People Operations Manager

EQL Tech•San Francisco, CA

15d•$150,000 - $200,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Transluce is a non-profit AI research lab focused on building tools to oversee and guide AI development for the public good. They are expanding from 20 to over 40 employees in the next year and are seeking their first dedicated People/HR hire. This individual-contributor role reports directly to the Chief of Staff and is responsible for designing and running people operations systems. The role involves both strategic planning and day-to-day execution, with the potential to expand into other operational domains and help build future operations roles. The position is based in San Francisco and requires working from the office four days a week.

Requirements

Owned hiring rounds end-to-end alongside hiring managers, with strong foundational HR knowledge
Personally owned core people operations - payroll, benefits, onboarding, visas - and are excited to run them hands-on, not just direct them
Strong interpersonal skills; navigate complexity with honesty, care and discretion
Excellent written and verbal communication

Nice To Haves

4+ years running people operations, ideally at a growing startup or nonprofit
Experience recruiting highly sought-after technical or research talent; familiarity with the AI research ecosystem is a plus
Experience scaling a people function as an organization grows
Comfortable using AI or other productivity tools to work effectively - or eager to learn

Responsibilities

Own our hiring process end-to-end: candidate communications, scheduling, program management, funnel analysis
Shape our sourcing strategy - channels, events, partners, outreach - to raise the quality of our top of funnel
Build onboarding that gives new employees everything they need in their first week, not their first month
Own benefits, payroll and HRIS: run them yourself, choose and switch vendors, and be the person the team trusts with any question about them
Establish the policies and practices that keep our culture strong as we grow - candid feedback, continuous learning, clear expectations for good work
Advise managers and employees through sensitive situations: performance concerns, conflict, feedback, employee relations
Own our federal and multi-state employment compliance
Decide what we handle in-house versus escalate to outside counsel and HR providers
Make the calls that carry real risk: leaves, accommodations, worker classification
Meet the deadlines that can't slip: visa cases with external counsel, business licenses, state registrations, required trainings and postings