HR Operations Lead

Intersect; United States; Hybrid; USD 190,000 - 226,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Health coverage

Unlimited PTO

Parental leave

Job summary

Intersect is seeking a senior HR Operations leader to scale our people function during a period of rapid growth. You will shape HR systems, data, and programs to support a high-growth, mission-driven company while expanding into new workforce models.

You will partner with Finance and People teams, drive efficiency, automate where appropriate, and ensure compliant payroll, benefits, and HR data governance across the US and Canada.

Qualifications

• 7-10 years of strategic and hands-on HR Operations leadership within high-growth environments.
• Deep experience leveraging modern HRIS platforms and AI/automation tools.
• Strong knowledge of compliance, benefits, and payroll frameworks across multi-state US and Canada.

Responsibilities

• Lead HR Operations Excellence & Change Management to build a scalable, high-performing team.
• Modernize HR systems and data infrastructure with automation and better integrations.
• Oversee payroll, benefits, and compliance across the US and Canada with accuracy and regulatory adherence.
• Drive process transformation including onboarding, offboarding, and vendor management.

Skills

HR Operations leadership

HRIS platforms

Payroll & benefits knowledge

Data analytics

Tools

Dayforce

AI/automation tooling

Job description

We’re a team of friends bound together by a mission to preserve our planet for future generations through innovative energy solutions and modern infrastructure. Intersect develops, constructs, and operates the most ambitious power and data center infrastructure in the country by co-locating industrial demand with dedicated gas and renewable power generation.

Intersect was acquired by Google in March 2026 and operates as an independent subsidiary. We are developing and constructing multiple gigawatts of energy and data center projects in the U.S., enabling more data center and generation capacity to come online faster. We’re on an aggressive growth trajectory and looking for people hungry to tackle the largest energy challenges on the planet.

Location & Team Gatherings

Intersect has been a fully flexible workplace since its founding in 2016. We’ve been very intentional about the way we do things. We are not work-from-home, hybrid, or in-office - we are any and all of those options! Deepening social connections and offering shared experiences is a cornerstone of the way we work. We connect as a team at our Team Week experiences four times a year and at our recently established Hub locations - SF Bay Area, NYC Metro Area, NY; Denver, CO; Austin, TX; Calgary, AB; and Toronto, ON.

We are currently looking for candidates located within 60 miles of any of the listed hubs to foster more in-person connections while maintaining our flexible remote culture.

About This Role

As part of Intersect's People team, you'll serve as the operational backbone of the HR function—shaping how our systems, data, and programs scale to support a high-growth, mission-driven company in a pivotal moment of transformation. Grounded in our belief that People Come First, you'll inherit an operation with strong foundations in some areas and significant opportunities for innovation in others. Success in this role will come from bringing structure, discipline, and scalable operating practices, not simply maintaining existing processes.

You will assess our current state, identify opportunities to simplify and strengthen operations, and rebuild the HR Operations function with the rigor, analytical depth, and forward-looking approach required to support Intersect's next chapter. This includes expanding into new workforce models and supporting dynamic operational environments. You'll be the strategic partner the People team and the broader business rely on: equally comfortable speaking the language of Finance, translating workforce data into meaningful human outcomes, and rolling up your sleeves to get the foundational infrastructure right.

This role reports to the Head of People and leads the HR Operations team across payroll, benefits, compliance, HRIS, and workforce data.

Location

Hub-based in San Francisco, CA; Austin, TX; Denver, CO; or Calgary, Canada. We value in-person collaboration and expect a meaningful presence in the hub.

Team Overview

The People team plays a critical role in advancing Intersect's mission to accelerate the clean energy transition. We partner across the business to build an exceptional employee experience, scalable people programs, and operational excellence that enable our teams to do their best work. As Intersect continues to grow, the People team helps shape the systems, culture, and capabilities that support long-term success while fostering an inclusive, collaborative workplace where employees can thrive.

What You'll Do

Lead HR Operations Excellence & Change Management

• Guide and develop the HR Operations team, establishing clear lines of accountability, streamlining workflows to alleviate administrative burden, and building a high-performing, highly supported environment.
• Serve as a strategic, hands-on operational partner to the Head of HR, aligning priorities with company goals and anticipating what the function needs to scale sustainably.
• Own the continuous improvement engine across HR programs, processes, and service delivery—proactively identifying what to automate, streamline, or eliminate to create long-run value.
• Lead organizational change management; you won’t just design better processes, you will actively drive adoption with empathy, helping teams embrace new workflows and ensuring they stick.

Modernize HR Systems and Data Infrastructure

• Audit and modernize manual, spreadsheet-based payroll and HR processes to accelerate response times, eliminate errors, and reduce operational friction.
• Own and evolve the HR tech stack with a mandate to modernize: apply AI and automation thoughtfully to improve quality, remove bias, and ensure our systems can grow with the business.
• Oversee HR data quality, reporting, and analytics to deliver actionable, decision-grade insights across the organization.
• Partner cross-functionally to improve integrations, reduce system fragmentation, and build equitable workflows that actually scale.

Manage Payroll, Benefits, and Compliance

• Oversee payroll and benefits administration across the US and Canada with accuracy, consistency, and an employee-first design.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements, maintaining strong risk management and operational controls.
• Navigate complex compliance and payroll frameworks across different worker classifications, specifically guiding the structural and cultural shifts across diverse workforces.
• Support immigration processes and ensure documentation, timelines, and vendor relationships are managed seamlessly and with care.

Drive Process Transformation and Vendor Performance

• Audit and redesign HR operational processes end-to-end: onboarding, offboarding, leave, employee records, and beyond, ensuring a premium employee experience.
• Establish a comprehensive, maintained SOP library with clear ownership, backup coverage, and regular review cycles.
• Manage HR vendor relationships—payroll providers, benefits brokers, immigration partners—with accountability for quality, responsiveness, and partnership outcomes.

Build Scalable Infrastructure for a Growing Organization

• Design HR support models for new and evolving workforce structures, specifically leading seamless operational shifts and transitions for our teams.
• Lead the HR Operations strategy for M&A, managing operational due diligence and the post-merger integration of systems, payroll, and culture across entities of varying sizes and complexities.
• Build processes and data structures with long-term organizational resilience in mind, ensuring readiness for rapid growth and evolving corporate complexity.

What You'll Bring

• 7-10 years of strategic and hands-on HR Operations leadership within a high-growth, high-rigor environment (post-IPO, PE-backed, fast-scaling tech, or infrastructure).
• Demonstrated track record of owning and transforming an HR Operations function end-to-end—not just running it.
• Deep, practical experience leveraging modern HRIS platforms (Dayforce experience a plus) and AI/automation tooling. You know how to apply these practically with humans in the loop to improve how HR work gets done. You will be a key driver of how we maximize our current stack (Gemini/Claude, ChartHop, CultureAmp, Lever) and evolve it for future needs.
• Strong knowledge of compliance, benefits, and payroll frameworks across multiple states (Canadian experience a plus), including deep expertise in managing hourly (non-exempt) vs. salaried (exempt) regulations.
• Proven ability to restructure, lead, and mentor HR Ops teams with high accountability, clarity of ownership, and a fierce commitment to protecting your team's capacity.
• Strong analytical and process-oriented mindset; you diagnose before you prescribe, and you build resilient systems that hold up under pressure.
• Exceptional data skills—you can build a dashboard, run an audit, identify root causes from messy data, and translate findings into clear, equitable business recommendations.
• Comfort working in a fully remote/hub environment and seamlessly collaborating across distributed teams.
• Experience supporting non-office-based or operational workforces (field, manufacturing, utility, construction, or similar) and managing diverse workforce transitions.
• Deep exposure to mergers, acquisitions, or significant organizational integration—handling systems, data, and process complexity at scale.
• Familiarity with energy, infrastructure, or climate tech industries.

Total Rewards

Compensation: $190,000 to $226,000 (total compensation includes base salary + bonus in USD)

Equity: Beyond your salary, you’ll receive an Equity Grant, giving you a meaningful stake in our parent company.

Health & wellness: 100% premium coverage for you and your dependents on medical, dental, and vision

Time to recharge: Unlimited PTO, plus two company-wide breaks (Fourth of July & end of year)

Family support: Up to 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave, plus 6 additional weeks for birth parents; access to family planning and family care support through Carrot and Maven

Mental health: Free access to Spring Health, including 5 free therapy and psychiatry sessions, plus a Headspace account for mindfulness and meditation through our physical health vendor, Wellhub+

Perks & extras: $150 monthly food stipend, $150 monthly reimbursement for cell phone and internet, pet insurance allowance, full home office setup, free access to UrbanSitter with $625 in quarterly company-paid credits, ActiveHero, and One Medical

Intersect maintains a work environment free from discrimination, one where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. All employees share in the responsibility for fulfilling Intersect's commitment to equal employment opportunity. Intersect does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, ancestry, citizenship, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, immigration status, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran or military status, race, ethnicity, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by and consistent with applicable local laws, regulations and ordinances. We adhere to these principles in all aspects of employment, including recruitment, hiring, training, compensation, promotion, benefits, social and recreational programs, and discipline.