People Operations Manager

skylighthq; United States; On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Skylight is a digital consultancy delivering public services through design and technology. We are seeking a People Operations Manager to administer benefits and leaves, manage the employee lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding, and keep our HR systems accurate and current.

The role directly supports attracting, supporting, and retaining top public interest technologists. You will report to the Head of People Operations and work across benefits, compliance, and employee relations to ensure a

Responsibilities

• Administer benefits programs end to end: medical, dental, vision, disability, life, FSA, HSA, 401(k).
• Own broker/carrier relationships: renewals, plan design, issue escalation.
• Lead annual open enrollment: communications, education, system config, reconciliation.
• Administer leaves of absence: parental, medical, FMLA, disability, state programs.
• Maintain leave tracking/reporting for staffing visibility.
• Partner with Finance on payroll inputs and benefits reconciliation.
• Run onboarding end to end: preboarding, orientation, I-9, E-Verify, IT access.
• Run manager onboarding for people-management roles.
• Run offboarding end to end: exit surveys, final pay, revocation of access, equipment return.
• Process role/project/reporting-line transitions; update records and IT access.
• Maintain employee data across systems with address/status changes.
• Serve as HRIS administrator (Rippling): config, data integrity, reporting, integrations.
• Build/maintain automated HRIS workflows; reduce manual steps.
• Lead HRIS implementations/migrations: vendor coordination, go-live readiness.
• Support employee relations: intake, documentation, and communication with leadership.
• Assist managers with performance conversations and improvement plans, tracking progress.
• Run compensation and promotion cycles: packets, trackers, letters, system updates.
• Draft and publish company-wide people communications and policy updates.

Tools

Rippling

Job description

About Skylight

Skylight is a digital consultancy using design and technology to help government agencies deliver better public services.

We're at the forefront of a civic movement to reinvent how all levels of government serve families, patients, and many others in today's digital world.

If you want to play a part in driving this critical movement forward, we'd love for you to join our growing team of public interest technologists.

The work we do matters.

About the job

Since launching several years ago, our team has grown rapidly. We find ourselves in an exciting position to further deepen our partnerships within the government contracting space, to continue to attract and retain amazing teammates, and to scale our capacity to make an even bigger difference in the world.

Currently, our company is organized into three main groups: Executive Office (sets and operationalizes the strategic direction of the company), Federal Health & Civilian (focused on federal health and civilian missions), and Defense & Security (focused on defense, national security, and public safety missions).

As Skylight's People Operations Manager, you'll report directly to the Head of People Operations and play a vital role in running the people programs our team relies on every day. In this hands‑on position, you'll focus on administering benefits and leave, managing the employee life cycle from onboarding through offboarding, and keeping our people systems, records, and policies accurate and current. The work you do will have a direct impact on our ability to attract, support, and retain amazing public interest technologists.

What you'll do

Benefits and leave

• Administer our benefits programs end to end, including medical, dental, vision, disability, life, FSA, HSA, and 401(k)
• Own the working relationship with our benefits broker and carriers, including renewals, plan design discussions, and issue escalation
• Run annual open enrollment, from communications and employee education through system configuration and post-enrollment reconciliation
• Administer all leaves of absence, including parental, medical, FMLA, short-term disability, and state paid family and medical leave programs
• Maintain leave tracking and reporting so business unit leaders have the staffing visibility they need without exposing confidential detail
• Partner with Finance on payroll inputs, leave-related pay adjustments, and benefits reconciliation

Employee lifecycle

• Run onboarding end to end, including the preboarding checklist, new employee orientation, I-9 verification meetings, and E‑Verify submissions, and coordinate with IT so system and equipment access is ready on day one
• Run manager onboarding for employees stepping into people‑management roles
• Run offboarding end to end, including the checklist, exit surveys, and state compliant final pay and benefits steps, and confirm with IT that access is revoked and equipment is returned
• Process role, project, and reporting‑line transitions, keeping employee records and timekeeping assignments aligned and routing access changes to IT
• Maintain employee data across our people systems, including address and status changes that carry tax or compliance implications

People systems and data

• Serve as the administrator for our HRIS (Rippling), covering configuration, data integrity, reporting, and integrations with our timekeeping and payroll systems
• Build and maintain automated workflows in the HRIS so routine people processes run without manual intervention
• Run HRIS and people‑system implementations and migrations, including vendor coordination, data validation, go‑live readiness, and post‑launch stabilization

Employee relations and performance

• Support employee relations matters by conducting intake, maintaining documentation, preparing correspondence, and coordinating with the Head of People Operations and outside counsel where needed
• Support managers through performance conversations and performance improvement plans, including template preparation, documentation standards, and follow‑up tracking
• Run the mechanics of our compensation and promotion cycles, including packet assembly, tracker maintenance, letter generation, and system updates

Policy, compliance, and communications

• Serve as the first point of contact for employee questions on benefits, leave, pay, and policy, through our People Operations inbox and our internal request channels
• Maintain our people policies and knowledge base, keep the policy backlog current, and flag where a policy is missing, stale, no longer compliant, or contradicted by practice
• Deploy and track mandatory compliance training, such as anti‑harassment and security awareness, and follow up on non‑completions
• Monitor multi‑state employment compliance obligations and surface changes that affect our policies or practices
• Write and publish company‑wide people communications, including benefits deadlines, policy changes, and process updates
• Maintain the SOPs, template