Senior Manager, People Operations

About this role

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ABOUT THE ROLE

We're hiring a Senior Manager, People Operations to own HR end to end: payroll, benefits, employment tax, compliance, employee relations and our HRIS. You'll be our senior-most HR leader, reporting to the Chief of Staff and partnering closely with our hands-on CEO. Much of our workforce is global contractors, so you'll support both U.S. employees and an international contractor population.

This is a hands-on role. Much of our People foundation was built quickly, and we've inherited processes that work but need attention. Your job is to keep day-to-day operations accurate and reliable while steadily improving how we work, so the function matures with the business.

Best fit: an experienced HR or People Ops manager who has done the hands-on work and is ready to own the whole function. There's room to grow toward “Director” level as the function and scope grows.

WHAT YOU'LL OWN

PAYROLL, BENEFITS AND TAX

- Run multi-state payroll, audits and reconciliations, and resolve issues quickly

- Own benefits administration, annual renewal, open enrollment and broker relationships, with clear employee communication

- Keep employment tax filings and registrations accurate and on time, including Q4 filings and W-2s

- Manage compliance for our global contractor population

HRIS AND SYSTEMS

- Lead our in-flight migration to BambooHR: data cleanup, testing, parallel payroll runs, cutover and adoption

- Own PeopleOps systems, vendors and budget

- Keep employee data clean and audit-ready

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND COMPLIANCE

- Handle HR cases: investigations, corrective action, performance issues, accommodations and terminations

- Coach managers through sensitive situations, and bring in outside counsel when needed

- Own the handbook, policies and compliance calendar (I-9, EEO-1, ACA, leave laws, postings)

EMPLOYEE LIFECYCLE

- Own onboarding through offboarding, including new-hire orientation

- Turn manual, inconsistent processes into documented, repeatable ones

- Partner with leaders on performance management, role clarity and org design

LEADERSHIP AND PARTNERSHIP

- Lead and develop 2 PeopleOps Generalists (global contractors): Payroll & Benefits, and HR Operations

- Work daily with IT Support, Facilities and Recruiting on onboarding, offboarding, access and hiring

- Act as HR Business Partner to department leaders, especially Sales and Customer Success

- Partner directly with the CEO and leadership team, bringing data, risks and clear recommendations

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

FIRST 90 DAYS

- Year-end payroll and tax work (Q4 filings, W-2s) is completed accurately and on time

- Benefits renewal and open enrollment run smoothly, and employees understand any changes before they enroll

- Every open HR case is triaged and documented, with outside counsel in place for complex matters

- The BambooHR migration has a clear plan with owners, dates and risks

- Learn the entire payroll process

- Regular 1:1s are in place with your team, and you've built working relationships with leadership and partner teams

BY 6 MONTHS

- BambooHR is live, data is clean and payroll runs without errors

- One onboarding and offboarding process runs across PeopleOps, IT, Facilities and Recruiting

- HR cases follow a consistent process, and managers come to People Ops early

- Performance management and other lifecycle processes are documented and in use

- Your team is stable, engaged and spending less time firefighting

WHAT YOU BRING

MUST-HAVES

- Minimum of 6 years of progressive HR / People Operations experience, including 2+ years at a startup or high-growth company with 100+ employees

- Led at least one full HRIS or payroll system migration from kickoff through go-live

- Hands-on ownership of payroll, benefits and employment tax compliance

- Deep employee relations experience, including investigations and terminations

- Experience in B2B SaaS or another fast-growing, sales-led tech company

- Experience managing people, contractors and vendors, including global contractors

- A track record of building buy-in at the executive level and turning manual processes into scalable ones with limited tools

- A go-getter who advocates at the right time: when you hear "no" or "not yet," you come back with a clear Phase I, II, III plan that matures People Ops step by step

- Growth mindset: curious, coachable and quick to adapt

NICE-TO-HAVES

- Experience with Gusto and/or BambooHR

- HRBP experience with high-volume Sales or Customer Success teams

- Multi-state and international workforce experience

- SHRM-SCP, SPHR or similar certification

WHAT WE OFFER

- Full transparency: the base salary range for this role is $115,000 to $140,000, based on experience, with room to grow over time into Director level role

- Medical, dental and vision coverage through SANA, Beam and VSP

- 15 days of PTO for vacation, mental wellness and sick time that grows with tenure, plus 10 paid holidays

- 8 weeks of paid parental leave, plus 4 additional weeks through FMLA

- 401(k) with a company match of up to 3%

- Real ownership: you'll be our senior-most HR leader, with a seat at the table and room to grow toward Director

- Full-scope experience you won't get at a bigger company: payroll, benefits, ER, systems and team leadership in one role

- Visible impact: the processes you build become how the company runs, and leadership will see it

- Your choice of our Austin or Charlotte office

IS THIS ROLE RIGHT FOR YOU?

We want to be upfront about what this job is really like.

WHAT TO EXPECT

- A busy, fast-paced, fully in-office role in Austin or Charlotte. This is not a 9-to-5 job.

- No polished onboarding program. You'll jump in, learn our history and existing processes quickly,…