HR Business Partner

TerraFirma; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

TerraFirma is seeking its first dedicated HR hire to build the people function as we scale across engineering, field operations, and manufacturing. You’ll own HR processes, policies, and Rippling-based systems while handling daily employee relations, benefits, and compliance.

Based in Austin, TX or willing to relocate, you will partner with leadership to design workforce planning, compensation structures, performance programs, and growth initiatives for a fast-growing hardware startup.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of HR experience including employee relations and compliance.
• Experience building or shaping HR processes and infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of Texas employment law and HR compliance.
• Excellent communication across engineers and field workers.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of TerraFirma’s HR function and existing systems like Rippling.
• Serve as primary contact for employee relations, benefits, and day-to-day HR needs.
• Partner with leadership on workforce planning, org design, and compensation as the company scales.
• Ensure compliance with employment laws, safety regulations, and labor requirements.
• Design and roll out performance management and employee development programs.
• Support recruiting with offers and compensation benchmarking.
• Foster a people-first culture from office to job site.

Skills

HR experience

Employee relations

Compliance

HR program ownership

Education

PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP certification

Tools

Rippling

Job description

At TerraFirma, we’re redefining how the world moves earth for construction. Founded by former SpaceX engineers and backed by Kleiner Perkins and Bain Capital Ventures, TerraFirma is automating construction to make it faster, cheaper, and safer.

Our Story & Mission

At SpaceX, we were part of the teams that built the largest rocket in human history, launched the largest constellation of satellites ever made, and delivered connectivity to millions of people worldwide. What we learned was simple: infrastructure is everything.

At Starbase, the biggest barrier to launching missions to Mars was not building the rocket. It was how slow, expensive, and complex it was to build the infrastructure around it. We lacked buildings, roads, water, power, communications, and waste management, and constructing them took far more time and resources than it should have.

From a first-principles perspective, that doesn’t make sense. It shouldn’t be this hard or costly to create the foundations for progress. That’s when we realized something important: the same engineering mindset that enabled us to tackle space exploration and mass manufacturing could be applied to infrastructure. By bringing the principles of simplification, iteration, acceleration, and automation to construction, we can unlock a new era in how the world builds.

Accelerating infrastructure unlocks progress across every domain, creating a self-sustaining engine for tackling humanity’s toughest challenges. The innovations we develop on Earth will lay the groundwork for the technologies that one day make settlement on Mars possible.

Job Overview

You will be TerraFirma’s first dedicated HR hire, helping build the people function as we scale across engineering, field operations, and manufacturing. You’ll utilize and improve upon what’s already in place, including Rippling, while designing the systems, policies, and practices that support the company going forward all while handling the immediate, hands‑on HR needs of a fast‑growing company today.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of TerraFirma’s HR function, including existing infrastructure (Rippling) and the processes, policies, and practices that need to be built around it
• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee relations, benefits administration, and day‑to‑day HR support across all teams
• Partner directly with leadership and hiring managers to support workforce planning, org design, and compensation structure as the company scales
• Ensure compliance with employment law, safety regulations, and labor requirements across a workforce that includes both office and field/manufacturing personnel
• Design and roll out performance management, career development, and employee engagement programs appropriate for a fast‑scaling startup
• Manage leaves of absence, workers’ compensation, and other field‑operations‑specific HR needs unique to a hardware and construction environment
• Support the recruiting team on offer structuring, compensation benchmarking, and closing candidates
• Build a people‑first culture that reflects TerraFirma’s mission and operating standards, from the office to the job site

Basic Qualifications

• 5+ years of HR experience, including employee relations, compliance, and HR program ownership
• Demonstrated experience building or significantly shaping HR processes and infrastructure, not just operating within an existing system
• Strong understanding of employment law and HR compliance requirements in Texas
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to work effectively across a workforce ranging from engineers to field operators

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience as a founding or early HR hire at a startup or fast‑growing company
• Experience supporting a workforce that includes both office‑based and field/manufacturing/construction personnel
• Familiarity with HR needs specific to construction, manufacturing, or hardware companies (e.g., workers’ comp, field safety compliance, union or apprenticeship considerations)
• Hands‑on experience with Rippling or a similar HRIS platform
• PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP certification

Additional Requirements

• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced startup environment with evolving priorities
• Must be willing to relocate to Austin, TX if not within commuting distance
• Must be willing to work extended hours when needed to support critical hiring or employee‑relations needs