Head of People

10a Labs; United States; On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Fully remote

Health benefits

PTO & paid holidays

401(k) plan

Professional development

Job summary

10a Labs is seeking an experienced Head of People to build and lead the people function as the company scales. You will own the full employee lifecycle with rigorous HR practices, compliance, and a high-performance culture, partnering with Legal, Finance, Recruiting, and Operations to implement policies and programs.

You will drive scalable HR strategies, onboarding, payroll coordination, and benefits administration while ensuring lawful and ethical employment practices across a rapidly growing

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in HR/BA or related field; advanced degree or certification preferred.
• 10+ years in HR/People Operations with ownership of core HR functions.
• Hands-on experience with benefits, payroll, onboarding/offboarding, HRIS, and documentation.
• Experience scaling People Operations in a high-growth tech company.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law and compliance.
• Strong leadership and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Own People Operations and HR functions across the organization.
• Develop scalable HR policies and internal documentation.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local laws; coordinate with Legal.
• Lead employee relations, investigations, and performance management.
• Design performance reviews, manager enablement, and people metrics.
• Manage onboarding/offboarding, records, HRIS, payroll, and benefits.

Skills

People leadership

HR policy development

US employment law

HR compliance

employee relations

HRIS administration

compensation & benefits

stakeholder management

change management

payroll coordination

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR / Business Administration / related

HR certification preferred

Tools

Rippling

BambooHR

Workday

Job description

About 10a Labs: 10a Labs is the safety and threat-intelligence layer trusted by frontier AI labs, AI unicorns, Fortune 10 companies, and leading global technology platforms. Our adversarial red teaming, model evaluations, and intelligence collection enable engineering, safety, and security teams to stay ahead of evolving threats and deploy AI systems safely.

Head of People

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Head of People to build and lead the people function at 10a Labs. This leader will own the full employee lifecycle while ensuring the company scales with strong operational rigor, compliant HR practices, and a high-performance culture. Partnering closely with leadership, Legal, Finance, Recruiting, Operations, and other teams, you will build the policies, processes, and people programs that support a rapidly growing organization.

In This Role, You Will

• Own People Operations and Human Resources functions across the organization.
• Develop scalable HR policies, processes, and internal documentation that support company growth.
• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws while partnering closely with Legal on employment matters, contracts, and investigations.
• Lead employee relations, workplace investigations, conflict resolution, and performance management.
• Design and manage performance review programs, manager enablement, and people metrics to drive organizational effectiveness.
• Own onboarding, offboarding, employee records, HRIS, payroll coordination, and benefits administration.
• Maintain the employee handbook, company policies, and employment documentation.
• Partner with Recruiting to ensure compliant hiring practices and an exceptional new hire experience.
• Coordinate employment-based immigration processes with outside counsel.
• Partner with Finance on compensation benchmarking, promotions, leveling, and equity administration.
• Partner with Compliance to ensure personnel-related security, confidentiality, onboarding, and access control requirements are met.
• Coach managers and executives on organizational design, leadership development, employee relations, and change management.
• Drive strategic People initiatives that enable the company to scale effectively.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Psychology, or a related field; advanced degree or HR certification preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive Human Resources or People Operations experience, with demonstrated ownership of core HR functions including employee relations, performance management, employment compliance, benefits, and HR operations.
• Hands-on experience overseeing core HR operations, including benefits administration, leave management, payroll coordination, employee records, onboarding/offboarding, HRIS administration, and required employment documentation.
• Experience building or scaling People Operations within a high-growth technology company.
• Significant hands-on experience managing complex employee relations matters, including performance issues, terminations, workplace complaints, investigations, and conflict resolution.
• Deep knowledge of U.S. employment law, compliance, employee relations, and HR best practices.
• Experience partnering with Legal on employment matters and organizational compliance.
• Experience with employment-based immigration processes.
• Experience designing and administering company-wide performance management programs, including performance reviews, manager guidance, performance improvement, and promotion processes.
• Experience developing or administering compensation and leveling frameworks, including benchmarking, salary decisions, promotions, and equity programs.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Ability to operate effectively in fast-paced, high-growth environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting rapidly scaling organizations.
• Experience with distributed or multi-state workforces.
• Experience setting up People Operations outside of the U.S.
• Familiarity with HRIS platforms such as Rippling, BambooHR, Workday, or similar.
• SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or equivalent certification preferred.

Compensation & Benefits:

• Salary Range: $150K-$190K, depending on experience and location
• Bonus: Performance-based annual bonus
• Professional Development: Support for conferences, continuing education, or leadership training
• Work Environment: Fully remote, U.S.-based
• Health Benefits: Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Time Off: Generous PTO and paid holiday schedule
• Retirement: 401(k) plan