Open to opportunities

Marika Ouwehand

@marikaouwehand

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I lead people strategy and HR functions, building culture, compliance, and talent systems for fast-growing tech teams.

South Africa

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What I'm looking for

I’m looking for an exec-level HR/People role where I can build and scale people functions—owning culture, compliance, and talent strategy end-to-end—while partnering closely with leadership on metrics, org design, and performance.

I’m a senior HR leader with 15+ years of progressive experience across startups, scale-ups, and established tech companies. I’ve built people functions from scratch, driving culture, compliance, and talent strategy across South Africa, Australia, EU, and US.

I’m comfortable operating at exec level and hands-on—covering board reporting, HR metrics, dashboards, recruitment, performance, payroll, and employee enablement. In my current role as Head of People for a web3 marketing company, I’m leading exec reporting, HR master tracking, and people strategy initiatives.

Previously, as an HR Director and People leader in hotel tech and public safety tech, I owned end-to-end people operations, implemented HRIS and review processes, and managed labour relations, disciplinary, and PIP workflows. I also bring deep compliance experience, including BBBEE strategy (Employment Equity, Skills Development, Y.E.S) and training budget ownership, complemented by leadership progression from HR & GM to MD of SA operations.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Head of People

Current

Flight3

May 2025 - Present (1 year 2 months)

Leads the people function for a web3 marketing company, including exec reporting, HR metrics, and team enablement. Owns HR master tracking and drives people strategy across recruitment, performance, compliance, and culture.

HR strategy Dashboards HR Analytics Enablement Recruitment Performance Management & Compliance HR Tracking Executive Reporting

Current

HR Consultant

Current

MY HR Consulting

May 2023 - Present (3 years 2 months)

Partners with startups and established businesses across the full HR lifecycle. Provides recruitment, onboarding, contracts and policies support, labour relations, and employee wellness services.

Recruitment Onboarding Contracts HR Policies Labour Relations Employee Wellness

HR Director

RoomRaccoon Hotel Tech

Jul 2023 - May 2025 (1 year 10 months)

Owned end-to-end people operations for a fast-growing hospitality tech scale-up. Partnered with leadership on org design, talent acquisition, and people analytics.

People Operations Organizational Design Talent Acquisition People Analytics

Senior Talent Partner

Join Talent

Oct 2021 - Apr 2023 (1 year 6 months)

Served as an embedded talent partner at Amazon Business, supporting high-volume, high-bar technical and operational hiring. Also acted as a global talent partner at IDEO U for a mission-driven design education platform.

Talent Acquisition Recruiting High Volume Hiring Technical Hiring

HR Director

RapidDeploy

Apr 2020 - Apr 2021 (1 year)

Built and led the HR function for operations of a US-headquartered public safety tech company. Implemented global HRIS and 360 review processes, managed payroll and training programmes, and handled disciplinary, PIP, and labour relations processes.

HR Function Build Out HRIS Implementation 360 Review Process Payroll Management Training Disciplinary PIP Labour Relations Culture And Engagement

HR & Compliance Manager

Entersekt

Apr 2019 - Mar 2020 (11 months)

Drove BBBEE strategy including Employment Equity, Skills Development, Y.E.S Initiative, and EE reporting. Managed training budget, cross-border HR partnership with the US team, and supported culture programming.

BBBEE Strategy Skills Development Y.E.S Initiative

Managing Director SA / HR

Titan Digital

Sep 2014 - Dec 2018 (4 years 3 months)

Progressed from HR & General Manager to Managing Director for South Africa operations. Oversaw HR, operations, and business management responsibilities.

HR Leadership General Management Operations Management Business Management

HR Manager

Machine_ / Habari Group

Oct 2008 - Oct 2013 (5 years)

Managed HR for a leading digital agency for 4+ years, followed by a consulting payroll specialist role. Covered HR management and payroll consulting responsibilities.

HR Management Payroll Consulting