People (HR) Lead

Off the Grid•San Francisco, CA

1d•$80,000 - $100,000

About The Position

The People Lead owns the full employee experience for Off the Grid’s headquarters team and event professionals, from recruiting and onboarding through employee relations, benefits, and offboarding. This is a hands-on HR generalist and builder role focused on turning existing practices into consistent, usable standards and operating systems. The People Lead supports managers through coaching, helps ensure compliance, and partners with company leaders to improve how teams work and grow. The role owns the employee lifecycle in Rippling, maintains the People knowledge base and employee handbook, and oversees recruiting and onboarding for headquarters and field roles, including seasonal hiring. It also develops visible growth paths for field roles, supports employee relations and manager development, and works with the benefits broker and Finance on open enrollment, renewal strategy, and payroll inputs. The position is primarily office-based, with regular time at events.

Requirements

At least 5 years of HR experience, including time as the accountable HR lead for an hourly, event-driven, or multi-site workforce.
Fluency in California employment law, especially wage-and-hour rules for hourly teams.
Hands-on HRIS ownership.
Experience building a People program from scratch that continued after the candidate left.
Employee relations experience, including handling separations fairly.
Ability to build trust across departments, read between the lines, and judge when to coach and when to be direct.
Strong writing skills for policies, documentation, and recommendations.
Regular event work involves standing, walking, and working outdoors in variable Bay Area weather; occasional lifting up to 25 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Experience in hospitality, events, or retail is strongly preferred.
Rippling experience is strongly preferred.
SHRM-CP or PHR certification is a plus.
A bachelor's degree is preferred but not required.

Responsibilities

Own the employee lifecycle in Rippling, including onboarding, records, leaves, and offboarding.
Build and maintain the People/HR knowledge base and employee handbook.
Maintain compliance and manage employment risk, particularly under California wage-and-hour rules for hourly event production staff.
Lead full-cycle recruiting for headquarters and field roles, beginning seasonal hiring in January.
Design onboarding that helps new hires become confident and productive quickly.
Build clear growth paths and visible advancement and pay criteria for field roles.
Partner with the CEO and department heads, identifying patterns and providing recommendations.
Lead employee relations, including conflict resolution, progressive discipline, and separations, with fairness and clear documentation.
Coach managers on feedback and difficult conversations.
Develop ongoing employee development plans by identifying shared skill gaps, sourcing external training, and helping managers apply consistent leadership approaches.
Help establish core management practices, including preparing presentations and running all-hands meetings.
Own the employee side of benefits and open enrollment with the broker, and partner with Finance on renewal strategy and payroll inputs.
Develop and communicate a consistent compensation philosophy.
Conduct regular employee check-ins and turn feedback into action.