People Operations Specialist

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

Job summary

Constellation is hiring a People Operations Specialist in Berkeley, CA. You will handle onboarding, HRIS data integrity, benefits coordination, and compliance, while assisting recruiting and immigration administration.

This is a broad, process-driven role with cross-functional collaboration across People, recruiting, finance, and legal. You’ll work with our People team and partners to ensure accurate data, smooth employee experience, and scalable operations in a fast-moving, mission-driven

Qualifications

• Experience in People Operations, HR or related admin role with precise processes.
• Highly organized with meticulous attention to detail.
• Comfortable wearing multiple hats in People Ops, admin and recruiting support.
• Strong written and verbal communication, warm professional style.
• A self-starter, comfortable with ambiguity, builds/improves processes.
• Familiarity with HRIS systems or ATS platforms.

Responsibilities

• Own onboarding and offboarding logistics to ensure smooth starts and transitions.
• Maintain and improve HRIS data accuracy, organization, and audit readiness.
• Support benefits enrollment, questions, and vendor coordination.
• Help with policy development and legal compliance across Employment laws.
• Manage People Ops documentation, processes, and internal resources.
• Streamline workflows as the organization scales.

Skills

People Operations

HR coordination

Detail-oriented

Communication

Self-starter

HRIS/ATS familiarity

Tools

HRIS

ATS platforms

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, reporting to our Director of People. 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.

You’ll work closely with our People team and cross-functionally with recruiting, finance, and legal partners.

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.