People Operations Lead

Cognition; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognition is an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents and is growing fast. We are hiring a Senior People Operations leader to own and scale our HR functions, including onboarding, benefits, compensation, compliance, and immigration.

You will drive data-driven programs and build scalable systems to support a rapidly evolving workforce. You will partner with Payroll, Finance, Legal, IT, Recruiting, and vendors, shaping policies and the employee handbook while maintaining Cognition’s

Qualifications

• 7+ years in people operations or HR at a fast-growing startup or tech company.
• Strong end-to-end People Operations experience, with the ability to own and scale programs across areas such as benefits, immigration, compliance, systems, and employee operations.
• Experience in a fast-growing startup or technology company, with comfort operating in a high-velocity environment where priorities evolve quickly and processes are still being built.
• Strong first-principles thinking and a can-do attitude — you can break down ambiguous problems, challenge existing assumptions, and figure out practical solutions without waiting for a playbook.
• Strong data-driven, analytical, and program management skills, with the ability to use data to inform decisions, manage complex cross-functional initiatives, and drive work from idea through execution.

Responsibilities

• Own and evolve our People systems and operational infrastructure, ensuring HR technology, data, workflows, and integrations are accurate, scalable, and effective as Cognition grows.
• Design the systems that make People Operations scalable, including tracking, playbooks, checklists, documentation, and clear ownership so that nothing falls through the cracks.
• Lead benefits operations and administration, partnering with brokers, vendors, payroll, Finance, and employees to deliver a high-quality benefits experience in the US and support our evolving international benefits programs.
• Build and manage our compliance infrastructure, translating employment requirements into practical processes and controls across an increasingly complex, multi-state and international workforce.
• Develop and maintain employee policies and our handbook, balancing compliance requirements with Cognition’s culture and operating philosophy.
• Bring an operational lens to business decisions, surfacing risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early and helping leaders navigate complex People situations with strong judgment.
• Partner closely with Payroll, Finance, Legal, IT, Recruiting, and external vendors to ensure People programs are executed accurately and seamlessly.
• Use data and operational insights to identify issues and improve programs, building reporting, controls, and processes that allow the team to operate proactively rather than reactively.
• Jump into high-priority People and business projects as needed. We are a lean team operating in a rapidly evolving company, so the scope of this role will continue to expand alongside Cognition.

Skills

People operations

End-to-end programs

Data-driven

First-principles thinking

Program management

Job description

We are an applied AI lab building end-to-end software agents.

We're the makers of Devin, the first AI software engineer.

Our team is extremely talent-dense. Among our founding team, we have world-class competitive programmers, former founders, and leaders from companies at the cutting edge of AI including Scale AI, Palantir, Cursor, Waymo, Tesla, Lunchclub, Modal, Google DeepMind, and Nuro.

Building Devin is just the first step—our hardest challenges still lie ahead.

About the Role

We're growing fast and bringing in world-class talent from around the globe, and we're doing it differently than most. That kind of momentum doesn't run itself. We're hiring someone to build the engine behind it: the HR processes, playbooks, and systems that can scale as fast as we do. This is a rare chance to own real scope early. You'll help build and run our core HR functions from the ground up, including onboarding, benefits, compensation, compliance, and employee relations. You'll also own our immigration program end to end. Along the way you'll solve hard problems, work cases that actually matter to people's lives, and watch the things you build become how the company runs.

In this role you will:

• Own and evolve our People systems and operational infrastructure, ensuring our HR technology, data, workflows, and integrations are accurate, scalable, and effective as Cognition grows.

• Design the systems that make People Operations scalable, including tracking, playbooks, checklists, documentation, and clear ownership so that nothing falls through the cracks.

• Lead benefits operations and administration, partnering with brokers, vendors, payroll, Finance, and employees to deliver a high-quality benefits experience in the US and support our evolving international benefits programs.

• Build and manage our compliance infrastructure, translating employment requirements into practical processes and controls across an increasingly complex, multi-state and international workforce.

• Develop and maintain employee policies and our handbook, balancing compliance requirements with Cognition’s culture and operating philosophy.

• Bring an operational lens to business decisions, surfacing risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early and helping leaders navigate complex People situations with strong judgment.

• Partner closely with Payroll, Finance, Legal, IT, Recruiting, and external vendors to ensure People programs are executed accurately and seamlessly.

• Use data and operational insights to identify issues and improve programs, building reporting, controls, and processes that allow the team to operate proactively rather than reactively.

• Jump into high-priority People and business projects as needed. We are a lean team operating in a rapidly evolving company, so the scope of this role will continue to expand alongside Cognition.

Requirements for this role:

• 7+ years in people operations or HR at a fast-growing startup or tech company

• Strong end-to-end People Operations experience, with the ability to own and scale programs across areas such as benefits, immigration, compliance, systems, and employee operations.

• Experience in a fast-growing startup or technology company, with comfort operating in a high-velocity environment where priorities evolve quickly and processes are still being built.

• Strong first-principles thinking and a can-do attitude — you can break down ambiguous problems, challenge existing assumptions, and figure out practical solutions without waiting for a playbook.

• Strong data-driven, analytical, and program management skills, with the ability to use data to inform decisions, manage complex cross‑functional initiatives, and drive work from idea through execution.

Equal Opportunity

Cognition is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for candidates with disabilities throughout the hiring process - please let us know if you need any.