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About the Role
Sofar Ocean is seeking a Senior People Operations Manager to own and optimize HR infrastructure end-to-end. This highly autonomous role requires identifying gaps, prioritizing tasks, and executing with minimal oversight, while maintaining a strong attention to detail in payroll, compliance, and employee data. The position is crucial for protecting company culture and wellness through operational excellence.
Responsibilities
- Own and optimize HR systems (Rippling, Ashby, Slack, and related tools), ensuring data integrity, building automation, and producing People analytics.
- Maintain compliance with federal, California, and San Francisco labor law (FMLA/CFRA, SF HCSO, FLSA).
- Lead audit readiness, including SOC 2 or SOX documentation as needed.
- Partner with finance and external vendors on payroll processing, benefits administration, and open enrollment.
- Manage onboarding, internal mobility, leaves of absence, and off-boarding processes.
- Support the transition of international team members to direct-hire employment.
- Continuously identify and remove administrative friction.
- Draft clear SOPs and keep the employee handbook current.
Requirements
- 6+ years of progressive HR experience, with at least 3 years focused on People Operations.
- Experience in a fast-growing startup environment is ideal.
- Advanced administrator experience with modern HR platforms (Rippling, Ashby, Slack, or similar).
- Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills for data analysis.
- Deep working knowledge of California employment law, wage-and-hour rules, and leave administration.
- Ability to take ownership without hand-holding, focus on details, move with urgency, and care about employee experience.
Skills
- HR Systems Administration (Rippling, Ashby, Slack)
- Data Analysis (Excel, Google Sheets)
- California Employment Law
- Wage-and-Hour Rules
- Leave Administration
- Payroll Processing
- Benefits Administration
- Onboarding
- Off-boarding
- Process Optimization
- SOP Drafting
- Employee Handbook Maintenance
- Audit Readiness (SOC 2, SOX)
Location
- San Francisco Bay Area
- Onsite at Pier 28 4 days/week
Work Type
- Onsite
- Full-time
Experience Level
- Senior
Education Level
- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field
- SHRM-SCP or SPHR is a plus
Salary/Compensations
- $130,000–$155,000
Benefits
- Competitive base salary + equity
- Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance
- Learning and development stipend
- Flexible PTO
- One company-wide office closure week
- Catered onsite lunches
- Flexible working hours
About the Company
- Sofar Ocean builds sensors and software that map and forecast ocean conditions using a Spotter buoy network, Wayfinder voyage optimization, and SpotCast.
- We are a lean, high-ownership team of approximately 100 people.