People Operations Lead

Kernel; Oregon; Hybrid; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Kernel is hiring its first People team member to own HR and people operations end-to-end for a ~30-person team across San Francisco, New York, Cincinnati, and remote.

This is a hands-on IC role handling onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee relations, building scalable systems, and partnering with the recruiting team on offers and onboarding.

You will shape culture, craft playbooks, and use AI to streamline busywork as Kernel grows.

Qualifications

• 4+ years in people operations or HR
• Hands-on payroll and benefits experience
• Working knowledge of multi-state US employment compliance
• Startup experience and a builder's mindset
• Experience developing policies, handbook and comp bands
• Ability to scale processes as the team grows

Responsibilities

• Own the employee lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding
• Run payroll and benefits administration in HRIS and payroll systems
• Maintain compliance across states and registrations
• Build playbooks: handbook, leveling, comp bands, feedback cycle
• Be a trusted advisor on policies, benefits, and employee relations
• Shape culture across offices and remote teams
• Leverage AI/automation to streamline busywork

Skills

People operations

Payroll & Benefits

HRIS

Multi-state compliance

Startup experience

Policy development

Job description

About Kernel

Kernel provides crazy fast, open source infrastructure for AI agents to use the internet. Our API allows developers to instantly spin up secure browsers and automate anything on the web. We handle all the hard problems of running browser-based agents in production: agents x user credentials, autoscaling, bot detection, and human-in-the-loop workflows. We're used by teams at Cash App, Vercel, Framer, Rye, and over 5000 developers for tasks like QA automation, RPA, virtual assistants, and CUA RL environments. We've raised $22M from Accel, YCombinator, Vercel, Paul Graham, Solomon Hykes (Docker), David Cramer (Sentry), Charlie Marsh (Astral), and more.

About the role

Kernel is making its first People team hire: an experienced generalist who will own HR and people operations end-to-end for a ~30-person team across San Francisco, New York, Cincinnati, and remote.

This is a hands-on, individual contributor role. You'll run the day-to-day yourself, including onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee relations, and build systems appropriate for our stage and then scale them as the team grows. You'll work closely with the recruiting team on offers and onboarding.

What you’ll do

• Own the employee lifecycle from signed offer to offboarding, including onboarding, I-9s, equipment, and policy acknowledgments
• Run payroll and benefits administration in our HRIS and payroll systems, including our 401(k)
• Keep us compliant across states (CA, NY, OH, and anywhere remote teammates live) including registrations, state-mandated benefits, and required trainings
• Build just enough playbooks and structure: handbook, leveling, comp bands, and a lightweight performance and feedback cycle
• Be a trusted resource for employees and managers on policies, benefits, and employee relations
• Help shape culture across offices: team rituals, offsites, and how we work as we grow
• Use AI and automation to handle the busywork so you can focus on the work that needs a human

What we’re looking for

• 4+ years in people operations or HR, ideally as an early people/HR hire at a high-growth startup
• Hands-on experience running payroll, benefits, and an HRIS (Rippling a plus)
• Working knowledge of multi-state US employment compliance
• Strong judgment and discretion with sensitive topics
• A builder's mindset: you know when process helps and when it gets in the way
• Startup experience: you've built fast, worn multiple hats, and figured things out without a playbook
• Excited to grow into building a team as Kernel scales

Hiring process

• 30-min intro call with our Chief of Staff
• 30-min conversation with our CEO
• On-site interviews (can do video conference as needed), including a 60-minute working session to walk through a few realistic scenarios
• Offer!