People Operations Specialist

Astro Mechanica•San Francisco, CA

4d•$115,000 - $170,000•Onsite

About The Position

Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company building a faster, more connected future. Our mission is to democratize high-speed flight by making supersonic travel flexible, accessible, and sustainable. We believe that rapid, on-demand, point-to-point global mobility will become the new standard for moving people and goods across the planet. To achieve this, we are integrating our advanced airframe and engine technologies—which include Duality™, our proprietary dual-use propulsion system—with a new flight operations model to make supersonic transport as efficient and economical as commercial air travel is today. In the near term, we are developing adaptable, high-speed systems to close aircraft performance gaps for the United States government. We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy. You are a strong operator with a people-first mindset who is passionate about creating an exceptional employee experience. You are excited to own the employee journey from offer acceptance through offboarding, ensuring every interaction is seamless, thoughtful, and well executed. You are exceptionally organized and detail-oriented, with a track record of managing multiple priorities while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. You thrive in a fast-paced environment, are comfortable navigating ambiguity, and take pride in bringing structure and consistency to complex problems. You build trust quickly through excellent interpersonal and communication skills, exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive and confidential matters, and know when to resolve issues independently. Most importantly, you take ownership, sweat the details, and are excited to shape what it means to work at Astro Mechanica as the company grows.

Requirements

3–6+ years of experience in People Operations, HR Operations, Benefits Administration, or a generalist HR role with significant operational ownership
Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and multi-state HR compliance, with sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus escalate to leadership or outside counsel
Experience independently owning a benefits renewal cycle, including broker coordination, plan evaluation, employee communications, and open enrollment
Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities and ensure nothing falls through the cracks
Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust across all levels of the organization while handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion
A proactive, ownership-oriented mindset with the ability to build processes, solve problems, and drive initiatives with minimal direction
Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment where priorities evolve quickly

Nice To Haves

Experience in aerospace, defense or another hardware-focused industry a plus
Familiarity with ITAR facilities a plus

Responsibilities

Build scalable People Operations processes from the ground up, creating systems that enable the company to grow while staying lean
Support recruiting operations, including interview scheduling, candidate coordination, ATS administration, reporting, and recruiting metrics to provide visibility into hiring health across the organization
Own benefits administration end-to-end, including enrollment, employee support, vendor management, compliance, annual renewals, and continuous improvements to the employee experience
Own HR compliance administration across multiple states, including claims management, compliance, and coordination with insurance carriers and external partners, catching gaps before they become liabilities
Own onboarding execution, including employment documentation, HRIS setup, benefits enrollment, and first-day readiness
Support compensation planning, market benchmarking, equity administration, and annual compensation review cycles in partnership with leadership
Serve as the primary point of contact for employee questions related to benefits, policies, and HR operations, exercising sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus when to involve leadership or outside counsel
Own and continuously improve HR systems, documentation, workflows, and reporting to increase operational efficiency and reduce administrative burden