Founding HR Generalist | People Operations

Founding Senior HR Generalist / People Operations Lead San Francisco, CA · On-site (5 days/week) · Full-time About the Opportunity A fast-scaling AI startup — recently closed a $61M Series A and serving enterprise customers — is hiring its first dedicated HR leader. This is a true greenfield role: HR has been run on the side by the CEO, and you'll be stepping in to bring professional structure, best practices, and full ownership to the function. You'll be a team of one, reporting directly to leadership. The first 30–60 days are about earning trust through operational excellence; from there, the runway to shape everything from onboarding to performance management is wide open. What You'll Do Own the full employee lifecycle — onboarding, offboarding, role changes, offer letters, and employment documentation Serve as the internal owner of Rippling and all HR systems, keeping data clean and processes tight Apply strong working knowledge of California employment law to employee transitions, terminations, and day-to-day compliance Manage benefits administration (health plans, 401(k), broker relationships) and partner with Finance on payroll accuracy Build trust across the team early, then introduce scalable processes — structured onboarding first, performance review cycles as the company grows What We're Looking For 4–7 years of HR generalist or people operations experience Background at venture-backed technology startups (Series A or later, $10M+ raised) strongly preferred Deep, hands‑on knowledge of California employment law and compliance Proficiency with Rippling or comparable HRIS platforms Track record of building HR processes from scratch or significantly maturing an early‑stage function Strong judgment on when to formalize a process vs. keep things lightweight at startup speed Bachelor's degree preferred Excellent communication and the maturity to assess the function, identify gaps, and surface staffing needs as the team scales Compensation & Logistics Base salary: $140,000 – $185,000 , plus equity On-site in San Francisco, 5 days per week (no hybrid or remote) Must be authorized to work in the U.S.; visa sponsorship and relocation are not available Immediate start #J-18808-Ljbffr BY Recruiting