Bay Area Director, People Operations & Culture

Kiva Confections; Alameda (CA); Hybrid; USD 167,000 - 185,000; Full time

Job summary

Kiva Confections is seeking a Director of People Operations & Culture to drive HR strategy across all entities, ensuring scalable systems and a high-trust workplace. You will own talent acquisition, total rewards, payroll, employee relations, and compliance, partnering with executive leadership to align people strategy with growth.

You will lead a lean, capable People Operations team, build scalable processes for multi-state operations, and ensure a consistent employee experience while

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; SHRM-SCP or SPHR strongly preferred.
• 8+ years of progressive experience in Human Resources or People Operations, including team leadership.
• Experience leading People Operations in a multi-entity organization with distributed workforce.

Responsibilities

• Set enterprise-wide People Operations strategy aligned with business goals.
• Build scalable HR processes for multi-state operations in a regulated industry.
• Lead acquisitions and integrations including post-close payroll and benefits harmonization.
• Oversee compensation, payroll, benefits, and total rewards programs across entities.
• Own onboarding, workforce planning, and time-to-fill metrics.
• Equip leaders with tools, training, and clear guidance for manager effectiveness.
• Manage employee relations, investigations, and compliance with Legal.
• Drive culture stewardship and change management during growth.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

People management

Cross-functional collaboration

Regulatory compliance

Communication

Mergers & acquisitions

Bilingual English/Spanish

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

SHRM-SCP or SPHR preferred

Job description

Kiva Confections is seeking a Director of People Operations & Culture to drive HR strategy across all entities, ensuring scalable systems and a high-trust workplace. You will own talent acquisition, total rewards, payroll, employee relations, and compliance, partnering with executive leadership to align people strategy with growth.

You will lead a lean, capable People Operations team, build scalable processes for multi-state operations, and ensure a consistent employee experience while