Founding People Operations Director - AI Lab - Up to $180k base + Meaningful equity

Founding People Operations Director

Palo Alto (Hybrid) · Up to $180k base + Meaningful equity

Most AI companies are building faster horses, better chatbots, slicker image generators, and longer videos. We're building something else entirely: general-purpose world models. Persistent, interactive, real-time simulations of reality. Not generated frames, but a world you can step into, act on, and return to. It's a genuinely new category of AI, and we're leading it.

We're 40+ people, backed by top-tier investors (including a major semiconductor leader and a global sovereign wealth fund), with a board that includes a co-founder of Pixar and leadership from previous successful exits. We're about to grow significantly. And the people infrastructure needs to be ready before we do, not after.

That's where you come in.

The Role: This is the founding people operations hire. Not a seat on an existing team. Not inheriting someone else's stack. You'll be the person who defines what good looks like here — from how someone's first day feels to how performance cycles run to how we stay compliant as we scale across states and borders.

You'll run Rippling like it's your instrument. You'll build onboarding that people actually remember. You'll design performance and comp programs that hold up at 40 people and at 200. You'll partner directly with leadership, move fast, and own the outcome.

What you'll own

* People systems — Rippling, Ashby, 15Five, Checkr, Oyster. Data integrity, automation, reporting, and integrations.

* Performance programs — Review cycles end-to-end, calibration, levelling, and feedback.

* Onboarding & offboarding — Structured, compliant, and genuinely welcoming.

* Comp & benefits ops — Variable pay, benchmarking, pay equity, open enrolment.

* Compliance — Multi-state, international, I-9, required trainings, audits.

You're likely a fit if:

* You have 7+ years in People Ops or HR Operations at a tech company — ideally one growing faster than it was ready for

* You're a Rippling power user, not just an admin

* You've built a performance cycle from scratch and know what to cut, not just what to add

* You're data-driven, calm under ambiguity, and genuinely care about the experience

* You've worked with AI tools in your actual workflow and have opinions on what works

We're at the stage where what you build will matter. If that's what you're looking for, we'd like to meet you.