People Operations Specialist

Constellation; Berkeley, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Constellation in Berkeley, CA is seeking a People Operations Specialist to join our People team. This role is the operational backbone of our People function, supporting onboarding, HRIS, benefits, and compliance while collaborating with recruiting and immigration administration as needed.

You will manage day-to-day processes with attention to detail, wear multiple hats, and help scale processes as the company grows in a fast-moving, mission-driven environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in People Operations, HR, or a related administrative/coordination role.
• Meticulous attention to detail and ability to manage detailed processes on time.
• Comfortable wearing multiple hats across People Ops, admin coordination, and recruiting support.
• Strong written and verbal communication with warmth and professionalism.
• Self-starter comfortable with ambiguity and improving existing processes.
• Familiarity with HRIS/ATS tools or ability to pick up new systems quickly.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end onboarding and offboarding logistics.
• Maintain and improve HRIS data accuracy, organization, and audit readiness.
• Support benefits enrollment, questions, and vendor coordination.
• Assist with policy development and regulatory compliance.
• Manage People Ops documentation and internal resources (handbook, FAQs).
• Streamline People Ops workflows as the organization scales.
• Track visa/immigration timelines and coordinate with counsel.
• Support contract/compliance administration with legal counsel.
• Assist with scheduling and candidate communications during recruiting.

Skills

People Operations

HR Experience

Highly organized

Attention to detail

Strong communication

Self-starter

Familiar with HRIS/ATS

HRIS familiarity

Tools

Rippling

Job description

About the role

The AI safety field needs more capacity, capability, and cooperation to safely navigate transformative AI. Constellation builds all three — by mobilizing talent, incubating projects and organizations, and convening the people working on this problem. Supporting all of this requires an internal People Operations (People Ops) function that runs smoothly, scales with the organization, and gives our team a great employee experience from day one.

We're looking for a People Operations Specialist to join our People team. This role is the operational backbone of our People function. You'll support the day-to-day execution of onboarding, HRIS, benefits, and compliance, while also lending support to recruiting/talent operations and immigration administration as needed. This is a great fit for someone who wants broad exposure across the full employee lifecycle, enjoys detail-oriented execution, and is excited to build systems in a fast-moving, mission-driven organization.

Key responsibilities

Core People Operations

• Own end-to-end onboarding and offboarding logistics, ensuring new hires have a smooth start and departing employees are supported through a clean transition.
• Maintain and continuously improve our HRIS, ensuring employee data is accurate, well-organized, and audit-ready.
• Support employee benefits programs, including enrollment, questions, and vendor coordination in partnership with the HR Lead.
• Support policy development and maintenance, and help ensure the organization stays compliant with applicable employment laws and regulations.
• Manage People Ops documentation, processes, and internal resources (e.g., employee handbook, FAQs, process guides).
• Identify opportunities to streamline and systematize People Ops workflows as the organization scales.

Immigration & Legal Administration

• Track visa and immigration case timelines and deadlines.
• Liaise with outside immigration counsel to coordinate documentation, filings, and employee communications (operational support, not case management).
• Support contract and compliance administration, including tracking offer letters, employment agreements, and policy acknowledgments in partnership with legal counsel.

Recruiting & Talent Operations Support

• Support with scheduling, candidate communications, and onsite/interview coordination as needed.
• Help maintain applicant tracking system (ATS) hygiene and recruiting data.
• Assist with candidate experience touchpoints, such as greeting onsite candidates and helping them navigate the Constellation ecosystem.

Skills & experience

• Experience in People Operations, HR, or a related administrative/coordination role, with a track record of managing detailed processes accurately and on time
• Highly organized with meticulous attention to detail — you notice the small things that keep processes from breaking.
• Comfortable wearing multiple hats and shifting between core People Ops work, administrative coordination, and recruiting support as priorities shift.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, and you bring warmth and professionalism to every employee and candidate interaction.
• A self-starter who's comfortable with ambiguity and enjoys building or improving processes rather than just following existing ones.
• Some familiarity with HRIS systems, ATS platforms, or similar tools (or you pick up new systems quickly).

Nice-to-Have

• Experience managing immigration cases or complex compliance matters.
• Experience designing or restructuring People Ops processes/systems.
• Exposure to multi-state or multi-country employment compliance.
• Experience administering an HRIS e.g. Rippling.

You might be a good fit if you:

• Are mission-aligned and values-driven, with a genuine interest in helping humanity safely navigate the development of transformative AI.
• Find satisfaction in creating order from complexity and following through reliably.
• Are eager to learn and grow your skills over time.
• Enjoy a people-facing role that blends structure with flexibility.

Compensation & Benefits

The base pay range for this role is $100,000 – $120,000 per year.