Vice President of People

Pursuit; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 175,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401k with match

Unlimited PTO

Pursuit Summer Break

Holiday break

Catered lunches

Job summary

Pursuit seeks a hands-on VP of People to build and own the people function as we scale. Reporting directly to the COO, this is a true generalist role for someone who thrives working solo, moves between strategy and execution, and wants to shape culture and talent strategy at a growing company from the ground up.

You’ll partner with leadership on recruiting, comp design, culture-building and performance management—with contingent recruiting support to scale hiring volume.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in HR at growth-stage companies
• Experience as a generalist or HR leader
• Strong track record in compensation design, recruiting, and culture-building

Responsibilities

• Drive full-cycle recruiting for open roles
• Build and refine interview processes and candidate experience
• Own employer branding and help position Pursuit.AI as a top destination
• Shape and protect company culture as we grow
• Design onboarding, engagement, and retention programs at scale
• Advise leadership on comp strategy for offers and promotions
• Own HR infrastructure (HRIS, benefits, payroll, policy docs)
• Ensure employment law compliance across NY and multi-state
• Manage leave administration and lifecycle processes
• Partner with founders on org design and workforce planning

Skills

HR leadership

Generalist

Compensation design

Recruiting

Culture-building

Tools

HRIS

Payroll

Benefits administration

Job description

Role : Vice President of People
Location : Long Island City (Hybrid; Tuesday - Thursday in-office)
Reports To : COO
Compensation : $175,000 - $200,000 (+20% bonus contingent on achieving goals)

Overview

Pursuit’s mission is to create economic transformation at scale. Our comprehensive model combines rigorous training with strategic partnerships to connect and support high-quality tech talent from low-income backgrounds with leading companies. By training adults to launch and advance careers as software engineers, we help our Fellows increase their earnings from $18,000 to over $90,000 in starting salary on average, adding an estimated $2M in lifetime earnings. Since 2013, we have generated ~$1B in lifetime wage gains and partnered with top companies like Blackstone, USV, Citi, Peloton, and Uber.

As AI reshapes industries and the future of work, Pursuit is ensuring that economic mobility keeps pace. We are pioneering new approaches to AI workforce development, equipping talent from diverse backgrounds with the skills to thrive in an AI- driven economy. By working with employers, funders, and policymakers, we are shaping how the sector adapts to AI’s impact—ensuring that opportunity is expanded, not restricted, in the process.

Our vision of scaled impact is to reshape the skill training landscape and how governments, funders, and employers invest in workforce solutions. Through our innovative financial model, the Pursuit Bond, we are building the capital market to finance a sustainable model that other organizations can adopt, removing structural barriers and changing workforce development for good.

The Opportunity

Pursuit is looking for a hands-on HR leader to build and own our people function as we scale. Reporting directly to the COO, this is a true generalist role for someone who thrives working solo, moves fluidly between strategic and tactical work, and wants to shape culture and talent strategy at a growing company from the ground up. You'll partner directly with leadership on everything from recruiting and comp design to culture-building and performance management — with contingent recruiting support available to help you scale hiring volume.This is not a role for someone who wants to specialize in one lane. You'll move between a comp benchmarking exercise, a sensitive employee relations conversation, and a hiring strategy discussion in the same day — and do each one well.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive full-cycle recruiting for open roles, partnering with recruiters to scale sourcing and volume as needed
• Build and refine our interview process, hiring rubrics, and candidate experience
• Own employer branding and help position Pursuit.AI as a destination for top talent

Culture & Employee Experience

• Shape and protect company culture as we grow past initial team size
• Design onboarding, engagement, and retention programs that scale with headcount
• Serve as a trusted point of contact for employees on questions, concerns, and conflict resolution

Compensation & Incentive Design

• Build and maintain compensation bands, leveling frameworks, and market benchmarking
• Design incentive and equity programs aligned with company growth stage and goals
• Advise leadership on comp strategy for offers, promotions, and retention

HR Operations & Compliance

• Own core HR infrastructure: HRIS, benefits administration, payroll coordination, and policy documentation
• Ensure compliance with employment law across relevant jurisdictions (NY-specific and multi-state as needed), in partnership with external employment counsel as appropriate
• Manage leave administration, performance management cycles, and employee lifecycle processes end-to-end

Strategic Partnership

• Act as a thought partner to founders/leadership on org design, workforce planning, and scaling decisions
• Bring outside perspective and best practices from other growth-stage companies
• Build the people function's roadmap as the company scales past 100 employees

Experience and Competencies

• 10+ years in HR, with meaningful experience as a generalist or HR leader at a growth-stage company (startup or small company experience strongly preferred)
• Proven ability to operate as a "one-person department" — comfortable owning both strategic and operational work without a large team behind you
• Strong track record in compensation design, recruiting, and culture-building specifically (not just one of the three)
• Excellent judgment navigating ambiguous, sensitive situations with discretion
• Ability to context-switch quickly and prioritize across competing, high-stakes topics
• Experience managing or coordinating with contingent/contract recruiters a plus
• Able to lead through ambiguity, identify opportunities, and execute with urgency in complex organizations.
• Excited by the role of AI in the future of workforce development and its potential for driving innovation and systems transformation (experience with AI not required but a strong interest is essential).

Where you’ll work: Hybrid: 3 days a week in our HQ in Long Island City and 2 days wherever you work best.

Compensation: $175,000 - $200,000 with 20% bonus contingent on achieving goals

The range above is for the expectations as laid out in the job description, however we are often open to a wide variety of profiles, and recognize that the person we hire may be less experienced (or more senior) than this job description as posted. If that ends up being the case, the updated salary range will be communicated with you as a candidate.

Pursuit offers:

• Great culture where transparency, respect, teamwork, and kindness are valued with dedicated time to build in AI and hone your AI skills
• Full benefits package including 401k plus match and unlimited PTO, an all-Pursuit summer break the last week of August and a week-long holiday the last week of December
• An opportunity to work at the intersection of tech and social impact, and make a direct impact on the communities of those we serve.
• Catered lunches once a week and delicious snacks

Our team has a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, and we value the richness that diversity brings to our organization. We welcome new perspectives and affirm that all employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, age, familial or marital status, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other classification protected by federal, state, or local law. Pursuit is an equal opportunity employer.