Director of People

About the Role

Atomic Machines is scaling past 250 employees. Were looking for a builder to join as our Director of People and design and lead the People function. This opportunity owns People end to end: the systems infrastructure programs and compliance that let a hardware company grow fast without breaking. Youll lead a team across the operational lifecycle from onboarding through offboarding total rewards and the People systems and data foundation the company runs on. Youll also own our move off a PEO to in-house benefits and payroll stand up the multi-state footprint that comes with our first out-of-state site drive organizational development and learning and lead our HR Business Partner function.

You will report to the VP of People & IT and partner regularly with senior leadership including the CEO alongside our Head of Strategic Growth IT and Finance representing our operational and organizational core HR functions. This is a role for someone who loves to build and build teams. To be successful youll need to evaluate technology modernize processes implement systems and design programs serving a workforce that spans engineering R&D manufacturing operations and corporate functions.

Were a hardware company and hardware moves differently than software. We need someone who has (or is excited to) build People in a hardware manufacturing or deep-tech environment and understands why that context changes what good support looks like.

This role is based onsite in either our Emeryville or Santa Clara office.

What Youll Do

People Operations

• Own the operational employee lifecycle: onboarding transfers leaves offboarding and the process documentation and governance underneath each
• Lead the transition of benefits and payroll from our PEO to in-house administration
• Own payroll operations including multi-state payroll as we expand beyond California
• Design scalable processes and internal documentation that hold up as headcount grows

Total Rewards & Benefits

• Own benefits strategy design annual renewals and broker relationships
• Run compensation administration including cycles band maintenance and the operational side of merit and equity refresh
• Manage leave administration workers compensation and 401(k) administration

Compliance Risk & Immigration

• Own employment compliance in California and every state we operate in and stand up compliance infrastructure for our first out-of-state location
• Manage immigration in partnership with outside counsel
• Own I-9 records retention employee data privacy required filings and audit readiness
• Partner with EHS and Operations on workplace safety programs across office and manufacturing environments

People Programs & Business Partnering

• Lead our HR Business Partner function setting the standard for how People supports the business
• Build and improve the operating machinery behind performance management employee development and organizational effectiveness
• Partner with the Head of Strategic Growth so People programs align to business priorities and organizational growth

Organizational Development & Learning

• Build the organizational development practice: org design support capability planning and the frameworks leaders use to structure and grow their teams
• Design and run learning and development programs from manager enablement to functional skill building across engineering manufacturing and corporate teams
• Treat onboarding as a development experience not just a process so new Atomizers reach productivity quickly in a deeply technical environment

People Systems & Data

• Evaluate implement and optimize HRIS and People technology that enables scale
• Own People data integrity reporting and the headcount analytics Finance and leadership rely on
• Apply sound judgment about when AI tools genuinely improve People work and when they dont weighing accuracy confidentiality and employee trust before adopting new tools or workflows

Leadership & Team

• Lead coach and develop the People team including People Operations and business partnering
• Establish priorities operating rhythms quality standards and scalable process across the function
• Own the People budget and vendor portfolio
• Build cross-functional partnerships with Engineering Operations Manufacturing R&D IT Finance and executive leadership

What Youll Need

• First principles thinking with high judgment. You start from what does Atomic Machines actually need and why not from what worked at your last company. This matters more than anything else on this list
• 10 years of progressive People leadership ideally scaling a startup or high-growth technology company
• Direct experience building People Operations in a hardware manufacturing or deep-tech company. Hardware startups run on different constraints and timelines than software startups and this role needs someone who has already lived that difference
• Experience building People infrastructure programs and systems from the ground up
• Depth in benefits payroll compliance HRIS implementation and operational process design
• Experience leading business partners plus organizational development and learning programs
• Experience moving a company from a PEO to in-house administration or standing up People Operations in a new state is a significant plus
• Strong knowledge of California employment law plus multi-state experience
• Working knowledge of AI tools relevant to People work including a clear point of view on their limits and when a human judgment call should override automation
• A track record of building trust with executives by delivering not just advising. Youre the person leadership comes to because youve already built the thing not because you describe well what should be built
• Ability to work primarily onsite in Emeryville or Santa Clara with regular presence at both offices
• Bachelors degree required

Salary Range

$215000 - $280000 USD