Human Resources Generalist

Primary Work Address: Leichtag Biomedical Research Building, La Jolla, CA, 92093-0646

Current HHMI Employees, click here to apply via your Workday account.

This broad generalist role covers the full employee lifecycle at HHMI. You'll sit within the People & Culture team supporting labs across the US, working alongside HR Business Partners and HR Generalists.

In a given week, you might run new hire orientation, coordinate an exit interview, follow up on a leave status, and help draft a job profile with Compensation. The work combines established processes with situations that require judgment.

You'll often be the first person a new hire meets and someone managers rely on when sensitive situations arise. The role requires discretion, sound judgment and care.

What you will do

• Own onboarding end to end: preboarding, orientation and 30- and 90-day check-ins.

• Run the offboarding process, from resignation through exit interviews, and identify themes in exit survey data for the HRBP team.

• Support employee relations casework alongside HR Business Partners: intakes, development plans, memos, and Performance Improvement Plans.

• Identify opportunities to improve HR processes and workflows, then help design and implement better ways of working.

• Actively use AI and other technology to improve how HR work gets done, from reducing manual steps and improving documentation to creating better tools and experiences for employees and managers.

• Participate in P&C projects that cut across HR and other functions, contributing both subject-matter knowledge and hands-on implementation support.

• Handle the details around restructurings, position eliminations and lab closures when they happen: talking points for supervisors, severance paperwork and clear, accurate communications.

• Be the point person for new job profiles, working with Compensation and P&C leadership from first conversation through approval.

• Coordinate benefits and leave questions with the Benefits team and HHMI's leave administrator, as well as retirement enrollment.

• Support recruitment activities in Workday and the performance review cycle, and build the checklists and SOPs that keep the rest of HR consistent.

What we are looking for

• Broad generalist experience. You've worked across onboarding, offboarding, benefits, compensation, leave and employee relations rather than within a single HR specialty.

• Judgment with confidential matters. You know when to escalate, how to maintain confidentiality and how to document sensitive matters clearly

• Able to manage competing priorities. You can manage multiple priorities without losing track of detail or follow-through.

• A process improvement mindset with strong technology fluency. You notice when a process is more manual or complicated than it needs to be and are comfortable using AI and other tools to improve it, with sound judgment around accuracy, confidentiality and risk.
• Comfort balancing projects with ongoing HR work. You can contribute to broader P&C initiatives, help move work from idea through implementation and still stay on top of the operational details that keep HR running.

Nice to have

• Experience with Workday specifically, not just an HRIS in general.

• Exposure to compensation, job architecture, benefits and leave administration work.

What this role is not

• This is not a purely administrative or forms-processing job. The role includes transactional work, but it also requires judgment.

• This is not a strategic HRBP role. You'll contribute through the issues, patterns and risks you identify and escalate, but the day-to-day work is operational.

• This is not a specialist role. You'll work across onboarding, employee relations and total rewards, often within the same week.

Practical details

This role is based in San Diego and follows a hybrid schedule. You'll report to an HR Business Partner. We're looking for three to five years of progressive HR experience, including at least two years in a generalist-type role, plus a bachelor's degree or equivalent experience.

Physical Requirements:

Remaining in a normal seated or standing position for extended periods of time; reaching and grasping by extending hand(s) or arm(s); dexterity to manipulate objects with fingers, for example using a keyboard; communication skills using the spoken word; ability to see and hear within normal parameters; ability to move about workspace. The position requires mobility, including the ability to move materials weighing up to several pounds (such as a laptop computer or tablet).

Persons with disabilities may be able to perform the essential duties of this position with reasonable accommodation. Requests for reasonable accommodation will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Please Note: This job description sets forth the job's principal duties, responsibilities, and requirements; it should not be construed as an exhaustive statement, however. Unless they begin with the word "may," the Essential Duties and Responsibilities described above are "essential functions" of the job, as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Compensation and Benefits

Our employees are compensated from a total rewards perspective in many ways for their contributions to our mission, including competitive pay, exceptional health benefits, retirement plans, time off, and a range of recognition and wellness programs. Visit our Benefits at HHMI site to learn more.


Hiring Pay Range
$72,577.39 - $90,721.74

Pay Type:
Annual
The posted range reflects HHMI's good faith estimate of the anticipated hiring salary range for this role at the time of posting. Actual hiring compensation is determined by a candidate's qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

HHMI is an Equal Opportunity Employer

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