Head of People Compliance

We are a nonprofit research organization that develops scientific methods to assess AI capabilities, risks, and mitigations, with a specific focus on threats related to AI R&D automation and misalignment.
We believe it is robustly good for policymakers and civil society to have a clear understanding of risks from AI systems, and we are extremely excited to build a team of ambitious, excellent people to tackle one of the most important challenges of our time.
METR is looking to hire its first Head of People to help with METR’s next phase of growth. As Head of People, you’ll own compensation, benefits, performance, HR compliance, and staff experience at METR. Set up management coaching for managers to ensure consistent and strong management across the organization.
Run or organize management trainings and new manager orientation.
Building processes and systemsto support our next phase of growth.

Own responsibility for keeping our HRIS, as our accurate source of truth on employee data (e.g., new hires, manager changes, wage rate and variable compensation changes).
Manage compliance, including employee files, I-9s, E-Verify, regulatory filings, and trainings required by state law.
Process payroll to ensure timely payments to all employees and contractors and compliance with the law.
Manage benefits, including healthcare enrollment and educating staff about the benefits; Owning our compensation philosophy,promotion framework, and performance review process to ensure they are fair, transparent and clear to the team.
Designing and executing a streamlined employee onboarding process that gets new hires the tools, information and support they need to ramp up quickly, and that scales as we grow.
Handling employee relations as a trusted advisor to both employees and managers, resolving conflicts, performance concerns and workplace issues fairly and with discretion.
You have sound judgement when handling sensitive HR-related matters.
You have strong attention to detail and hold a high bar for quality in everything you deliver.
At least 8 years of experience in HR and People Operations roles, including experience scaling People Ops function and managing a team.
Experience navigating California and federal employment laws, such as benefits compliance (including ACA, COBRA, ERISA/401(k), HIPAA, FMLA, and qualifying life events), worker classification, and employee leaves.
Health: Medical, dental and vision coverage with 99% employee premiums paid, plus an employer funded HRA for out-of-pocket health costs
Life Insurance: Employer-paid basic life insurance at 1x salary
Retirement: 401(k) with a 100% match up to 8% of salary
Relocation support: The office: in-office gym and shower
Wellness: for gym memberships, equipment, therapy, medication, and other wellness expenses
Professional development: for training, courses, conferences, and AI safety education
Work equipment: for home office and workstation equipment expenses

We're fiercely committed to producing high-quality, trustworthy science. We've earned trust as reliable partners who handle confidential information with care. Our operations team members are in our office in Berkeley ~4-5 days/week. Please let us know in your application if this is a constraint. If you lack US work authorization and would like to work in-person (strongly preferred), we can likely sponsor a cap-exempt H-1B visa for this role.
We would rather review a larger pool of applications than risk missing out on a promising candidate for the position.
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