People & Talent Generalist (Contract Role, New York)

MATTE PROJECTS•New York, NY

7d•$8,000 - $10,000•Onsite

About The Position

MATTE is a fast-growing creative agency at the intersection of culture, design, content, and experiences. We are looking for a Contract People & Talent Generalist to join our People team this summer. This role will partner closely with our Head of People & Culture to support both talent acquisition and people operations across the business. Approximately 80% of the role will focus on recruiting, with the remaining 20% dedicated to HR operations and employee experience initiatives. The Generalist will have meaningful ownership from day one, managing searches, partnering with hiring managers, supporting employee lifecycle processes, and helping scale the systems and programs that support our team.

Requirements

2-4 years of experience across recruiting and People operations (some combination — full-cycle recruiting, talent ops, HR generalist work, or People generalist work)
Real exposure to creative and/or production hiring — you've sourced, screened, or coordinated for creative or production roles and you have a working point of view on the talent
Working knowledge of Greenhouse and Linkedin Recruiter is required.
Self-starter instincts — you find the next thing to do without being told and you keep your own work organized
Hunger to grow into a full-stack People generalist
Comfort with the in-office, side-by-side rhythm of a team of two
Genuine interest in creative and production work

Nice To Haves

Experience at an in-house brand studio, creative agency, or production company
Familiarity with creative sourcing platforms (The Dots, Behance, Vimeo)
Coursework or certification in HR (aPHR, SHRM-CP, or in progress)

Responsibilities

Run recruiting alongside the People Lead across creative, production, and other open roles — partnering on senior reqs and taking full ownership of mid-level reqs as you ramp
Source candidates across LinkedIn, Behance, Vimeo, Dribbble, and rep agencies for creative/production roles
Run phone screens, manage interview loops, and drive candidates through the funnel
Partner with hiring managers on intake, scorecards, debriefs, and next steps
Draft job descriptions, sourcing outreach, and offer letters
Build and maintain candidate pipelines for ongoing roles
Keep our ATS (Greenhouse) clean and reporting honest
Onboard new hires and contractors end-to-end (offers, I-9s, system access, day-one experience)
Manage day-to-day HRIS administration (Justworks)
Field benefits and PTO questions, maintain employee documentation
Help triage employee questions and route appropriately
Support compliance (I-9s, EEO, state-specific requirements)
Improve and document People processes as we grow