People and Talent Senior Manager

About the Role We're looking for a People & Talent Senior Manager to own the day-to-day people function at Paraform while helping build and scale the programs that shape our employee experience. You'll own the core of People Operations, including benefits, payroll coordination, compliance, onboarding, offboarding and HR systems, while partnering closely with leadership on performance management, compensation, career development, engagement and workforce planning. This is a hands-on, high-impact role at a fast-growing company of approximately 130 people. On any given week, you might resolve a complex benefits issue, develop a new leave policy, improve an onboarding process or help execute a company-wide performance and compensation cycle. We're looking for someone who combines strong operational execution with a desire to build and improve people programs. You're comfortable navigating ambiguity, exercising judgment on sensitive employee matters and translating complex processes into simple, scalable solutions. You'll work closely with our Head of People, Finance, Recruiting, Office Operations and leaders across the company. What You'll Do

• People Operations, benefits and payroll: Own the administration of employee benefits, including medical, dental, vision, 401(k), FSA and COBRA. Lead open enrollment, coordinate payroll and benefits reconciliations with Finance, resolve employee inquiries and ensure accurate, timely processing of employee changes and final pay.

• Compliance and policy: Maintain our employee handbook, employment policies and multistate compliance practices. Partner with internal stakeholders and outside counsel on leave administration, immigration, employment documentation and regulatory requirements. Support people-related SOC 2 controls and audits.

• Employee lifecycle and HR systems: Own and continuously improve the employee experience from offer acceptance through onboarding, development and offboarding. Serve as the primary administrator of our HRIS, ensuring accurate employee records, effective workflows and reliable integrations. Partner with managers on employee relations, performance improvement and separations.

• Performance and talent management: Partner with the Head of People to execute performance review cycles, including employee and manager assessments, calibration, communications and follow-through. Maintain and evolve leveling frameworks, career paths and manager resources to support clear expectations and employee development.

• Compensation and equity: Maintain compensation bands and benchmarking data, support compensation planning and review cycles, and coordinate compensation changes and offer approvals. Partner with Finance on equity administration, grants and related tracking.

• Engagement, culture and communications: Lead employee engagement and pulse surveys, analyze feedback and translate findings into actionable recommendations. Support employee recognition, internal communications and culture initiatives in partnership with leadership and Office Operations.

• People analytics and workforce planning: Maintain accurate and consistent people data across systems. Build reporting on headcount, attrition, compensation and other key people metrics. Partner with Finance and functional leaders on workforce planning and organizational decisions.

• Talent partnership: Collaborate with Recruiting on offer processes, hiring manager enablement, internal mobility and the transition from candidate to employee. Identify opportunities to improve the hiring and onboarding experience.

Required Qualifications

• 4-8+ years of progressive experience in People Operations, HR or Talent Management, including meaningful ownership of People Operations in a startup or high-growth environment.

• Strong hands-on experience administering employee benefits, supporting payroll operations and managing core employee lifecycle processes.

• Working knowledge of US employment compliance, including multistate requirements, leave administration, employment documentation and HR policies.

• Experience owning or administering an HRIS, ideally Rippling, and improving people processes through systems and automation.

• Experience supporting or executing performance management, compensation planning, leveling or other talent programs.

• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in Google Sheets or Excel, with the ability to translate people data into actionable insights.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment and discretion when handling sensitive employee matters.

• Demonstrated ability to work cross-functionally, manage competing priorities and operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

• A proactive, solutions-oriented approach with a willingness to move between strategic projects and hands-on execution.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience as an early or primary People Operations hire at a Series A–C startup.

• Experience building or scaling people programs during periods of rapid growth or organizational change.

• Experience in people or organizational consulting, including at a leading consulting firm.

• Familiarity with Pave, Carta, SOC 2 people controls or immigration coordination.

• Experience developing manager enablement programs, career frameworks or employee engagement initiatives.

• Prior people management or team leadership experience.

About Paraform Paraform is the first end-to-end AI recruiting marketplace, modernizing one of the largest and most fragmented markets in the world: hiring. We connect companies with thousands of specialized recruiters and AI agents that work together to fill roles faster and more accurately. We believe recruiting works best when human judgment is paired with AI that truly understands hiring. That's why we treat recruiters like entrepreneurs, not vendors, and build the financial, operational, and technical infrastructure that powers their success. Industry leaders like Decagon, Palantir, Rippling, Abridge, and Hightouch hire through Paraform, and we grew revenue 8× last year. We're backed by Scale, Felicis, A*, BOND, Liquid 2, DST Global, and the founders of YouTube, Instacart, Canva, and more. Our mission is to make hiring fast, reliable, and scalable for every company in the world. For more on where we're headed, read our company vision.