Founding Senior HR Generalist / People Operations Lead

HireNow Staffing Inc; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision

401(k)

Commuter benefits

Catered lunch

Wellness stipend

Job summary

HireNow Staffing (Direct Placement Partner) seeks a Founding Senior HR Generalist / People Operations Lead in San Francisco's Dogpatch. This full-time role will be the company’s first dedicated HR leader, owning day-to-day People Operations and building scalable processes to support rapid growth.

You will manage compliance, HR systems, payroll coordination, and benefits administration while advising cross-functional teams across the business.

Qualifications

• 4–6 years of HR/People Operations experience
• First or second HR hire in a Series A/B startup
• Experience with $10M+ funding
• Strong knowledge of California employment law
• Experience managing employee lifecycle programs
• HRIS experience (Rippling desirable)
• Payroll administration familiarity
• Benefits administration and vendor relations
• Experience handling employee transitions and terminations
• Excellent organizational and communication skills

Responsibilities

• Own the complete employee lifecycle including onboarding, role changes, promotions, transfers, offboarding, and separation processes.
• Maintain employment records, offer documents, agreements, policy acknowledgments, and compliance docs.
• Primary owner of HRIS, ensuring data accuracy and audit readiness.
• Partner with external counsel, benefits providers, payroll partners, and HR vendors.
• Apply California employment law to workplace decisions.
• Coordinate transitions, performance actions, terminations, and severance processes.
• Lead benefits administration including healthcare and retirement plans.
• Collaborate with Finance to ensure payroll accuracy and reporting.
• Design and improve HR workflows to support growth.
• Expand People Ops initiatives like manager enablement and employee engagement.

Skills

HRIS administration

Payroll coordination

Benefits administration

California employment law

Employee lifecycle management

Independent work

Communication

Vendor management

Tools

Rippling

Job description

Founding Senior HR Generalist / People Operations Lead

Company: HireNow Staffing (Direct Placement Partner)

This full-time opportunity is designed for an experienced HR professional who thrives in high-growth startup environments and enjoys building scalable people operations from the ground up.

The successful candidate will become the organization's first dedicated HR leader, own day-to-day People Operations while establishing processes that support long-term organizational growth. This role requires an execution-focused professional who is equally comfortable managing compliance, employee relations, HR systems, payroll coordination, and benefits administration while serving as a trusted advisor across the business.

As the organization continues to scale, this individual will help shape employee experience, manager enablement, performance management, and operational excellence across the company.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the complete employee lifecycle including onboarding, role changes, promotions, transfers, offboarding, and separation processes.
• Maintain accurate employment records, offer documentation, employment agreements, policy acknowledgments, and HR compliance documentation.
• Serve as the primary owner of the organization’s HRIS, ensuring employee data remains accurate, compliant, and audit ready.
• Partner with external employment counsel, benefits providers, payroll partners, and HR vendors to support daily operations.
• Apply California employment law to support compliant employee practices and workplace decisions.
• Coordinate employee transitions, performance-related actions, terminations, and severance processes with professionalism and sound judgment.
• Lead benefits administration including healthcare, retirement plans, vendor management, and employee communications.
• Partner closely with Finance to ensure payroll accuracy, compliance, reporting, and operational efficiency.
• Design, document, and continuously improve HR workflows that support company growth.
• Expand People Operations initiatives including manager enablement, employee engagement, performance management, culture development, and organizational effectiveness.

Required Qualifications

• 4–6 years of Human Resources or People Operations experience.
• Previous experience serving as the first or second HR hire within a Series A or Series B venture-backed startup.
• Experience supporting organizations that have raised $10M or more in venture funding.
• Strong working knowledge of California employment law.
• Experience independently managing employee lifecycle programs.
• Strong HRIS experience; Rippling experience is highly desirable.
• Working knowledge of payroll administration and payroll compliance.
• Experience administering employee benefits and vendor relationships.
• Demonstrated experience managing employee transitions, corrective actions, terminations, and separation processes.
• Strong organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills.
• Comfortable operating independently with minimal supervision.
• Must currently reside within the San Francisco Bay Area and be available to work onsite five days per week in Dogpatch, San Francisco.
• Authorized to work in the United States.
• No visa sponsorship available.

Preferred Qualifications

• Direct experience administering Rippling as the primary HRIS.
• Experience supporting rapidly growing sales organizations with commission structures, OTE plans, and compensation administration.
• Multi-state and international employment experience.
• Experience implementing or improving performance management programs.
• Background supporting employee engagement, manager development, and organizational culture initiatives.
• Experience building scalable HR processes from the ground up.
• Stable career progression demonstrating increasing HR ownership and leadership.

HireNow Package

• Compensation: $160,000–$185,000 annual base salary
• Equity: Competitive equity package.
• Benefits: Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage; 401(k); commuter benefits; daily catered lunch, dinner stipend, $150 monthly wellness benefit, and additional company-sponsored benefits.
• Employment Type: Full-Time
• Work Location: Onsite – Dogpatch, San Francisco, California (5 days per week)