Director, Global People Operations

Ouster; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 185,000 - 255,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits

Job summary

Ouster seeks a Director, Global People Operations to architect and scale our global People infrastructure. You will partner with the Chief People Officer and COEs to transform processes and ensure compliant, efficient HR operations across regions.

You will lead HR systems, payroll, and cross-border compliance, while coaching an international team including an HRBP in France. This role emphasizes both strategic design and hands-on execution.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience running HR Operations, global HRIS platforms, and international payroll, with at least 2+ years of experience managing direct reports.
• Direct experience managing HR operations across multi-entity international structures.
• Hands-on experience managing payroll, benefits, and local labor compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Strong interest in system design and automation, plus executing tactical process audits and updates.
• Experience with compliance and vendor management for mixed employment models (FTEs and international contractors).

Responsibilities

• HR Systems & Data: configure and manage global HRIS and connected tools to ensure data accuracy.
• Build scalable onboarding, job changes, leaves, and offboarding workflows.
• Manage HR docs, intranets, and support ticketing to maintain high employee experience.
• Create analytics dashboards to track headcount, turnover, and trends.

Skills

HR operations

Payroll management

International compliance

System design & automation

Vendor management

Tools

HRIS

ATS

Payroll systems

Job description

At Ouster, we build sensors and tools for engineers, roboticists, and researchers, so they can make the world safer and more efficient. We've transformed LIDAR from an analog device with thousands of components to an elegant digital device powered by one chip-scale laser array and one CMOS sensor. The result is a full range of high-resolution LIDAR sensors that deliver superior imaging at a dramatically lower price. Our advanced sensor hardware and vision algorithms are used in autonomous cars, drones and many other applications. If you’re motivated by solving big problems, we’re hiring key roles across the company and need your help!

Role Summary

Ouster is looking for a Director, Global People Operations to act as our core systems architect, operational builder, and multi-national compliance lead for our global team. This critical "builder-manager" position is focused on transforming and scaling our global People infrastructure.

In this role, you will report directly to the Chief People Officer and work in close partnership with the broader People team and Centers of Excellence (COEs). We are seeking a hands-on leader who is equally passionate about architecting high-level global frameworks and getting into the details of configuring day-to-day workflows to guarantee seamless compliance.

Responsibilities

1. HR Systems & Data

• Select, configure, and manage our global HRIS (HR Information System) and connected tools (ATS, payroll, equity) to ensure absolute data accuracy.
• Build scalable workflows for core tasks like onboarding, job changes, leaves of absence, and offboarding.
• Optimize service delivery by managing internal HR documentation, intranets, and employee support ticketing systems to maintain a high-quality, frictionless employee experience.
• Create people analytics dashboards and reports to help executive leadership track headcount, turnover, and operational trends.

2. International Payroll & Compliance

• Partner with Finance and Legal to ensure accurate, on-time payroll and competitive benefits across our global offices.
• Keep our people records cleanly aligned and compliant across our global network of international subsidiaries.
• Establish clear guidelines, compliance tracking, and operational processes for our mix of full‑time employees (FTEs) and international contractors.
• Act as our main advisor on local labor laws, working hours, benefits, and data privacy (such as GDPR/PDPA). Work with internal and external counsel to adapt our company policies to local laws in Canada, the UK, France, Singapore, and Thailand.
• Manage global PEO and EOR relationships to streamline international hiring and ensure local regulatory alignment.

3. Team Management & Partnership

• Partner closely with our US HRBPs, Recruiting, and Compensation teams to make sure company programs (like job leveling and performance reviews) actually work in our systems and international offices.
• Manage and coach our international HR operations team, starting with direct management of our HRBP in France.
• Act as the direct HR point of contact and advisor for international executive leaders and teams across Europe, Canada, and APAC.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 8+ years of experience running HR Operations, global HRIS platforms, and international payroll, with at least 2+ years of experience managing direct reports.
• Direct experience managing HR operations across complex, multi-entity international corporate structures (subsidiaries, joint ventures, or international branches).
• Hands‑on experience managing payroll, benefits, and local labor compliance across multiple international jurisdictions.
• Highly motivated by system design and automation, but equally energized by executing tactical process audits and system updates yourself.
• Strong background managing compliance and vendor relationships for mixed employment models (FTEs and international contractors).

Preferred (Bonus) Qualifications

• Experience managing employee stock education and equity distributions in a public or late-stage private tech company.
• Experience with complex global M&A integration
• Proven track record handling complex international employee relations issues under strict local labor laws.

The base pay will be dependent on your skills, work experience, location, and qualifications. This role may also be eligible for equity & benefits. ($185,000 — $255,000 USD)

We acknowledge the confidence gap at Ouster. You do not need to meet all of these requirements to be the ideal candidate for this role.

Ouster is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer that pursues and hires a diverse workforce. Ouster does not make employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, nationality, sex, gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, disability, age, military status, or any other basis protected by local, state, or federal laws. Ouster also strives for a healthy and safe workplace, and prohibits harassment of any kind. Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, Ouster considers qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.