Director of People Operations

Director, People & Business Operations

• Location: Kingston, NY-based hybrid role; periodic travel to New York City
• Job Type: Full-time, exempt
• Compensation: $150,000-$180,000 base salary, plus annual bonus eligibility and equity participation

About Kate McLeod

Kate McLeod is building the defining brand in solid body care, transforming deep moisturization into a daily practice of touch, connection, and care. Our waterless formulas melt directly into the skin without dilution or fillers, and our hero product, The Body Stone™, is clinically proven to boost moisture levels and keep skin hydrated for 72 hours. We manufacture in our own Hudson Valley workshop and sell through katemcleod.com and retail partners including Sephora and Nordstrom.

The Role

Kate McLeod is hiring a Director, People & Business Operations to lead our People function and serve as the internal owner for a defined portfolio of corporate operations, including legal coordination, employee technology, insurance, and risk. Reporting directly to the CEO, this person will be our senior internal People leader and primary liaison to outside counsel, IT partners, insurance brokers, and carriers. They will ensure issues are investigated, coordinated, and brought forward for CEO review with clear context, options, risks, and a recommendation-drawing on external subject-matter experts where appropriate.

This role is well suited to a practical, highly resourceful builder who can move comfortably between sensitive employee matters, manager counsel, organizational design, and detailed execution. The person must also be able to get quickly oriented to unfamiliar legal, technology, insurance, and risk questions; engage the right experts; and translate complexity into clear decisions and next steps. Candidates may come from a senior People Operations path or from consulting, strategy, or business operations, but must bring substantive experience in people and organizational work.

This role is based at our Hudson Valley headquarters in Kingston, with regular on-site presence and periodic travel to our New York City office. Candidates based in Kingston or elsewhere in the Hudson Valley are strongly preferred. We may consider exceptional candidates based in New York City who can maintain a consistent presence in Kingston. The exact cadence will reflect business needs and the candidate's home base, but Kingston will be this role's primary working location.

Responsibilities

People Operations

• Own the employee lifecycle from offer through exit, including recruiting, onboarding, internal moves, and offboarding
• Manage the HRIS and employee records; coordinate payroll and benefits through our PEO; and administer leaves and accommodations
• Run performance and compensation cycles, including calendars, tools, documentation, and governance of the company's leveling and compensation architecture
• Build manager tools for goal setting, feedback, development, performance management, and escalation across both salaried and Workshop teams
• Provide first-line employee relations support: advise managers and employees on sensitive matters, lead or coordinate investigations, and partner with employment counsel as needed to ensure timely, consistent, and well-documented resolutions
• Maintain clear policies, a current employee handbook, and workforce reporting; turn People data into actionable recommendations
• Keep the role architecture, organization chart, and job description library current and consistently used
• Lead change management and employee communications for new People processes, policies, systems, and practices, establishing clear ownership and expectations for adoption

Business Operations and Risk

• Serve as the internal owner and CEO's primary point of contact for outside HR advisors, counsel, IT partners, insurance brokers, and carriers, translating specialist input into clear context, options, risks, and recommendations
• Manage these partner relationships, including scope, contracts, renewals, cost, service standards, and accountability
• Oversee employee account provisioning, access management, and related data privacy controls
• Coordinate recurring governance, risk, and compliance work, with clear calendars, owners, documentation, and escalation paths
• Lead selected CEO-sponsored projects related to people, legal coordination, technology, risk, or governance, bringing forward options and a clear recommendation

Experience and Qualifications

• Eight or more years of relevant experience across People Operations, HR, organizational effectiveness, management consulting, strategy, Chief of Staff, or business operations roles, including meaningful hands-on work in organizational design, talent systems, performance and compensation, workforce planning, or change management
• Candidates may bring one of two backgrounds: a People leader who has developed broad business and operating range, or a strategy and operations leader with substantial people and organization experience who is prepared to own the practical work of the People function
• Experience as a hands-on leader in a lean, growing organization, with the judgment to move between strategic design, sensitive counsel, and detailed execution
• Demonstrated sound judgment in employee relations and employment compliance, with the ability to identify risk and partner effectively with outside counsel and HR advisors; multi-state experience is strongly preferred
• Comfortable owning unfamiliar legal, technology, insurance, and risk matters; skilled at engaging subject-matter experts and translating their input into clear options for executive decision-making
• Experience supporting both salaried and hourly, frontline, or manufacturing employees; manufacturing, consumer products, or beauty experience is a plus
• Fluency with HRIS and PEO platforms, benefits administration, compensation governance, and workforce reporting
• A record of building clear, repeatable systems from partial foundations and reducing dependence on any single individual
• Strong program and project management skills, with the ability to coordinate multiple vendors, legal matters, and executive priorities simultaneously
• Clear, trusted written and verbal communication, particularly for policies, manager guidance, organizational change, and sensitive employee matters
• Empathy and discretion paired with an operator's precision, accountability, and willingness to own adjacent work

Benefits and Perks

• Competitive base salary, annual bonus eligibility, and equity participation
• Paid time off, paid sick leave, and company holidays
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with significant employer contribution
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Generous product program and employee discount
• A collaborative, supportive culture that values excellent work, personal ownership, and celebration

Equal Opportunity

Kate McLeod is committed to building a diverse team and fostering an inclusive workplace. We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and consider qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, creed, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

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