Sr. People Operations Business Partner

Astrolab; Hawthorne (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 145,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Comprehensive health benefits

401(k) plan with company match

Flexible PTO

Weekly lunch stipend

On-site snacks

Monthly social hour

Job summary

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is seeking a Sr. People Operations Business Partner in Hawthorne, CA to scale our workforce and uphold a high‑performance culture.

The role combines strategic partnership with hands‑on execution in a fast‑moving engineering and manufacturing environment. You will coach managers, lead employee relations, ensure California compliance, and drive workforce planning, onboarding, performance management, and policy improvements across technical and operations teams.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of HR or People Operations experience, including technical/engineering/manufacturing teams.
• Experience in high-growth startup or aerospace/tech environments.
• California employment law and HR compliance knowledge.
• Managing complex employee relations matters and investigations.
• Coaching managers through difficult conversations and performance management.
• Experience supporting exempt and non-exempt populations.
• Experience with HRIS and performance management systems.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a trusted People Operations partner to managers and employees across technical and operational orgs.
• Coach managers on performance management, development, and accountability.
• Support organizational scaling, workforce planning, and succession readiness.
• Handle employee relations matters with confidentiality and compliance.
• Provide guidance in a fast-moving engineering/manufacturing environment.
• Drive compliance with California employment laws and HR policies.
• Lead HRIS, reporting, and process improvements across the function.

Skills

HR / People Operations

Employee relations

California employment law

Coaching managers

Performance management

Exempt vs non-exempt

HRIS systems

Growth-stage / startup environment

Tools

Lattice

Rippling

ADP Workforce Now

Insperity

BambooHR

Job description

Compensation: $125,000 - $145,000 / year

Department: People Operations

Location: Hawthorne, California

Compensation: $125,000 - $145,000 / year

Description

Venturi Astrolab, Inc. (Astrolab) is pioneering new ways to explore and operate on distant planetary bodies. We are singularly focused on designing, building, and operating a fleet of multi-purpose commercial planetary rovers to extend and enhance humanity’s presence in the solar system. We are seeking motivated, creative, and exceptional people to join our world-class team.

This position combines strategic partnership with hands‑on execution. The ideal candidate is comfortable in ambiguity, managing complex employee relations matters, improving processes, coaching leaders, and helping build a high‑accountability, high‑performance culture during a critical stage of company growth.

The Sr. People Operations Business Partner plays a key role in supporting the full employee lifecycle while helping leaders scale teams’ responsibility, compliantly and efficiently.

What you’ll do:

Strategic Partnership & Manager Support

• Serve as a trusted People Operations partner to managers and employees across technical and operational organizations
• Coach managers on performance management, employee development, organizational effectiveness, communication, accountability, and team dynamics
• Partner with leaders to support organizational scaling, workforce planning, team structure and succession readiness
• Help leaders navigate challenging people matters with sound judgment, confidentiality, and compliance awareness
• Provide practical, business-focused People Operations guidance in a fast-moving engineering and manufacturing environment

Employee Relations & Workplace Culture

• Manage employee relations matters promptly, fairly, and professionally, including investigations, conflict resolution, corrective actions, and performance concerns
• Identify workplace risks proactively and recommend solutions before issues escalates
• Support the development of a respectful, inclusive, high-performance culture aligned with Astrolab’s mission and operational goals
• Build credibility and trust with employees at all levels of the organization
• Partner cross-functionally to improve employee engagement, retention, communication, and workplace effectiveness

Compliance & Policy Administration

• Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws, with strong emphasis on California labor law compliance
• Support compliance efforts related to wage and hour practices, leave administration, accommodations, investigations, employee documentation, and policy implementation
• Assist in developing, improving, and scaling People Operations policies, SOPs, and internal processes
• Maintain accurate and compliant employee records and HR documentation practices
• Partner with payroll, benefits, recruiting, EH&S, and leadership teams to ensure operational alignment

Employee Lifecycle Management

• Support and improve onboarding, offboarding, internal transfers, promotions, and employee development processes
• Partner with Recruiting and hiring managers to ensure a strong new hire experience and effective organizational integration
• Drive performance management processes including calibration discussions, employee feedback cycles, and development planning
• Support workforce changes, organizational restructuring, and scaling initiatives as the company grows

Operations & Projects

• Lead and contribute to cross-functional People Operations initiatives and special projects
• Help build scalable infrastructure, programs, and workflows that support company growth
• Analyze trends and provide recommendations related to retention, engagement, turnover, and organizational health
• Utilize HR systems and reporting tools to improve efficiency and decision-making
• Support implementation and optimization of HRIS, performance management, and employee engagement platforms

What you’ll bring:

Basic Qualifications

• 6+ years of HR or People Operations experience, including experience supporting technical, engineering, manufacturing, or operational teams
• Experience in high-growth, fast-scaling startup or aerospace/technology environments
• Experience and knowledge in California employment law and HR compliance practices
• Experience managing complex employee relations matters and workplace investigations
• Experience coaching managers through difficult conversations, performance management, and organizational challenges
• Experience supporting both exempt and non-exempt employee populations
• Experience using HRIS and performance management systems such as Lattice, Rippling, ADP Workforce Now, Insperity, BambooHR, or similar platforms

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting aerospace, advanced manufacturing, hardware engineering, robotics, automotive, defense, or other highly technical industries
• Experience supporting rapid headcount growth and organizational scaling
• SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR certification
• Experience partnering with engineering leadership, program management, production teams, and executive leadership
• Experience with government contracting environments or compliance-driven organizations is a plus

Benefits and Perks

• Join a team of best-in-class engineers building the foundation of planetary surface exploration
• Equity ownership in the company
• Comprehensive health benefits, including medical, dental, vision, and mental health support
• 401(k) plan with company match
• Flexible PTO and parental leave
• Weekly lunch stipend, plus complimentary snacks and beverages on-site
• Once a month social hour on-site with food and drinks