Specialist, People Operations

Goodwin; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 105,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

Dental and vision insurance

Retirement plan

Paid vacation and holidays

Professional development opportunities

Wellness programs

Employee discounts and perks

Job summary

Goodwin’s Global Operations Team seeks a People Operations Specialist in San Diego to oversee the full employee lifecycle, including onboarding, offboarding, and lifecycle changes. You will partner with Legal, Talent Acquisition, Payroll, IT, and Admin to streamline processes and ensure data integrity across HR systems.

Ideal candidates have a Bachelor’s degree, 4+ years of HR experience (law firm/professional services a plus), and strong Workday expertise.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of 4 years of human resources experience, law firm or professional services preferred.
• Minimum of 2 years of experience working with HRIS systems; Workday experience a plus.

Responsibilities

• Maintain HR data in HRIS including onboarding, changes, offboarding, payroll, time approvals.
• Audit and ensure accuracy of local firm data and data entry.
• Lead onboarding and offboarding processes as SME; collaborate with Talent Acquisition and HR teams.

Skills

HRIS systems

Data mining

Analytics

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Workday

Job description

Join Goodwin’s Global Operations Team, and make a real impact on a global scale. At Goodwin, we work with some of the world’s most successful and innovative investors, entrepreneurs and disruptors in the life sciences, private equity, real estate, technology and financial industries, and where they converge. As part of the Global Operations Team – all business professionals at the firm – you’ll collaborate with colleagues from varied backgrounds and experiences, fostering an environment where cross-functional learning, networking, and collaboration are at the core of what we do.
Here, we’re not just supporting a law firm; we’re partnering with attorneys and clients to deliver cutting-edge solutions in high-stakes litigation and dispute resolution, world-class regulatory compliance and advisory services, and complex transactions. Our commitment to integrity, ingenuity, agility, and ambition drives us, and we’re proud to have been recognised as the “Best Business Team” by The American Lawyer.
This is your opportunity to grow professionally in a dynamic, global environment, surrounded by forward-thinking peers.
The People Operations Specialist leads and optimizes the full employee lifecycle processes and transactions, including onboarding, offboarding, job changes, and shared services—while ensuring compliance, data integrity, and operational efficiency.
This role partners cross-functionally with the Legal and Professional Staff Talent Acquisition teams, the HR Business Partners, Payroll, IT and Administrative team to streamline workflows, support HR systems, and drive process improvements, serving as a subject matter expert and mentor to junior team members.
This role is critical to ensuring data integrity of all personnel data and efficient processes. Reporting to the Sr. Manager, People Operations, the People Operations Specialist operates as the day-to-day administrative face of the People team, providing high quality service and delivery.

What you'll Do

• Maintain data integrity and enter HR data into the HRIS system, covering onboarding, job changes, compensation changes and one time payments, relocation, offboarding, payroll, time card approvals, and lifecycle changes.
• Ensure accurate maintenance of firm data, review local data entry, conduct audits, and resolve inaccuracies.
• Provide comprehensive HRBP support including project managing the performance review process, talent management process and succession planning) and execution of internal client initiatives.
• Provide highly confidential support to the Employee Relations and Compliance team.
• Serve as onboarding SME and owns onboarding activities, including reviewing escalated background checks, conducting new hire orientation, I-9 verifications, and providing guidance and ad-hoc support to the People Ops coordinator with onboarding tasks. Conduct high visibility 30-day new hire check ins. Serve as primary point of contact for the Talent Acquisition team in handling confidential and high profile lateral partner and associate hiring.
• Serve as offboarding SME and owns offboarding activities, including confidential and high profile terminations, partnering with Senior Leadership, and conducting exit interviews.
• Proactively identify process improvements for all HR life-cycle activities and provides recommendations to management, assists with the execution of various projects and initiatives across the People department, and performs as subject matter expert in all system and process implementations and enhancements, in partnership with HRIS, leading training and “rollout” activities.
• Mentor junior People Operations members and HR department employees.
• Produce on-demand and complete personnel reports, partnering with HRIS as needed. Analyzes the related data, reports trends and makes recommendations to assist leaders with data driven decision making. Creates and maintains EIB files.
• Act as tier 2 resolution for employee and attorney inquiries that cannot be resolved at tier 1.
• Actively monitor changes in State and local employment laws and regulations, notifying leadership of relevant changes and providing recommendations about required process and policy changes. Ensure all compliance postings are up-to-date and required pamphlets are ordered and available.
• Understand GDPR and data privacy regulations.
• Perform ad-hoc duties as assigned.

Who You Are

• Bachelor’s degree required or equivalent experience.
• A minimum of 4 years of human resources experience. Law firm or professional services industry experience a plus.
• A minimum of 2 years of experience working with HRIS systems and processing employee life-cycle changes. Workday experience a plus.
• Working in a professional services environment required.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects, manage shifting priorities, and provide guidance in a fast-paced environment.
• Superior judgment, integrity, and discretion in handling highly confidential and sensitive information.
• Expert-level proficiency in HRIS systems (Workday preferred), data mining, analysis, and applying technology to improve efficiency and service delivery.
• Ability to proactively recommend, design, and implement process improvements that enhance operational effectiveness.
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to influence and partner with senior leadership, clients, and external entities.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, balancing multiple high-impact initiatives simultaneously.
• Customer service–driven mindset with a demonstrated commitment to quality, continuous improvement, and collaboration.

Benefits And More

At Goodwin, you will discover your next career opportunity with a rewarding compensation package and comprehensive benefits, including:

• Health, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• Retirement & Savings Plan
• Emergency back-up child and adult care
• Paid vacation, sick time off, and holidays
• Professional development and career advancement opportunities
• Employee recognition and reward programs
• Employee wellness and assistance programsEmployee discounts and perks

This position is eligible for overtime: No
The Target Salary Range For This Position Varies By Location And Is Commensurate With Relevant Experience: $80,000.00 - $105,000.00