Founding Senior HR Generalist / People Operations Lead

San Francisco, CA · On-site (5 days/week, Dogpatch) · Full-time Compensation: $160,000–$185,000 + competitive equity About the Company We're a Series A AI company building AI agents for some of the world's largest enterprise B2C companies — across voice, chat, and email — operating at real scale. The team runs lean, ships fast, and is scaling toward becoming the enterprise standard for AI-powered automation. Founded 2024 · 11–50 people · Industry: AI Tools The Role We're hiring our first dedicated HR professional to own and strengthen core HR operations as the company scales. This is a greenfield, hands‑on, execution‑focused role. You'll own the day-to-day HR function — employee lifecycle, compliance, and partnership with benefits providers and employment counsel — building the operational foundations first, then expanding into broader people programs as the function matures. What you'll be doing Own the full employee lifecycle: onboarding end to end, role changes, offboarding, and terminations Maintain employment documentation and records (offer letters, employment agreements, separation materials) Keep the HRIS clean, current, and accurate as the source of truth Serve as the primary internal owner for HR processes, including with external vendors and outside counsel Apply California employment law to guide HR decisions, especially around in‑person workplace requirements Handle employee transitions, terminations, and severance with consistency, care, and judgment Own benefits administration (health, retirement) and manage broker/provider relationships Partner closely with Finance — sometimes leading — on payroll accuracy and compliance Build and document scalable HR workflows where processes are currently informal As the function matures, take on broader people programs (performance management, manager enablement, employee experience) Systems: Rippling (HRIS) or equivalent Requirements 4–6 years HR (earlier career), first or second HR hire at a Series A or B startup California employment law fluency Rippling or equivalent HRIS Payroll fundamentals, Finance partnership Handles terminations and severance with judgment SF Dogpatch, 5 days in‑person Green Flags Multi‑state or scaling‑company employment exposure. Experience building or supporting performance management processes. Experience with broader People Operations initiatives (manager enablement, engagement, culture, employee experience) Strong appetite to invest in culture and people programs over time. Red Flags Career HR at a large, structured team (Google, Meta, Amazon HR org types) No prior one‑of‑one HR ownership. Weak or no California employment law grounding. Not ready for the pace or the in‑person model Currently at a customer of the company, especially smaller customers. Why Join Greenfield first HR hire — own and build the entire People function with real ownership and runway to grow. High‑momentum, well‑funded Series A AI company with enterprise customers. Build the foundations first, then broaden into culture, manager enablement, and employee experience. Benefits & Perks Daily catered lunch Dinner stipend $150 monthly wellness benefit 401k plan Commuter benefits Medical, dental & vision coverage #J-18808-Ljbffr David Joseph & Company