Head of People

The Opportunity

The Head of People will own the full HR ecosystem, including recruiting, onboarding, employee relations, performance management, retention, payroll, HR operations, compensation practices, compliance, manager support, and organizational development. This leader will assess the current People infrastructure and team, identify what needs to be built or improved, and create practical systems that support growth, consistency, and risk mitigation. They will partner closely with the Founder/CEO and senior leaders on organizational design, workforce planning, communication, culture, leadership effectiveness, and employee experience.

Key Priorities

• People strategy and infrastructure - Build a practical People roadmap aligned with business growth, compliance needs, employee experience, and operational realities. Establish clearer workflows, service standards, escalation paths, documentation practices, and reporting.
• Compliance and risk mitigation - Own HR compliance, with particular attention to California wage-and-hour requirements, exempt/non-exempt classification, meal and rest breaks, overtime, leaves, accommodations, final pay, recordkeeping, wage statements, policies, and manager guidance. The ideal candidate has strong risk radar and knows how to identify issues before they escalate.
• Employee relations and manager coaching - Serve as a trusted resource to employees and managers. Handle sensitive employee relations matters with sound judgment, balanced communication, appropriate documentation, and an eye toward both fairness and risk mitigation. Coach managers on performance, accountability, communication, feedback, and employee development.
• Talent acquisition and retention - Lead recruiting strategy and improve the systems that support hiring quality, hiring manager alignment, candidate experience, onboarding, retention, and early success. Partner with managers to clarify roles, improve job descriptions, strengthen selection practices, and compete effectively for talent.

Who Will Thrive

• Have built or significantly upgraded HR infrastructure in a growing organization.
• Know California employment law and wage-and-hour compliance well enough to spot risk and guide practical decisions.
• Communicate clearly, calmly, and credibly across executives, managers, and employees.
• Balance mission, empathy, accountability, and compliance.
• Be comfortable in a founder-led or entrepreneurial environment where priorities move quickly.
• Create structure without over-engineering.
• Willing to personally execute while building the team, systems, and cadence for scale.
• Bring strong judgment, high integrity, emotional intelligence, and operational discipline.

Ideal Background

• Significant HR leadership experience, ideally including ownership of the full HR function.
• Strong California employment law and wage-and-hour knowledge.
• Experience overseeing recruiting, payroll, HR operations, employee relations, compliance, performance management, and retention.
• Experience building People infrastructure in a growing, multi-site, multi-entity, regulated, service-oriented, or founder-led organization.
• Experience managing direct reports and developing team capability.
• Strong employee relations judgment, including investigations, documentation, performance issues, accommodations, and manager coaching.
• Comfort partnering directly with a founder/CEO and senior leadership team.
• Experience in healthcare, behavioral health, human services, social services, professional services, or another regulated environment is helpful but not required.