People Operations Specialist (EMEA)

Location:Lisbon, PT

Department:People

Navan is hiring a People Operations Specialist to join our global People Operations & Services Team, with a dedicated focus on supporting our growing teams across the EMEA region. In this dynamic role, you will play a pivotal part in creating an outstanding employee experience through operational excellence, data integrity, and robust compliance with local labor laws. You will support the entire employee lifecycle, with an EMEA-wide mandate—particularly spanning Germany, France, Portugal, UK, Spain, and the Netherlands—and partner closely with local, regional, and cross-functional HR colleagues.

You will ensure that our HR operations run smoothly and effectively, acting as a trusted point of contact for employee queries, managing key processes and systems (including Workday and JIRA), and contributing to process improvement and compliance initiatives

What You’ll Do:

  • Act as the first point of contact for people-related queries, ensuring timely and accurate responses to employees across EMEA.
  • Manage and update employee data in our HRIS (Workday), ensuring data accuracy and compliance with regional labor laws.
  • Contribute to our  onboarding and offboarding processes (background checks, work authorizations), and draft employment documentation for EMEA countries.
  • Collaborate closely with our internal People Systems team to support and optimize Workday configurations, workflows, and processes specific to the EMEA region.
  • Handle internal case management (JIRA), escalating complex issues as needed and monitoring queue performance.
  • Support compliance by tracking training, managing tasks, assisting with audits, and maintaining policy documentation.
  • Develop and maintain employee resources and knowledge base articles.
  • Partner with global and regional People teams to help identifying and implementing process improvements and HR initiatives.

What We're Looking For:

  • 2+ years’ experience in HR, People Operations, or similar role, within an international or EMEA context.
  • Workday experience and familiarity with HR/case management systems (e.g., JIRA, Zendesk, ServiceNow).
  • Working knowledge of EMEA labor laws, especially Germany, France, UK or Portugal.
  • Exceptional attention to detail and organizational skills.
  • Strong communication skills; fluency in English required — French or Portuguese are a plus.
  • Proactive mindset, with the ability to work independently and prioritize tasks.
  • Strong commitment to data privacy and confidentiality.

 

Navan About Us

Navan is the all-in-one super app that makes travel and expense easy so you can focus on being there, not getting there. Say goodbye to spending hours on the phone trying to change your flight or saving stacks of receipts to manually input expenses. From EAs and finance teams to travel managers and employees, Navan empowers people to focus on the things that matter most to them — all while providing companies with real-time visibility, savings, and control.

Navan’s investors include visionaries like Andreessen Horowitz, Lightspeed Ventures, Greenoaks, Zeev Ventures, and entrepreneurs Lee Fixel, Adam Bain, and Elad Gil. Valued at $9.2B, Navan is well-positioned for continued growth as it continues its takeover of the travel and expense market.

In April 2023, Navan expanded in the Indian market with the acquisition of Tripeur, a modern, people-centric corporate travel and expense management company. The group’s fifth acquisition in under two years, Tripeur joined the Navan Group alongside Spanish meetings and events specialists, Atlanta Events & Corporate Travel Consultants; Berlin-based modern travel management company, Comtravo; leading Scandinavian travel agency Resia AB; and London-based high-touch TMC, Reed & Mackay — the latter of which remains a standalone brand.

At Navan, we’re never satisfied with the status quo, and we know breakthrough ideas come from diverse perspectives. We are committed to cultivating a workplace that reflects the diversity of the customers we serve while fostering leadership and innovation. All voices are valued here and you’ll have the resources, tools, and training you’ll need to do the best work of your life.

Our Benefits

Navan provides a comprehensive benefits package tailored to support your well-being and financial security. Our offerings include generous medical plans, dental, and vision benefits with premiums covered by Navan, as well as various insurance options designed to cover each family's needs. We also prioritize your holistic wellness with perks like paid parental and bereavement leave, subsidized commuter benefits, mental health support, connectivity stipends, and even pet insurance.

Workplace Policy

Navan believes in the value of in-person connections, whether that is sitting down to have lunch with one another, taking a walking 1:1, or collaborating in a room together. The connections forged through face-to-face interactions improve company culture and drive business results. Navan invests in global office spaces — in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, among others — that feel welcoming. Perks such as lunches and happy hours create a strong team environment to help you do your best work. We prioritize in-person connections and operate on a four-day-in-office work model. Please expect this policy for all roles that are tied to an office.

Equal Opportunity

Navan is an equal opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions based solely on merit. We provide equal employment opportunity to all applicants and employees without discrimination on the bases of race, religion, color, national origin, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We prohibit any such discrimination or harassment. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including hiring.

Accommodations

Navan complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), as amended by the ADA Amendments Act, and all applicable state or local law. Navan will reasonably accommodate qualified individuals with a disability in connection with applications for employment as required by law.

If you need any assistance or accommodations due to a disability, you are welcome to email us at talent-accommodations@navan.com.

Candidate Privacy Notice

Please review Navan's Candidate Privacy Notice here.

Job Search Best Practices

We have been made aware of recruitment scams involving fraudulent attempts to lure job seekers into sending money or personal information in return for fake job offers or coerce them into purchasing equipment by electronic funds transfer (Zelle, Venmo, etc.) Legitimate Navan recruiters will never ask for money in any recruitment or onboarding activities. All available job openings at Navan will be posted on Navan’s website and all Navan recruiters will be reachable through an email address ending in “@navan.com” or “@navan.tech” or "@talent.navan.com".