People & Talent Operations Partner

SETI Institute•Mountain View, CA

9d•$85,000 - $120,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Every groundbreaking scientific discovery needs a rock-solid operational foundation. We are seeking a thoughtful, energetic, and highly execution-oriented People & Talent Operations Partner to serve as the structural anchor of our employee experience. Your mission is to take absolute ownership of our internal universe—managing the day-to-day administration of our HRIS/ATS (Rippling), executing flawless onboarding and offboarding workflows, and maintaining impeccable data integrity. Because our team operates across a suite of modern digital tools, you must be a curious, tech-loving learner who can jump into new platforms at warp speed. While your core focus is building a pristine, compliant operations hub, you are also an agile teammate ready to provide flexible support for recruitment pipelines and talent events. If you are a master of airtight documentation, relentless follow-ups, and building genuine internal trust, you belong at SETI.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree (or equivalent experience) and 3+ years of experience in HR Operations, People Operations, or a heavily system-focused Talent Acquisition role.
Deep, hands-on mastery managing complex day-to-day data entry and automated workflows within modern HRIS and ATS suites (Rippling strongly preferred).
Proven track record of independently commanding new hire orientations, offboarding compliance, and complex employment documentation.
Superb digital workspace literacy, specifically with Dropbox, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoom, and Slack.
Strong background in creating clean process documentation, managing system audits, and keeping stakeholders proactively informed.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting operations within mission-driven nonprofits, tech startups, research institutes, scientific settings, or academic environments.
Exposure to tracking complex immigration workflows, employment authorizations, or utilizing robust workforce planning suites (such as Rippling, Workday, BambooHR, etc.).
High comfort level confidently delivering engaging group presentations, leading interactive new hire orientations, and commanding a room.
Active experience building, managing, and analyzing advanced spreadsheets in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel, paired with proficiency in project management platforms to keep priorities moving seamlessly.
High comfort level interacting with, and building structured operational workflows for, Principal Investigators (PIs), researchers, or highly technical engineering teams.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary master administrator for Rippling HRIS/ATS, processing all lifecycle transitions (hires, status changes) and maintaining flawless digital documentation.
Act as the ultimate host for new team members by leading memorable Day 1 orientations and managing the full lifecycle of onboarding and offboarding documentation.
Run routine, comprehensive HR audits of employee files and system data to ensure absolute compliance, while supporting I-9 verifications and critical immigration coordination.
Act as the warm, incredibly responsive first line of defense for daily internal HR inquiries via email and Slack, resolving issues with speed and exceptional care.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Finance on workforce tracking and optimizing our core digital toolkit: Rippling, Slack, Zoom, Dropbox, Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, and Basecamp.