Director, People Operations & Total Rewards (New York)

Director, People Operations & Total Rewards

About Formation Bio

Formation Bio is a tech and AI driven pharma company differentiated by radically more efficient drug development.

Advancements in AI and drug discovery are creating more candidate drugs than the industry can progress because of the high cost and time of clinical trials. Recognizing that this development bottleneck may ultimately limit the number of new medicines that can reach patients, Formation Bio, founded in 2016 as TrialSpark Inc., has built technology platforms, processes, and capabilities to accelerate all aspects of drug development and clinical trials. Formation Bio partners, acquires, or in-licenses drugs from pharma companies, research organizations, and biotechs to develop programs past clinical proof of concept and beyond, ultimately helping to bring new medicines to patients. The company is backed by investors across pharma and tech, including a16z, Sequoia, Sanofi, Thrive Capital, Sam Altman, John Doerr, Spark Capital, SV Angel Growth, and others.

You can read more at the following links:

At Formation Bio, our values are the driving force behind our mission to revolutionize the pharma industry. Every team and individual at the company shares these same values, and every team and individual plays a key part in our mission to bring new treatments to patients faster and more efficiently.

About the Position

Formation Bio is looking for a Director of People Operations & Total Rewards to own the strategy and execution of our people infrastructure.

Reporting to the SVP, Head of People, you'll drive outcomes that advance company priorities by building compensation expertise in-house, designing scalable people programs, and ensuring operational excellence across our systems and processes. This is a high-impact role for someone who can make independent, complex decisions with a company-wide perspective by evaluating tradeoffs in compensation strategy, benefits design, and program implementation while anticipating long-term implications for our unique business model.

We're looking for someone who brings genuine enthusiasm for AI innovation and automation. Someone who believes people operations can be deeply human while leveraging AI to drive efficiency and scale. You'll be instrumental in building an AI-native people function that reflects Formation's broader mission and culture.

Responsibilities

This role will cover three key areas critical to the success of the People function and business:

People Operations Excellence

• Drive AI-native operations across the people function - identifying opportunities to leverage technology while maintaining the human elements of our work
• Ensure compliance and evolve our people processes to ensure they are fit for purpose as the business scales
• Lead cross‑functional processes and partner with internal stakeholders including Legal, Finance, Tech Ops, and Quality Assurance
• Serve as escalation point for complex operational issues, benefits decisions, and compensation situations
• Manage external vendor relationships and consultant partnerships
• Own compensation strategy and execution for Formation's unique business model, including framework design, market positioning, and equity programs
• Lead benefits strategy, vendor selection, and plan design; ensuring our total rewards package is competitive and supports our culture and business needs
• Own cyclical compensation reviews end‑to‑end
• Partner on complex offer negotiations and provide market intelligence and competitive positioning recommendations

Program Design & Strategic Execution

• Elevate and own our annual performance, promotion and compensation review process to ensure quality, consistency, and scalability as we grow
• Partner with Director, People Business Partner on program execution and continuous improvement
• Anticipate program needs based on business growth and evolution

About You

• 8+ years of experience in people operations, total rewards, and/or HR leadership roles
• Deep compensation expertise - you've designed frameworks, led market analysis, structured equity programs, and can think strategically about total rewards in complex or unique business models
• Proven track record implementing AI and automation - you have concrete results in people operations, not just enthusiasm, and a strong vision for where an AI-native function can go
• Strong operational background - you've owned people systems, benefits, compliance, and built scalable people operations infrastructure
• Experience designing and scaling talent management programs - you know how to balance quality with operational efficiency
• Ability to make independent, complex decisions - you evaluate tradeoffs with a company-wide perspective and anticipate long-term implications
• Strong ownership mentality and high accountability - you take full responsibility for outcomes and drive work to completion
• People management experience - you've developed and elevated individuals and teams, and care deeply about career development
• Strong cross‑functional partnership skills - you build excellent relationships with internal teams and external vendors
• Comfortable working in fast‑paced, high‑growth environments - you can be both strategic and hands‑on
• Experience in biotech, pharma, or other technical/regulated industries is a plus but not required

Formation Bio is prioritizing hiring in key hubs, primarily the New York City and Boston metro areas. These positions will follow a hybrid work model with 1-3 days required at the office. Applicants from the Research Triangle (NC) and San Francisco Bay Area may also be considered. Please only apply if you reside in these locations or are willing to relocate.

Compensation Range: $185,500 - $267,000

Salary ranges are informed by a number of factors including geographic location. The range provided includes base salary only. In addition to base salary, we offer equity, comprehensive benefits, generous perks, hybrid flexibility, and more. If this range doesn't match your expectations, please still apply because we may have something else for you.

You will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.