Director of People Operations

Transforming Customer Experiences•Phoenix, AZ

9d•$155,000 - $190,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Intro At MO, we challenge the status quo and help government leaders shape the future. We engineer scalable, human-centered solutions that help agencies deliver their mission faster and better. Our teams blend product, design, AI, data, and modern software practices to modernize legacy systems, build new digital platforms, and deliver mission-ready products that drive sustainable change. We live by our values—Own It. Grow Together. Lead with Courage and Integrity. Win as One. Sustain the Climb. Stay Human. They guide how we build, collaborate, and lead. From cloud infrastructure and data engineering to AI integration and service design, we connect technology and experience to deliver outcomes that scale. We’re building a company where technologists, designers, and builders can serve the mission, grow their craft, and help shape the future of digital government. At MO, your work doesn’t just make a difference—it advances the mission and helps build a more capable, trusted, and human government. Overview The Director of People is a senior people operator responsible for building, operating, and scaling MO’s people systems as the company enters its next phase of growth. This role is critical to enabling MO to double in size over the next year while maintaining strong leadership, compliance, high talent density, and a high-trust culture. This role partners closely with the CEO and executive leadership team to translate business strategy into practical, scalable people operations. The Director of People is both a builder and an operator—comfortable designing systems from scratch and running them day-to-day in a fast-moving, mission-driven environment. This role is designed for a builder who thrives in periods of growth, ambiguity, and change, and who is energized by helping leaders and teams scale with intention. As a technology-forward company, MO expects leaders to thoughtfully apply modern tools, including AI, to improve how we operate and scale. The Director of People reports directly to the CEO and partners closely with the executive leadership team to support MO’s growth, leadership development, and people operations. This role is hybrid, with a strong preference for candidates based in the Phoenix, AZ area to enable close collaboration with CEO. Exceptional candidates located in approved states may be considered, with the expectation of regular in-person time in Arizona and / or Washington, DC.

Requirements

10+ years of progressive experience in people operations, HR leadership, or talent operations roles.
Demonstrated experience scaling teams in professional services and/or technology-driven organizations.
Strong working knowledge of government contracting environments, compliance requirements, and regulated clients.
Experience supporting rapid growth (e.g., doubling headcount or similar scale).
Proven ability to partner with senior leaders and influence outcomes without unnecessary bureaucracy.
Practical, execution-oriented mindset with strong judgment, discretion, and integrity.
Comfort leveraging modern HR technologies and AI-enabled tools to streamline workflows, improve insight, and scale people operations responsibly.
Experience operating in remote first companies and across multi-state employment environments.
Experience operating within a structured operating system (e.g., EOS or similar) and comfort working in environments with clear goals, metrics, and accountability.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Bachelor’s degree required

Nice To Haves

advanced degree or professional certifications (e.g., SHRM-CP/SCP, SPHR) a plus.
Government, civic tech, or public sector experience strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

People Operations & Scaling (Execution & Day-to-Day) Build, operate, and continuously execute the core people operations required to support rapid growth and day-to-day business performance.
Own end-to-end employee lifecycle execution including recruiting coordination, onboarding, performance management, development processes, and offboarding.
Build and operate scalable, compliant people operations to support rapid headcount growth across delivery, technology, product, and corporate functions.
Design, implement, and maintain people policies, playbooks, and SOPs that are practical, compliant, and aligned to MO’s values, operating model, and Quality Management System.
Ensure people operations function effectively across multiple states, client environments, and regulatory contexts.
Own benefits administration and execution, including vendor management and the company’s PEO relationship, ensuring compliance, cost-effectiveness, and strong employee experience.
Partner with finance and operations leaders to manage benefit costs, vendor performance, and operational trade-offs.
Support MO’s EOS-based operating cadence by executing people-related processes tied to goal-setting, performance tracking, and quarterly planning.
Maintain accurate, audit-ready people records and documentation to support contracts, audits, and compliance requirements.
Leadership Enablement & Talent Partner with the CEO, executives, and directors to improve hiring quality, role clarity, performance expectations, and leadership effectiveness.
Support leaders through growth-driven change, including role evolution, team scaling, and organizational transitions.
Help establish clear performance standards, feedback rhythms, and accountability practices across the organization.
Contribute to leadership development and succession planning as MO grows.
Compliance & Risk Management Own HR compliance across federal, state, and local employment regulations, including government contracting requirements.
Ensure alignment with labor laws, pay transparency requirements, background checks, and clearance-related obligations.
Partner with finance, legal, and operations leaders to ensure people practices align with contracts, audits, and risk posture.
Maintain accurate, audit-ready documentation and records.
Culture & Employee Experience Reinforce MO’s values through systems, leadership expectations, and everyday people practices.
Identify and address engagement, performance, or retention risks proactively.
Support a high-trust, high-accountability environment where people are challenged, supported, and able to do their best work.
People Systems, Strategy & Infrastructure (Design, Evolution & Scale) Design, evolve, and future-proof MO’s people strategy and systems to enable sustained growth, leadership effectiveness, and organizational scalability.
Own and evolve MO’s people strategy in direct alignment with business strategy, operating model, and growth objectives.
Translate business priorities and future-state plans into scalable people initiatives across hiring, performance, development, engagement, and retention.
Own and continuously improve people systems and infrastructure (e.g., HRIS, data, workflows, reporting) to support clarity, decision-making, and scale.
Ensure people data, analytics, and reporting enable leadership insight, workforce planning, and proactive risk management.
Anticipate future organizational, capability, and talent needs as MO grows into new markets, clients, and offerings.
Assess, design, and implement system improvements, automation, and AI-enabled capabilities to increase efficiency, consistency, and scalability of people operations.
Partner with the CEO and executive leadership team on long-term workforce planning, organizational design, and people-related strategic decisions.
Ensure people systems evolve intentionally alongside company growth rather than reacting to scale after the fact.
Learning, Capability & Skill Building Establish a practical approach to learning and development that supports role effectiveness, leadership growth, and capability building as MO scales.
Partner with leaders to identify critical skills, capability gaps, and development priorities across delivery, engineering, data science, design, product, and corporate teams.
Support leadership and manager development through clear expectations, feedback practices, and targeted development efforts.
Ensure learning and capability-building efforts are embedded in how MO operates, rather than treated as standalone programs.
Talent Pipelines & Workforce Planning Build and maintain diverse, high-quality, and differentiated talent pipelines aligned to MO’s current and future capability needs.
Partner with leaders to anticipate future talent and skill requirements as the company grows into new markets, clients, and offerings.
Develop sourcing strategies that expand access to talent while maintaining MO’s bar for quality, values alignment, and performance.
Ensure workforce planning and hiring efforts support both near-term delivery needs and long-term strategic growth.
This role is responsible for ensuring MO’s people strategy, systems, and capabilities scale intentionally and sustainably alongside the business.