People Operations Specialist

Astro Mechanica; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 95,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

401(k)

Stock options

Paid time off

Flexible work environment

Job summary

Astro Mechanica is seeking a hands-on People Operations lead to own the employee journey from offer to offboarding. You will design scalable processes, streamline recruiting operations, and manage benefits, compliance, onboarding, and HR systems across states.

You should be highly organized, detail-oriented, and comfortable operating in a fast-paced, startup environment. Aerospace familiarity is a plus as we build a collaborative, in-office culture in San Francisco.

Qualifications

• 3–6+ years of experience in People Operations, HR Operations, Benefits Administration, or a generalist HR role with significant operational ownership
• Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and multi-state HR compliance
• Experience owning a benefits renewal cycle, including broker coordination, plan evaluation, and open enrollment
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with ability to manage multiple priorities
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with ability to build trust across all levels
• Proactive ownership mindset to build processes and drive initiatives
• Comfortable in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment
• Experience in aerospace, defense or hardware industries a plus, ITAR familiarity a plus

Responsibilities

• Build scalable People Operations processes from the ground up
• Support recruiting operations including interview scheduling, candidate coordination, ATS administration, reporting, and metrics
• Own benefits administration end-to-end: enrollment, employee support, vendor management, compliance
• Own HR compliance across multiple states, including claims management and coordination with insurers
• Own onboarding execution: documentation, HRIS setup, benefits enrollment
• Support compensation planning, market benchmarking, equity administration, and annual review cycles
• Serve as primary contact for employee questions on benefits and HR operations
• Own and improve HR systems, documentation, workflows, and reporting

Job description

ABOUT US:

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future. Our mission is to democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable. We believe that rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility will become the new standard for moving people and goods across the planet. To achieve this, we are integrating our advanced airframe and engine technologies—which include Duality™, our proprietary dual-use propulsion system—with a new flight operations model to make supersonic transport as efficient and economical as commercial air travel is today. In the near term, we are developing adaptable, high-speed systems to close aircraft performance gaps for the United States government.

WHO WE ARE:

We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy.

WHO YOU ARE:

You are a strong operator with a people-first mindset who is passionate about creating an exceptional employee experience. You are excited to own the employee journey from offer acceptance through offboarding, ensuring every interaction is seamless, thoughtful, and well executed. You are exceptionally organized and detail-oriented, with a track record of managing multiple priorities while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. You thrive in a fast-paced environment, are comfortable navigating ambiguity, and take pride in bringing structure and consistency to complex problems. You build trust quickly through excellent interpersonal and communication skills, exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive and confidential matters, and know when to resolve issues independently. Most importantly, you take ownership, sweat the details, and are excited to shape what it means to work at Astro Mechanica as the company grows.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Build scalable People Operations processes from the ground up, creating systems that enable the company to grow while staying lean

• Support recruiting operations, including interview scheduling, candidate coordination, ATS administration, reporting, and recruiting metrics to provide visibility into hiring health across the organization

• Own benefits administration end-to-end, including enrollment, employee support, vendor management, compliance, annual renewals, and continuous improvements to the employee experience

• Own HR compliance administration across multiple states, including claims management, compliance, and coordination with insurance carriers and external partners, catching gaps before they become liabilities

• Own onboarding execution, including employment documentation, HRIS setup, benefits enrollment, and first-day readiness

• Support compensation planning, market benchmarking, equity administration, and annual compensation review cycles in partnership with leadership

• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee questions related to benefits, policies, and HR operations, exercising sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus when to involve leadership or outside counsel

• Own and continuously improve HR systems, documentation, workflows, and reporting to increase operational efficiency and reduce administrative burden

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR:

• 3–6+ years of experience in People Operations, HR Operations, Benefits Administration, or a generalist HR role with significant operational ownership

• Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and multi-state HR compliance, with sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus escalating to leadership or outside counsel

• Experience independently owning a benefits renewal cycle, including broker coordination, plan evaluation, employee communications, and open enrollment

• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities and ensure nothing falls through the cracks

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust across all levels of the organization while handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion

• A proactive, ownership-oriented mindset with the ability to build processes, solve problems, and drive initiatives with minimal direction

• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment where priorities evolve quickly

• Experience in aerospace, defense or another hardware-focused industry a plus, familiarity with ITAR facilities a plus

PERKS & BENEFITS:

• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA)

• 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan

• Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time

• Flexible work environment

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee's role.

Astro Mechanica is an equal opportunity employer. We proudly recruit and hire a diverse workforce and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.