Senior Manager, People & Organization (P&O)

Sony Pictures Animation; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 152,000 - 189,000; Full time

Job summary

Sony Pictures Animation is seeking a Senior Manager, People & Organization to serve as the core HR partner for the studio in Los Angeles. You will oversee onboarding, benefits, payroll, and employee support while guiding P&O for overhead and collaborating with production on rhythms of ramp‑ups and wrap‑downs.

With 8+ years in HR and strong union/IATSE experience, you will shape people practices around creative schedules, drive staff development, and improve processes through data‑driven

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ in a people-management role.
• Strong knowledge of onboarding, benefits, payroll, and California employment law.
• Experience in media, entertainment, animation, VFX, or another project-based creative environment preferred.
• Working knowledge of guilds and unions, including how collective bargaining agreements affect hiring, payroll, and employee relations. Experience with IATSE is a plus.
• Proficiency with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., Workday).
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and communication skills.
• A real interest in animation and filmmaking, and a desire to understand how films get made.
• A service mindset: responsive, approachable, and solution-oriented.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle: onboarding, status changes, offboarding, and records maintenance.
• Manage benefits administration, open enrollment, and employee questions.
• Resolve payroll issues quickly, working with Payroll, Finance, and corporate P&O teams.
• Ensure compliance with employment law, Sony policies, and the various IATSE agreements, including correct classification, overtime, and benefits eligibility.
• The ability to navigate a union environment, partnering with Labor Relations to interpret and apply collective bargaining agreements accurately and consistently.
• Partner with Compensation and studio leadership on promotions, and internal equity, ensuring consistency across production and overhead teams.
• Partner with Production, Studio Operations, and department heads to support crew ramp-ups and wrap-downs.
• Coach producers, supervisors, and managers on performance, conflict resolution, and team culture.

Skills

Onboarding

Benefits admin

Payroll

California law

Union experience (IATSE)

Leadership

HRIS/Workday

Communication

Tools

Workday

Job description

Senior Manager, People & Organization (P&O)

The Senior Manager, P&O is the core HR partner for the studio. You will make sure the fundamentals run smoothly: onboarding, benefits, payroll, and employee support. In addition to managing P&O for the overhead team, you will also act as a true partner to production, understanding how an animated film gets made and shaping people's practices around that rhythm. Production crews ramp up, peak, and roll off on tight schedules, and you will help them move through those cycles well.

Sony Pictures Animation is a pre-production animation studio based in Los Angeles, California, creating both feature animation and animated series with artists from around the world. We pride ourselves on empowering filmmakers to lead the creative process, and allowing the hand of the artist to be truly felt, with the goal of producing bold and innovative visual storytelling.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

HR Operations

• Own the end-to-end employee lifecycle: onboarding, status changes, offboarding, and records maintenance.
• Manage benefits administration, open enrollment, and employee questions.
• Resolve payroll issues quickly, working with Payroll, Finance, and corporate P&O teams.
• Ensure compliance with employment law, Sony policies, and the various IATSE agreements, including correct classification, overtime, and benefits eligibility.
• The ability to navigate a union environment, partnering with Labor Relations to interpret and apply collective bargaining agreements accurately and consistently.
• Partner with the appropriate corporate teams to coordinate employee leaves, workplace accommodations, and return-to-work transitions.
• Partner with Compensation and studio leadership on promotions, and internal equity, ensuring consistency across production and overhead teams.

Production and Creative Partnership

• Partner with Production, Studio Operations, and department heads to support crew ramp-ups and wrap-downs. Help leaders communicate and implement organizational changes, supporting employees through transitions.
• Advise on hiring plans, offers, and workforce planning across productions.
• Coach producers, supervisors, and managers on performance, conflict resolution, and team culture.
• Handle employee relations matters with discretion and fairness.

Culture and Employee Experience

• Create an inclusive, supportive environment where artists and production staff can do their best work.
• Run engagement efforts, such as feedback programs, wellbeing resources, and recognition.
• Partner with the D&I team to translate company initiatives into meaningful studio programs, supporting inclusive leadership, employee engagement, and equitable access to development opportunities.
• Support training, career development, and mobility within the studio.
• Lead and develop P&O team members.
• Improve processes, systems, and reporting, using HR data to inform decisions.

QUALIFICATIONS:

• 8+ years of progressive HR experience, including 3+ in a people-management role.
• Strong knowledge of onboarding, benefits, payroll, and California employment law.
• Experience in media, entertainment, animation, VFX, or another project-based creative environment preferred.
• Working knowledge of guild and union environments, including how collective bargaining agreements affect hiring, payroll, and employee relations. Experience with IATSE is a plus.
• Proficiency with HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., Workday).
• Excellent judgment, discretion, and communication skills.
• A real interest in animation and filmmaking, and a desire to understand how films get made.
• A service mindset: responsive, approachable, and solution-oriented.
• The ability to balance process and compliance with the pace and flexibility creative work demands.
• The ability to work respectfully with IATSE representatives and apply agreement terms accurately and consistently.
• Comfort managing multiple priorities across productions in different phases.

The anticipated base salary for this position is $151,800-$189,000. The actual salary offered will depend on a variety of factors.

Sony Pictures Animation is an equal opportunity employer and provides reasonable accommodations in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. We evaluate applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, or other protected characteristics.

SPE will consider qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records in accordance with applicable law.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in aconfidential file.

As set forth in Sony Pictures Animation’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.