Director of People

About this role

Atomic Machines is building the Matter Compiler™, the first in a new class of AI-native, all-digital manufacturing systems that build working machines directly from code. The Matter Compiler™ is aimed at micro-machines: motors and gears the size of a grain of sand, robots small enough to work inside the body, cooling built directly into the chips that run AI, and the many devices like them that have been waiting on a way to build them. Its first product is PrimeSwitch™, an electromechanical power relay the size of a button battery that carries 150 amps continuous current and opens in 50 microseconds, about a thousand times faster than a conventional contactor. Founded by Jeff Holden — serial entrepreneur, ex-Amazon SVP and Uber’s first Chief Product Officer — the company has raised $250 million to date.

Atomic Machines is based in the San Francisco Bay Area, with offices in Emeryville and Santa Clara.

About the Role

Atomic Machines is scaling past 250 employees. We're looking for a builder to join as our Director of People and design and lead the People function. This opportunity owns People end to end: the systems, infrastructure, programs, and compliance that let a hardware company grow fast without breaking. You'll lead a team across the operational lifecycle from onboarding through offboarding, total rewards, and the People systems and data foundation the company runs on. You'll also own our move off a PEO to in-house benefits and payroll, stand up the multi-state footprint that comes with our first out-of-state site, drive organizational development and learning, and lead our HR Business Partner function.

You will report to the VP of People & IT and partner regularly with senior leadership, including the CEO, alongside our Head of Strategic Growth, IT, and Finance, representing our operational and organizational core HR functions. This is a role for someone who loves to build and build teams. To be successful, you’ll need to evaluate technology, modernize processes, implement systems, and design programs serving a workforce that spans engineering, R&D, manufacturing, operations, and corporate functions.

We're a hardware company, and hardware moves differently than software. We need someone who has (or is excited to) build People in a hardware, manufacturing, or deep-tech environment and understands why that context changes what good support looks like.

This role is based in our Emeryville office.

What You'll Do

People Operations

• Own the operational employee lifecycle: onboarding, transfers, leaves, offboarding, and the process, documentation, and governance underneath each

• Lead the transition of benefits and payroll from our PEO to in-house administration

• Own payroll operations, including multi-state payroll as we expand beyond California

• Design scalable processes and internal documentation that hold up as headcount grows

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Own benefits strategy, design, annual renewals, and broker relationships

• Run compensation administration, including cycles, band maintenance, and the operational side of merit and equity refresh

• Manage leave administration, workers' compensation, and 401(k) administration

Compliance, Risk & Immigration

• Own employment compliance in California and every state we operate in, and stand up compliance infrastructure for our first out-of-state location

• Manage immigration in partnership with outside counsel

• Own I-9, records retention, employee data privacy, required filings, and audit readiness

• Partner with EHS and Operations on workplace safety programs across office and manufacturing environments

People Programs & Business Partnering

• Lead our HR Business Partner function, setting the standard for how People supports the business

• Build and improve the operating machinery behind performance management, employee development, and organizational effectiveness

• Partner with the Head of Strategic Growth so People programs align to business priorities and organizational growth

Organizational Development & Learning

• Build the organizational development practice: org design support, capability planning, and the frameworks leaders use to structure and grow their teams

• Design and run learning and development programs, from manager enablement to functional skill building across engineering, manufacturing, and corporate teams

• Treat onboarding as a development experience, not just a process, so new Atomizers reach productivity quickly in a deeply technical environment

People Systems & Data

• Evaluate, implement, and optimize HRIS and People technology that enables scale

• Own People data integrity, reporting, and the headcount analytics Finance and leadership rely on

• Apply sound judgment about when AI tools genuinely improve People work and when they don't, weighing accuracy, confidentiality, and employee trust before adopting new tools or workflows

Leadership & Team

• Lead, coach, and develop the People team, including People Operations and business partnering

• Establish priorities, operating rhythms, quality standards, and scalable process across the function

• Own the People budget and vendor portfolio

• Build cross-functional partnerships with Engineering, Operations, Manufacturing, R&D, IT, Finance, and executive leadership

What You'll Need

• First principles thinking with high judgment. You start from "what does Atomic Machines actually need and why," not from what worked at your last company. This matters more than anything else on this list

• 10+ years of progressive People leadership, ideally scaling a startup or high-growth technology company

• Direct experience building People Operations in a hardware, manufacturing, or deep-tech company. Hardware startups run on different constraints and timelines than software startups, and this role needs someone who has already lived that difference

• Experience building People infrastructure, programs, and systems from the ground…