HR & People Operations Expert

Confidential; United States; Remote; USD 102,000 - 146,000; Part time

Job summary

Zekai is seeking an HR & People Operations Expert contractor to design realistic, multi-step HR tasks with objective criteria for grading. You’ll turn real HR workflows into benchmark tasks that test what AI systems can actually do, drawing on payroll, policy, and employee lifecycle experience.

The role emphasizes clear grading standards, scalable task materials, and the ability to judge documents, reports, and agreements. Strong English required; fully remote worldwide.

Qualifications

• 5+ years hands-on HR/payroll/workflow experience.
• Experience creating structured HR standards and checklists.
• Ability to design graded, objective tasks with reference materials.
• Strong English communication (B2/C1).

Responsibilities

• Design multi-step HR tasks with reference files.
• Define objective grading criteria for consistent review.
• Create supporting materials: policy documents, payroll reports, agreements.
• Flag ambiguous or ungradable tasks.
• Deliver tasks on schedule and to quality standards.

Skills

Payroll operations

Workforce planning

HR policy

Employee lifecycle

English proficiency

Education

HR certification (SHRM, CIPD, PHR)

Job description

Role Title: HR & People Operations Expert

Role Type: Contractor

Location: Remote, global

Opportunity Snapshot

Pay: Up to $90/hour equivalent

Time per task: ~10 hours per task

Location: Fully remote — no geographic restrictions. Strong English required (B2 minimum, C1 preferred)

Next step: Complete the role-specific AI interview — it’s how your expertise gets in front of the client

Your tasks: Design realistic, multi-step HR and people operations tasks with objective criteria for grading the output

our partner is engaging experienced HR and people operations practitioners to design the tasks that measure what AI systems can actually do. Your domain knowledge is what matters here — no prior AI experience required.

The work is to turn real HR workflows into benchmark tasks: realistic, difficult, and gradable against objective criteria. If you’ve written a policy, built a payroll checklist, or trained someone to handle employee cases against a standard, that’s the instinct this needs.

Scope of Work

• Design multi-step tasks drawn from real HR work — payroll operations, workforce planning, policy application, employee lifecycle processes — with realistic reference files and clear instructions.
• Define objective grading criteria so two qualified reviewers would reach the same verdict on the same output.
• Build tasks that require judgment rather than lookup: ones where the right answer depends on reading the materials correctly.
• Create or source the supporting materials each task needs: policy documents, payroll reports, headcount data, employment agreements.
• Flag tasks that turn out to be ambiguous or ungradable instead of submitting them anyway.
• Deliver approved tasks on schedule and at the required quality level.

Preferred Qualifications

• 5+ years of hands-on responsibility in payroll, workforce planning, HR policy, or employee lifecycle operations — direct ownership of the work, not supervisory-only or adjacent exposure.
• Experience creating or applying structured standards: HR policies, payroll checklists, process documentation, compliance frameworks, or training assessments.
• Comfortable working across spreadsheets, reports, and policy documents at the same time.
• HR certification (SHRM, CIPD, PHR or equivalent) is a plus, but not required.
• Strong English, written and spoken — B2 minimum, C1 preferred.
• AI or LLM evaluation experience is a plus, but not required.

How the selection process works

• Apply and complete the screening questions
• Complete the AI interview for this role — even if you’ve interviewed with us before, a role-specific interview is how we showcase your domain expertise to the client, and it gives you the strongest shot at being selected
• Profile review
• Onboarding — our Talent Ops team will get you set up

This is a 100% remote contract role, open to applicants worldwide in the countries the employer accepts.