People Operations Partner

Akri USA; Cerritos (CA); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, Dental, and Vision Coverage

Paid Time Off and Holidays

Job summary

Akri USA, operating high-end Japanese restaurants, seeks a People Operations Partner to lead recruitment in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, support HQ hiring, and handle HR functions. You'll build recruitment frameworks, visit units for on-site hiring events, and collaborate with unit managers to align staffing with standards.

This role requires bilingual Japanese/English, strong communication, and experience in fast-paced multi-unit hiring, onboarding, HRIS, payroll coordination, and compliance.

Qualifications

• Strong communication and customer service skills, able to work with frontline staff, managers and leadership.
• Bilingual in Japanese and English.
• Experience in restaurant operations, hospitality management or multi-unit operations.
• Experience in fast-paced, high-volume hiring environments.

Responsibilities

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for hourly, supervisory, and management roles across multiple locations.
• Visit units to conduct on-site hiring events, interviews, and community recruiting.
• Build pipelines for high turnover and new-store openings.
• Partner with Unit Managers to understand staffing needs and ensure decisions align with hiring standards.
• Create job postings, screen candidates, conduct interviews, and coordinate hiring decisions.
• Track recruiting metrics (time-to-fill, source effectiveness, offer acceptance rate).
• Work with local universities, community organizations, and job fairs to strengthen talent pipelines.
• Support store openings by coordinating hiring, orientation, and onboarding.
• Coordinate pre-employment steps including background checks and I-9 verification.
• Support and occasionally lead new-hire orientation sessions.
• Maintain accurate HRIS records and assist with employee file compliance.
• Collaborate with payroll and benefits teams to resolve employee questions.
• Assist with scheduling, onboarding logistics, and new store support.
• Serve as a point of contact for Unit Managers on HR processes and hiring best practices.

Skills

Bilingual Japanese & English

Strong communication

High-volume hiring

Customer service

Experience in restaurant operations

Job description

The company operating high-end Japanese restaurants

Position

People Operations Partner (Full-Time, Exempt)

Summary

A major Japanese entertainment company is seeking a core startup team member to help expand its Japanese food business in the United States.

In this role, you will primarily be responsible for building recruitment frameworks, leading hiring initiatives for local employees in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, supporting headquarters recruitment, and handling various HR-related functions.

• Lead full-cycle recruitment for hourly, supervisory, and management roles across
• multiple locations.
• Visit units to conduct on-site hiring events, interviews, and community recruiting
• Build strong pipelines for high-turnover and new-store opening roles.
• Partner with Unit Managers to understand staffing needs and ensure decisions align with
• Company hiring standards.
• Create job postings, screen candidates, conduct interviews, and coordinate hiring
• decisions.
• Track recruiting metrics (time-to-fill, source effectiveness, offer acceptance rate).
• Work with local universities, community organizations, and job fairs to strengthen talent
• Support store openings by coordinating hiring, orientation, and onboarding.
• Coordinate pre-employment steps including background checks, I-9 verification, and
• Support and occasionally lead new-hire orientation sessions.
• Maintain accurate HRIS records and assist with employee file compliance.
• Collaborate with payroll and benefits teams to resolve employee questions.
• Assist with scheduling, onboarding logistics, and new store support.
• Serve as a point of contact for Unit Managers on HR processes, hiring best practices, and
• Provide guidance on consistent interview practices, documentation, and employment law
• Serve as a point of contact for employee relations issues for the units.

Provides additional People Operations and/or HR support as needed, including flexible assistance

across the department based on business needs.

Working Hours

9:00am - 6:00pm

Salary and Benefit

• Health, Dental, and Vision Coverage
• Paid Time Off and Holiday.

Qualifications

• Strong communication and customer service skills, with the ability to work effectively with frontline staff, managers, and senior leadership.
• Bilingual in Japanese and English.
• Experience in restaurant operations, hospitality management, or multi-unit operations.
• Strong experience with fast-paced, high-volume hiring environments.