People Operations Coordinator

Arc Institute; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 51,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

Arc Institute in Palo Alto is seeking a People Operations Coordinator to own the new hire and departing employee experience, support immigration and payroll operations, and partner with IT, Facilities, and other teams to ensure smooth onboarding and offboarding.

You will be the face of People Ops for employees, handling onboarding, preboarding, I-9 reviews, benefits enrollment, and program logistics in a fast-growing research environment.

Qualifications

• 1+ year of experience as a coordinator or supporting people operations and/or human resources.
• Detail oriented with high accuracy and reliability.
• Strong communicator with written and verbal skills.
• Comfortable with new technology and AI-enabled tools.
• Service minded and focused on a positive employee experience.
• Well organized with a proactive improvement mindset.
• Adaptive to changing needs and workflows.
• Experience with HRIS and onboarding programs.
• Experience contributing to a new hire program.

Responsibilities

• Be the first point of contact for employees and managers on benefits, payroll, systems, and programs.
• Own onboarding from preboarding to day-of hosting, including I-9 review and swag.
• Manage offboarding, exit notices, and equipment return tracking.
• Maintain accurate employee records in the HRIS and audit data with the People Ops team.
• Support payroll and benefits enrollment and changes, including training tracking.
• Assist immigration casework and VOE requests in coordination with counsel.
• Support program leaders with scheduling, materials, and logistics.

Skills

Detail oriented

Strong communicator

Adaptive

Organized

Onboarding

People operations experience

Customer service mindset

Growth mindset

Project coordination

AI awareness

Tools

HiBob HRIS

Payroll systems (S1/Prism)

Job description

Arc Institute is an independent nonprofit research organization at the interface of artificial intelligence and biology, working to accelerate scientific progress and understand the root causes of complex diseases. Founded in 2021 and based in Palo Alto, Arc partners with Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and UC San Francisco.

Unlike academia, our scientists have long-term funding and industry-like resources. Unlike industry, they're free to pursue high-risk, long-term research without commercial pressures. Arc's Technology Centers and Core Investigator labs work side by side, integrating experimental and computational biology under one roof to tackle problems neither could solve alone.

Our two Institute Initiatives reflect this model in action:

• Virtual Cell Initiative : Building a full-stack virtual cell model to identify disease mechanisms and nominate drug targets, accelerating the path from biological insight to clinical trials.
• Alzheimer's Disease Initiative : Mapping the genes, pathways, and environmental factors behind Alzheimer's disease to develop drug candidates that address root causes.

More than 300 Arconauts work together at our Palo Alto headquarters, backed by substantial long-term philanthropic funding.

About the position

This role sits on the People Operations team and is the face of the team for many of the employees at Arc. From onboarding to programs and partnering with the people across the organization, you’ll have the opportunity to work as part of a high performing team and learn the full HR stack. You will own the new hire and departing employee experience, and support immigration and payroll operations. This position provides practical experience and is a training ground for many different types of roles in the people domain. This is 5 days a week onsite position in Palo Alto.

About you

You value providing great service experiences and strive to understand the needs of the people you’re supporting. You are highly detail oriented and eager to build new skills related to AI, data and project management. You enjoy working closely with colleagues and look for the best in others. You stay calm when schedules shift (start dates move, paperwork changes) and keep people informed without being asked.

In this position you will

• Be the first point of contact for employees and managers on benefits, payroll, systems, and programs, including requests through the People Nexus ticketing system and the People Ops alias.
• Be a welcoming front door to Arc and own new hire onboarding, from preboarding and paperwork (including I-9 review) through day-of hosting and swag, working with IT, Scientific Operations, and Facilities on badges, equipment, and off cycle starts.
• Own offboarding, including exit notices to Facilities, IT, and Accounting, last-day confirmation letters, and equipment return tracking.
• Maintain accurate employee records in our HRIS and related systems, and audit data with the People Operations team.
• Work with our Payroll and Benefits partners to manage benefits enrollment and changes in status, and support payroll operations, including non-exempt payroll prep and training tracking.
• Support immigration casework, including verification of employment (VOE) requests, E-Verify notices, and coordination with outside counsel.
• Support our program leaders in running people programs with scheduling, materials, and logistics.

Requirements

• 1+ year of experience as a coordinator or supporting people operations and/or human resources.
• Detail oriented, you’re able to consistently complete work with a high degree of accuracy.
• Strong communicator, you’re able to synthesize relevant information and effectively communicate in both written and verbal formats.
• Comfortable with new technology and open to AI innovation and efficiency to improve your work
• Service minded, you’re oriented towards creating a positive experience for the people you’re working with and supporting.
• Well organized, you have a system for staying organized and are always looking for ways to improve.
• Adaptive, you are open to change and adapting the way you work based on evolving needs.
• Focused on growth, you’re eager to learn from experience and take an active role in your development.
• Experience with an HRIS (HiBob a plus)
• Experience owning and contributing towards a new hire program

Preferred qualifications

• Familiarity with I-9 compliance and employment verification
• Exposure to immigration processes (H-1B, PERM, J-1)
• Experience with payroll systems (S1/Prism a plus)
• Experience in a biotech, research, or fast-growing environment

The base salary range for this position is $37.36 - $41.49/hr. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.

In addition to the Base Salary and Annual Bonus above, you will be eligible to participate in the Institute’s Compound Cash Grant Program (the “CCGP”). The CCGP is a program designed to offer multi-year cash grants providing for a fixed dollar amount paid out in semi-annual installments to reward employees for staying and contributing to the Institute. As soon as reasonably practical after your start date, you will receive a grant letter describing the terms of your award under the CCGP.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Arc Institute’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.