HR Generalist (Operations & Talent) (United States)

Patco Brands is one of the fastest-growing beverage companies in the United States. Independently owned, Patco has established itself by using a proprietary process with 100% Blue Weber Agave to innovate within the fast-growing ready-to-drink spirits category.

Patco is a maker of margaritas, tequila, hard seltzers, and other beverages under our own brands and for private labels. Our own brands and private labels, with nationwide distribution, include:

• Rancho La Gloria Ready to Drink Margaritas 
• Big Sipz
• Kirkland Signature Tequila 
• Kirkland Signature Hard Seltzers
• Kirkland Signature Vodka Soda

Patco products are sold at major retailers, including Costco, H.E.B., Kroger, Target, Walmart, and Whole Foods Market, to name a few.

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About the role: 

We're a lean, two-person HR team supporting a growing company, and we're adding a third person to be a true HR generalist. You'll handle day-to-day people issues, bring order to our state tax compliance work, and help run recruiting, including working with our outside recruiters on leadership searches.

Our HR doesn't run like a traditional department. There's no big team, no rigid playbook, and no one handing you a task list each morning. Priorities shift with the business, and we often build the process as we go. You'll work directly with the Head of HR and our HR Specialist, who handles candidate screening, phone screens, scheduling, and onboarding. You'll be trusted to run your areas end to end. Our roles overlap by design, so we back each other up when one area gets busy.

If you like bringing order to moving parts, enjoy being the person who makes things run smoothly behind the scenes, and want real ownership instead of close supervision, this role is for you. And if you see a better way to run our processes, we want to hear it.

This is a broad role, and the mix shifts with hiring volume.

State compliance and HR mail

• Own the scanned HR and payroll mail: triage every notice, log it, and see it through to resolution before its deadline

• Resolve payroll tax notices, such as late-filing notices or incorrect unemployment rates, by working with Rippling support and state agencies, then fix the root cause so it doesn't repeat

• Register the company for state withholding and unemployment accounts as we hire in new states, and keep rates and account numbers current in Rippling

• Build and maintain one organized tracker of state accounts, rates, registrations, and deadlines

Recruiting and outside recruiters

• Support our external recruiters on leadership searches: kickoff briefs, weekly pipeline check-ins, candidate feedback, and keeping each search moving and organized for the Head of HR

• Coordinate interview panels, collect interviewer scorecards, and prepare debriefs for the Head of HR

• Share resume screening, phone screens, and scheduling with our HR Specialist during hiring peaks

• Find ways to streamline recruiting using Rippling and automation

Leave and HR operations

• Manage leave cases with third-party Sparrow (FMLA, state paid leave, disability, accommodations) and with carriers and administrators, from request through return to work

• Keep Rippling data clean and workflows working, and back up onboarding, offboarding and payroll changes when needed

People and employee relations

• Be a point of contact for employee and manager questions on policies, benefits, pay and workplace issues

• Handle routine employee relations matters such as performance concerns, attendance and conflicts between coworkers, and escalate complex or sensitive cases to the Head of HR

• Support investigations, documentation, and corrective action

• Help keep the handbook, policies, and job descriptions current

In your first 90 days, you will

• Take over the scanned mail inbox, build a notice tracker, and clear any open notices

• Build a calendar of state accounts, rates, and compliance deadlines

• Take over coordination with outside recruiters on at least one leadership search

• Learn the recruiting workflow with the HR Specialist, agree on how you'll split the work, and suggest two or three efficiencies

• You're self-directed. You don't need check-ins to stay on track. You set your own priorities, flag risks early, and ask for help when it matters.

• You're flexible and open-minded. You're comfortable when there isn't a playbook. You adapt when priorities shift, and you don't insist on doing things the way it's always done.

• You're the organized one. You build trackers, calendars and checklists without being asked. Details don't slip through on your watch, and you leave every process better documented than you found it.

• You're a true teammate. On a team of three, not my job doesn't exist. You jump in on recruiting when hiring spikes, and you're glad when others cover for you.

• You bring ideas. You notice where time is wasted and suggest fixes, whether that's a smarter Rippling workflow, an automation, or a simpler process.

• You're steady under deadlines. Agency deadlines, leave timelines and competing hiring priorities don't rattle you.

• You're discreet and approachable. You have sound judgment with people issues. You know what you can handle and when to escalate, and employees trust you with sensitive situations.

Required

• 4+ years of HR generalist experience, ideally on a small or lean HR team

• Hands-on employee relations experience: advising managers, handling complaints and documenting issues

• Experience resolving state payroll tax notices and setting up state withholding and unemployment accounts

• Working experience with Rippling

• Recruiting experience, including working with external recruiters or agencies

• Experience administering FMLA and state leave programs

• Exceptional organization: you build trackers and calendars that others rely on

Nice to have

• SHRM-CP, PHR, or a similar HR credential

• Experience in a small or fast-growing company where you built processes from scratch

• Experience supporting executive or senior-level searches

• Experience with an applicant tracking system and recruiting automations

• Payroll processing experience, for backup coverage

• Location: Remote (US). Must be available during PST business hours for employees, managers, and candidates.

• Reports to: Head of HR

• Employment type: Full-time, exempt

• Compensation: $75,000-100,000, depending on experience

• Benefits: Health, dental, vision, PTO, 401k

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