Peope Operations Lead

On Think Tanks; United States; Remote; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous benefits and perks

Job summary

Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund (MBDF) seeks a hands-on People Operations Lead to own recruiting, employee experience, and HR operations. You will collaborate with leadership to build scalable, compliant processes and partner with external providers on benefits and payroll.

You will manage end-to-end hiring, onboard new colleagues, and implement career frameworks to support MBDF’s mission-driven growth. This is an individual contributor role with potential for future team leadership.

Qualifications

• Hands-on US People Operations experience with benefits administration and health insurance.
• Experience scaling HR infrastructure, performance reviews, and progression frameworks for growing teams.
• End-to-end recruiting ownership: role definition, sourcing, assessment, and closing hires.

Responsibilities

• Build scalable HR policies and processes with clear documentation.
• Lead employee lifecycle operations: onboarding, benefits, payroll coordination with partners.
• Own hiring rounds: define roles, source talent, run evaluations, and close candidates.

Skills

People Operations

US employment law

Benefits administration

Recruiting & onboarding

HR policy design

Stakeholder management

Policy documentation

Tools

PEO/EOR coordination

Job description

Founded in 2024, the Mirror Biology Dialogues Fund (MBDF) is a small, growing nonprofit working to understand and avert future risks from “mirror life”—synthetic organisms built from mirror-image versions of the molecules that make up natural life. Our team works with scientists, policymakers, and civil society to support informed international dialogue and prevent potentially unprecedented ecological and health risks.

We support conferences, workshops, and other initiatives that bring together experts and decision-makers around this emerging challenge. As our organization grows, we are developing more mature operational infrastructure while preserving the flexibility and ambition of a young, mission-driven team.

We’re hiring a People Operations Lead to own and strengthen our People function, spanning recruiting, employee experience, and people operations. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role with substantial autonomy and the opportunity to build scalable systems as our young, mission-driven organization grows. You’ll combine strong HR fundamentals with an entrepreneurial approach, working closely with leadership and Operations colleagues. While the role has no direct reports today, there may be opportunities to build and manage a small team in the future.

Key roles and responsibilities

You’ll report to our Deputy Director and work closely with our Director of Business Operations. You’ll lead the People function as a senior individual contributor, supported by colleagues on the Operations team for execution where appropriate. This is a hands‑on role with broad ownership, not a people‑management position today; as the organization grows, there may be opportunities to manage a small team.

People Operations & Organizational Development (40%)

• Build and improve scalable people policies, systems, and processes, helping MBDF move from informal early-stage practices toward clear, reliable, well-documented operations without unnecessary bureaucracy.
• Develop and run performance review cycles, career development and progression frameworks, compensation policies, and other practices that help a growing team succeed.
• Own employee lifecycle operations, including onboarding, employee experience, benefits administration, and ongoing employee support.
• Bring practical expertise in US employment practices and employee benefits, especially health insurance; coordinate benefits and payroll administration with external partners.
• Maintain up-to-date HR documentation, employment policies, and compliance practices, working with legal and specialist advisers where needed and coordinating with PEO/EOR providers.
• Lead hiring rounds from start to finish: define roles with hiring managers, source high-caliber talent, design rigorous evaluation processes, manage candidate pipelines, and close hires.
• Deliver a clear, respectful candidate experience and establish documented, repeatable recruiting processes that scale with the team.

Events & Cross-Functional Operations (20%)

• Own coordination of quarterly internal team retreats as part of the employee experience, with support from Operations colleagues.
• Oversee selected external events, workshops, and stakeholder gatherings, coordinating with the people responsible for day-to-day event execution and external vendors.
• Take ownership of occasional cross-functional operational projects as capacity and organizational needs evolve.

Experience and skills expected of the post holder

We’re looking for a versatile, hands‑on People Operations professional who combines strong HR fundamentals with the adaptability and initiative to help a growing organization thrive.

What you’ll bring

• Strong hands‑on US People Operations experience, including health insurance and employee benefits administration, employment policies, and HR compliance.
• Experience introducing or scaling practical HR infrastructure, including performance reviews, career progression, compensation practices, documentation, and employee lifecycle processes.
• Experience owning end‑to‑end recruiting, from role definition and sourcing to assessment, candidate communication, and successful hires.
• An entrepreneurial approach grounded in sound HR practices: you can work in a scrappy, ambiguous environment and know when and how to introduce structure.
• High ownership and strong execution: you manage multiple workstreams, prioritize intelligently, follow through, and build systems that others can use.
• Clear written communication, strong stakeholder judgment, and comfort working with senior leaders and external partners.
• Genuine motivation to contribute to MBDF’s mission, whether through existing familiarity with biosecurity and global catastrophic risk reduction or curiosity and readiness to learn.

Nice to have / Bonus points

• Experience in nonprofits, research, policy, Effective Altruism, biosecurity, AI safety, or other mission‑driven settings.
• Experience with PEO/EOR providers and internationally distributed teams.
• Experience organizing internal retreats or offsites and coordinating complex cross‑functional logistics.
• Experience mentoring colleagues or managing a small team; people‑management experience is not required for this role.

Salary: USD 120,000-160,000 + generous benefits and perks; exact offer will reflect experience and fit.