Senior People Operations Manager

Swift Navigation; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Work-from-home days

Flexible vacation / salary & benefits

Tech talks & mentorship

Global team collaboration

Job summary

Swift Navigation is seeking a Senior People Operations Manager to own HR for our global team across 12 countries, handling onboarding, payroll, benefits, and engagement. You will ensure compliant, data-driven HR practices and partner with finance, IT, and leadership to support a growing technology company.

You will manage vendor relationships, maintain HRIS data integrity, and drive initiatives across time zones, cultures and legal requirements to keep our people productive and engaged.

Qualifications

• 6+ years HR experience with at least 3 years as HR generalist/manager (solo or small team).
• Experience supporting a distributed, multi-country workforce with PEOs/EORs.
• Knowledge of US employment law; ability to research local requirements quickly.
• HRIS administration experience and multi-country payroll support.
• Strong judgement handling sensitive employee relations matters.
• Self-directed, organized, able to prioritize with limited support.
• Excellent written and verbal communication across cultures/time zones.
• Experience with ISO certification/audits and training records.
• Immigration/work authorization experience including Form I-9/E-Verify and US visas.

Responsibilities

• Sole People Operations lead for 12 countries; first point of contact for employees and managers.
• Own end-to-end onboarding including offer paperwork and 30/60/90-day check-ins.
• Advise on employee relations; conduct investigations and resolve concerns.
• Run performance management cycle; calibrations and improvement plans.
• Partner with Finance/payroll providers for accurate, on-time payroll.
• Maintain HRIS as single source of truth; produce reports for leadership.
• Manage PEO/EOR relationships and vendor questions/renewals.
• Administer benefits and benchmarking across markets.
• Oversee offboarding and exit trend analysis to identify risks.
• Design and lead engagement initiatives for a globally distributed team.
• Maintain handbook and policies; monitor employment law changes.
• Support compensation reviews and leave administration.
• Other duties as needed.

Skills

HR generalist/manager

Distributed multi-country workforce

US employment law

HRIS administration (BambooHR)

Multi-country payroll

Data reporting in Sheets/Excel

Immigration/work visa processes

Communication and collaboration

Time-zone coordination

Audit/compliance awareness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources/Business

PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP certification (plus)

Tools

BambooHR

G Suite / Google Sheets

Job description

Swift Navigation

is hiring. Let us introduce ourselves. Swift is changing the way we navigate and understand the world. Swift’s precise positioning technology platform improves location accuracy from several meters to centimeter-level and is used by millions of devices across the globe. Swift’s technology is trusted by users across industries, enabling safer driving, improving efficiency for last-mile delivery and commercial transport operations, increasing accuracy for mobile devices and creating new possibilities for rail, robotics and machine control. That’s what we offer our customers and partners, but it’s the work we do together as a team that is the best part of our days. We collaborate—across the globe—to tackle problems, to pursue our mission and to make a real impact in the world. We are diverse, flexible, supportive and we believe our team is our most important asset and offer a host of benefits and programs to ensure that they know it.

Swift Navigation is looking for an outstanding Senior People Operations Manager to own and run the full scope of HR for our global team across 12 countries, from onboarding and employee relations to performance management, payroll, benefits and engagement. As our sole HR professional, the People Operations Manager will play a key role by delivering a consistent, compliant and positive employee experience in every country where we operate, keeping our people data accurate and reliable, and helping managers build a culture where our team can do its best work.

Duties/Responsibilities

• Serve as the company’s sole People Operations lead and the first point of contact for employees and managers on all HR matters across 12 countries.
• Own end-to-end onboarding, including offer paperwork, pre-boarding, new hire orientation and 30/60/90-day check-ins, in partnership with hiring managers, IT and Finance.
• Advise managers and employees on employee relations matters; conduct investigations, document outcomes and resolve concerns fairly, confidentially and in line with local law.
• Run the performance management cycle, including annual reviews, calibration support and performance improvement plans, and coach managers on giving effective feedback.
• Partner with Finance and our payroll providers to support accurate, on-time payroll in each country by collecting and validating inputs (new hires, terminations, compensation changes, leave, bonuses) and resolving discrepancies.
• Administer and maintain the HRIS as the single source of truth for employee data; ensure data integrity, manage system updates and integrations, and produce headcount and people reports for leadership.
• Manage the PEO relationship and any Employer of Record (EOR) partners, serving as the primary contact for service issues, renewals, compliance questions and escalations.
• Administer benefits programs, including open enrollment, vendor management, employee questions and periodic benchmarking to keep our offerings competitive in each market.
• Manage offboarding, including exit interviews, coordination of final pay and documentation, and analysis of exit trends to identify retention risks and opportunities.
• Design and lead employee engagement initiatives, such as engagement surveys, recognition programs and virtual and in-person events that connect a globally distributed team.
• Maintain the employee handbook, country-specific policies and HR processes; monitor employment law changes in the countries where we operate and keep the company compliant.
• Support compensation reviews, promotions and leave administration in partnership with leadership and Finance.
• Other duties as needed.

Required Skills/Abilities

• 6+ years of progressive HR experience, including at least 3 years as an HR generalist or manager, ideally as a solo or small-team HR lead.
• Experience supporting a distributed, multi-country workforce, including working with PEOs and/or EORs.
• Strong working knowledge of US employment law and familiarity with employment practices in other regions (such as Europe and APAC), plus the ability to research local requirements quickly.
• Hands‑on experience administering an HRIS (BambooHR a plus) and supporting multi-country payroll.
• Sound judgment in handling sensitive employee relations matters with discretion, empathy and objectivity.
• Self‑directed and highly organized, with the ability to prioritize competing demands and deliver without a larger team to lean on.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and the ability to build trust with employees at every level, across cultures and time zones.
• Comfort working with data in Google Sheets or Excel to maintain records, spot trends and create reports.
• Flexibility to occasionally work outside standard hours to support colleagues in other time zones.
• Experience supporting ISO certification and surveillance audits (such as ISO 9001 or ISO/IEC 27001), including keeping training, competency and onboarding records audit‑ready and helping maintain people‑related controls and documentation.
• Experience administering immigration and work authorization processes, including Form I‑9/E‑Verify compliance, coordinating US visa and green card cases (such as H‑1B, TN, O‑1 and PERM) with outside immigration counsel, and supporting work permits and visas for international hires and business travel.
• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business or a related field, or equivalent experience. PHR/SPHR or SHRM-CP/SCP certification and experience in a technology company are a plus.

Perks

• A flexible work environment includes work‑from‑home days each week.
• Flexible vacation, competitive salary and benefits packages, stock options.
• Tech talks, mentorship programs, employee events.
• Growth and learning opportunities from a tech environment include working closely with an international team of scientists, engineers, platform architects, programmers, executive staff and professionals.

The US base salary range for this position is $100,000 - $150,000 + equity + benefits. Our salary ranges are determined by role, level, and location. The range displayed on each job posting reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for the position across all US locations. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job‑related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process. Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits.

Swift Navigation is a diverse and inclusive team. We are an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds to apply regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status or other defining characteristics.