People Operations Specialist

Fireworks AI; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Fireworks AI is seeking a hands-on People Operations Specialist to join our People team in California. You will keep our HRIS up to date, manage onboarding logistics, and handle contractor lifecycle and immigration support while maintaining accurate data across systems.

This role offers broad exposure across HRIS, onboarding, immigration, documentation, and employee recognition in a fast-growing startup environment. You’ll partner with HRBP, Recruiting, and IT to land processes smoothly.

Qualifications

• 2–3 years of experience in an HR Generalist or HR Specialist role.
• Organized, able to juggle multiple workstreams and keep details accurate.
• Resourceful and self-directed with the ability to unblock and move work forward.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day updates in the HRIS and manage employee data changes.
• Run regular data audits to prevent downstream payroll issues and reporting errors.
• Coordinate onboarding logistics and support new hires through the first weeks.
• Manage contractor lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding and renewals.
• Provide immigration support and track case statuses with internal teams and counsel.
• Maintain and improve internal HR documentation and policies.

Skills

HRIS management

Onboarding

Data integrity

Immigration support

Contractor lifecycle

Documentation

Education

Bachelor's degree in HR or related field

Tools

Rippling

Job description

About Us

Fireworks is the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies to build, train, and serve AI models tailored to their own data, workflows, and products. Founded by the team behind PyTorch and backed by AMD, Atreides, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, and TCV, Fireworks powers production AI with hundreds of state-of-the-art open models across text, image, embedding, audio, and multimodal workloads. Today, Fireworks is a Series D company valued at $17.5 billion, bringing together an ambitious, collaborative team that's building the future of enterprise AI.

Fireworks is the platform for specialized intelligence, enabling companies to build, train, and serve AI models tailored to their own data, workflows, and products. Founded by the team behind PyTorch and backed by AMD, Atreides, Benchmark Capital, Index Ventures, Lightspeed, NVIDIA, Sequoia Capital, and TCV, Fireworks powers production AI with hundreds of state-of-the-art open models across text, image, embedding, audio, and multimodal workloads. Today, Fireworks is a Series D company valued at $17.5 billion, bringing together an ambitious, collaborative team that's building the future of enterprise AI.

About The Role

We're looking for a hands-on People Operations Specialist to join our People team and keep our day-to-day people operations running smoothly. You'll work side by side with the broader HR team — HRBP, People Ops, Recruiting, and Immigration — to make sure the many moving pieces of a fast-growing company land cleanly: new hires onboard without a hitch, our systems and data stay accurate, and employees get quick, clear answers when they have questions.

This role is ideal for someone early in their HR career who wants breadth. You'll touch HRIS, onboarding, contractor operations, immigration support, internal documentation, and employee recognition — and you'll get real ownership in each area. We're looking for someone who's highly organized, comfortable shifting priorities, and able to unblock themselves and keep things moving without waiting to be told how.

What You'll Do

HRIS & Data Integrity

• Own day-to-day updates in our HRIS — start date changes, title and job detail adjustments, reporting line changes, and other employee record maintenance.
• Run regular internal data audits to catch and correct discrepancies before they become downstream problems for payroll, benefits, or reporting.
• Partner with People Ops, Finance, and IT to keep employee data consistent across systems.

Onboarding Logistics

• Coordinate end-to-end onboarding logistics for new hires so their first day is seamless, including:
• Monitoring background check status and following up on anything pending or flagged.
• Completing I-9 verifications and driving follow-ups to ensure timely, compliant completion.
• Coordinating with IT on laptop provisioning, email and account setup, and name or address changes.
• Managing seat assignments and workspace readiness in partnership with Workplace.
• Ordering and preparing new hire swag and welcome materials.
• Help facilitate our weekly new hire onboarding sessions — prepping materials, managing logistics and the calendar, presenting portions of the agenda, and gathering feedback to improve the experience over time.
• Serve as a friendly first point of contact for new hires, answering pre-start and first-week questions.

Contractor Lifecycle Management

• Own the contractor lifecycle end to end: onboarding (agreements, signatures, background check bypass proof), contract timeline tracking (start and end dates, early expiration flags, extensions and conversions with managers and Finance), and offboarding (access and equipment return with IT, final documentation).
• Keep contractor records, status, and dates accurate at every stage.

Immigration Support

• Support immigration case processing in partnership with our People team and outside counsel — gathering documents, tracking case status, and keeping timelines on track.
• Handle basic immigration questions from employees, candidates, and the recruiting team, escalating complex matters appropriately.
• Maintain accurate immigration records and calendar key deadlines and expirations.

Internal Documentation

• Own our internal HR wiki — keeping pages current, accurate, and easy to navigate as policies and processes evolve.
• Document new and changed processes so the team has a reliable single source of truth.

Employee Recognition

• Support administration of our recognition program, including managing award winner prizes, swag, and fulfillment logistics.
• Help keep the program visible and running on a consistent cadence.

What We're Looking For

• Degree in Human Resources or a related field, plus 2-3 years of experience in an HR Generalist or HR Specialist role.
• Highly organized, with a track record of juggling a wide span of workstreams and keeping details from slipping through the cracks.
• Resourceful and self-directed — comfortable figuring out a solution when there's no playbook, and able to unblock yourself to get things done.
• Comfortable pivoting as priorities shift, and able to re-prioritize quickly without losing track of what's still open.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with sound judgment about what to handle directly and when to elevate.
• Discretion and good judgment in handling confidential employee information.

Nice to Have

• Experience supporting immigration cases (H-1B, TN, O-1, green card processing, or similar).
• Experience in a startup or other high-growth, fast-paced environment.
• Hands-on experience with an HRIS such as Rippling
• Enthusiastic, positive, and brings great energy — someone people are genuinely glad to work with.

Why Fireworks?

• Solve Hard Problems: Tackle challenges at the forefront of AI infrastructure, from low-latency inference to scalable model serving.
• Build What’s Next: Work with bleeding-edge technology that impacts how businesses and developers harness AI globally.
• Ownership & Impact: Join a fast-growing, passionate team where your work directly shapes the future of AI—no bureaucracy, just results.
• Learn from the Best: Collaborate with world-class engineers and AI researchers who thrive on curiosity and innovation.

Fireworks AI is an equal-opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all innovators.