Our mission is to reinvent the way people learn, starting with language.
Learning a language can change a life by opening doors to new cultures, careers, and communities. Two billion people around the world are actively trying to learn a language, but the best way to learn (one-on-one tutoring) is hard to access at scale and hasn’t been meaningfully improved in decades. Speak is building a human-level, AI-powered tutor in your pocket: a conversation-first experience that lets learners actually speak, get instant feedback, and progress through carefully designed lessons. The result is a complete path from beginner to confident speaker across multiple languages.
Speak first launched in South Korea in 2019, where Speak has now become the number one language learning app, and we now serve learners across many markets and 15+ languages. Speak is one of the world’s leading AI companies, with over $150m raised in venture investment from OpenAI, Accel, Founders Fund, Khosla Ventures, and more, with a distributed team across San Francisco, Seoul, Tokyo, Taipei, and Ljubljana.
About this role
Speak is scaling fast across APAC. We've more than doubled our team across Korea, Japan, and Taiwan in just over a year, with continued hiring through 2026. Our People Ops team runs lean, and we're adding a Generalist to strengthen our operational capacity across all three markets.
You'll manage key aspects of the employee lifecycle (onboarding, offboarding, contracts, HRIS, and multi-market compliance), improve and document the processes that support it, and over time help the team turn what works into scalable infrastructure. We're at the stage where the processes that supported a smaller team need to become the systems that scale across three markets, and you'll be a key part of making that happen alongside the rest of the team.
This role is meaningful and hands-on. You'll work across three legal entities, solve real problems that affect how people experience Speak in APAC, and contribute to building something that grows with the company. If you care about getting details right and want to do impactful work at a company that's still early enough to shape, this is a strong fit.
What you'll be doing
Employee lifecycle operations and management
Run the full FTE lifecycle across KR, JP, and TW: onboarding, contracts, probation, offboarding, HRIS, and more - maintaining accurate employee data across the three entities with by conducting audits and resolving gaps
Track multi-market compliance across the region: flag regulatory changes with a recommended action, and keep the handbook up-to-date
Be the go-to resource for employees across the region on lifecycle and People Ops questions
Partner closely with the Global People Ops team to keep global processes aligned while reflecting local nuance across APAC markets
Benefits and program support
Administer local & market-specific benefits and perks (e.g., health checkups, insurance enrollment, local perks)
Help run People programs operationally: engagement surveys, performance review cycles, and other recurring processes
Process improvement and documentation
Map existing workflows across the three markets, identify where they break or slow down, and propose improvements together with the team
Help build and maintain the APAC People Ops SOP and playbook library. The team sets direction together; you build, document, and keep them current
Help design and implement workflow improvements using AI and automation (contract generation, onboarding triggers, data entry, intake systems) to reduce manual load and increase team capacity
Collect feedback from employees and partner teams to make sure improvements focus on areas that drive the most impact
What we're looking for
If you don't think you meet all of the criteria below but still are interested in the job, please apply. Nobody checks every box, and we're looking for someone excited to join the team.
4~6 years of experience in people operations, HR, or related field
You break down ambiguous problems, build a plan, and see it through. You manage projects, not just tasks
You're a strong communicator with high EQ. You navigate sensitive conversations, align multiple stakeholders, and adapt your style to the audience
You prioritize well and make trade-offs confidently, especially when resources are limited and everything feels urgent
People trust you with sensitive information and know you'll follow through
You're curious about AI and automation, and you pick up new tools quickly
You can operate without clear direction in a fast-moving environment
You're comfortable communicating in English for day-to-day collaboration and basic business writing, as you'll work closely with our global team
You're based in Seoul and available for hybrid in-office work
Who you are
You care about getting the details right, but you don't lose sight of what actually matters
You're energized by building things that don't exist yet
You stay calm when things get busy and bring clarity to ambiguous situations
You enjoy working across cultures and contexts, and you adapt your approach rather than defaulting to one-size-fits-all
You notice when something is broken and fix it without being asked
Bonus points:
You have experience working across multiple legal entities or countries
You've built or significantly improved an HR process or SOP from scratch
You've worked at a startup or high-growth company before
Join a fantastic, tight-knit team at the right time: we're growing very quickly, we've most recently raised our Series C from some of the top investors in the valley, and we've achieved product-market fit in our initial markets. You'd join at a magical time when a single person could significantly change the course of the company.
Do your life's work with people you’ll love working with: we care strongly about our craft and want every person at Speak to feel like they're growing every day. We believe in the idea that working with people you both enjoy and have respect for makes everything better. We hire thoughtfully and only work with people we admire deeply.
Global in nature: We're live in over 40 countries and launching in a number of new markets soon. We have dedicated offices in San Francisco, Ljubljana, Seoul, Tokyo, and Taipei, and you’ll have the opportunity to talk to users in each of these regions on a regular basis as well as travel.
Impact people's lives in a major way: Learning a language is one of the single most life-changing skills one can learn, and right now 99% of people never achieve their goal because the process is broken. We’re helping millions of people achieve their goals and improve their lives.
Speak does not discriminate based upon 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.