putting the structure, systems and culture in place, then grow into the senior HR leader of the company and decide what your team looks like.
We run lean and use modern, integrated systems and AI heavily, so that people time goes to people and not paperwork. We hire independent adults and treat them that way.
Key ResponsibilitiesTalent Acquisition and the Barrie Ramp
Own the hiring plan from roughly 10 people today to about 300 by the end of 2027, with about 200 skilled hourly production roles at our Barrie facility by mid-2027
Turn the business plan into a workforce plan: which roles, how many, by when, and where we will find them
Build the Barrie talent pipeline: job fairs with the City of Barrie, colleges and trade schools (including co-op programs), and experienced people coming out of automotive and advanced manufacturing
Run recruiting end to end for professional and production roles: postings, screening, interviews, references, offers and closing
Work day to day with our recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) partner and contract recruiters during the surge, holding them to quality, speed and cost
Build a screening process that finds real ability in a market full of high-volume and AI-written applications
Tell the SkyCan story well in every posting, job fair and candidate conversation, within our information-security rules for a defence company
HR Foundations
Build the basics a 300-person company runs on: org structure, job levels, job descriptions, pay bands and career paths
Draft and maintain the employee handbook and HR policies, using AI tools and external advice where they help
Set up performance management that works for both the plant floor and the professional teams
Run the offer and contract process using approved templates, and maintain accurate employee records
Onboarding, Safety and Training
Design onboarding that can handle 25+ new people a month: paperwork and access ready before day one, a real welcome, and clear expectations in the first 90 days
Make sure health and safety orientation and training are completed before anyone works on the production floor, working with operations
Coordinate role and process training with managers so new people are productive quickly
Employee Relations and Culture
Be the first point of contact for employees and managers on people issues, with a visible presence on the floor in Barrie
Build a workplace where people are treated fairly, paid well, have good benefits and have a real voice, with consistent processes for concerns, discipline and appeals
Coach managers, many of them new to managing, on hiring, feedback, performance and difficult conversations
Track turnover, absence and engagement, and act on what the numbers show
People Systems and AI
Run our integrated HR platform (HRIS, payroll inputs, benefits, time and attendance, onboarding) so that paperwork is automated and data is clean
Use AI tools heavily and well across recruiting, onboarding, policy work and reporting
Administer group benefits and the employee assistance program with our broker and provider, including the hourly benefit class as it is launched
Provide accurate HR data to Finance for each payroll run and report people metrics to leadership
Personnel Security and Controlled Goods
Run security-gated hiring and onboarding for a Controlled Goods Program registered company, including security assessments before access to controlled goods
Coordinate government security clearances and track which roles require which level, as the team grows
Keep personnel security records complete, current and inspection-ready, working with the General Counsel & CAO
Employment Compliance
Keep SkyCan compliant with Ontario employment law, including the Employment Standards Act, Human Rights Code, Occupational Health and Safety Act, AODA, WSIB and job-posting requirements
Support the set-up of the Joint Health and Safety Committee and required training as headcount grows
Flag employment-law risk early and bring the right questions to the General Counsel & CAO
Building the Team
Start as a hands-on team of one, with the support of the General Counsel & CAO and an experienced external people advisor
Decide what to build in-house, what to automate and what to buy, and grow a lean People team as the company scales
Hire for the long term and be upfront with candidates about what each role is;
use contract and outsourced support for temporary surges rather than hiring and later cutting
Report regularly to the General Counsel & CAO on hiring progress, people risk and milestones
The Person
Experience in HR and talent acquisition, with real recruiting volume behind you. Manufacturing, industrial or high-growth hiring is a strong asset
Strong enough to set direction and comfortable doing the work yourself: posting the job, running the job fair, sitting with a supervisor on a tough file
Comfortable with AI and modern HR systems, and keen to use them to keep the function lean
Sound judgment on people and fairness. You know what you don’t know and you find out
Wants to build something and grow into the senior HR leader of a 300-person company
Able to obtain a Controlled Goods Program security assessment and a Government of Canada security clearance (Reliability Status at minimum)
Bilingual (English/French) is an asset
If you read this and think you are not quite qualified but know you could do it, we want to hear from you
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