People Operations Lead (AI)

TL;DR

People Operations Lead (AI): Building the People function from a blank slate with an accent on employee relations, HR systems, and organizational design. Focus on establishing career progression paths, coaching first-time managers, and scaling people infrastructure for a high-growth startup.

Location: San Francisco, CA: Financial District. In-Person (M-F)

Salary: $150,000 – $185,000 + Equity

Company

YC and a16z-backed startup providing pioneering AI solutions for complex, regulated industries.

What you will do

• Establish the entire People function, owning the employee lifecycle from onboarding through offboarding.
• Partner with leadership across GTM, Engineering, Product, and Design on workforce planning, job architecture, and career progression.
• Manage sensitive employee relations, including conflicts, investigations, and exits with high discretion.
• Own HR systems (Rippling), payroll inputs, benefits administration, and coordinate immigration matters with counsel.
• Coach first-time managers on feedback and implement formalized performance cycles and calibration.
• Analyze people metrics such as attrition and engagement to inform data-driven organizational changes.

Requirements

• 5–8 years of HR/People experience spanning both business partnership and hands-on operations.
• Must be based in San Francisco for full-time in-person work (Monday to Friday).
• Proven track record of building People infrastructure from scratch at an early-stage company.
• Direct ownership of an HRIS platform, with a preference for Rippling.
• Experience supporting both GTM and technical (Engineering, Product, Design) organizations.
• Strong bias toward execution and the ability to turn undefined programs into reliable processes.

Nice to have

• Experience running performance cycles and leading calibration conversations.
• Knowledge of compensation structuring and job leveling.
• Familiarity with common immigration pathways (H-1B, green card, TN).
• Experience using AI tools to automate manual HR workflows.

Culture & Benefits

• Best-in-class fully covered health, dental, and vision benefits.
• Meaningful stock options and company 401(k).
• Unlimited PTO.
• Strong in-office culture in the heart of San Francisco with onsite lunch and dinner.
• Commuter benefits and regular team events, including happy hours and off-sites.