Job description

Santa Clara, CA | Reports to the Head of People and Culture LeanData helps the world’s fastest-growing companies automate, simplify, and accelerate revenue. As our business evolves, we’re building the People infrastructure to support what comes next. We’re looking for a Director of People Operations and Total Rewards who can strengthen our foundation, simplify how work gets done, and build programs that help us attract, retain, and support exceptional talent in our championship culture. You’ll own People Operations, compensation, and benefits, partnering closely with Finance, IT, and our People Business Partner. You’ll join a small, collaborative People team with the opportunity to shape the function, influence business decisions, and see the impact of your work directly. We share responsibility for the team’s success, support one another through competing priorities, and step in where we can make a difference. Some of our systems and processes were built for an earlier stage. Your opportunity is to determine what to keep, what to improve, and what to reimagine, creating capacity through better systems, clear ownership, and thoughtful automation. This is a hybrid role, with 3 days onsite (M/W/Th) in our Santa Clara office. WHO WILL THRIVE HERE You’re a builder who enjoys turning complexity into something practical and easy to use. You can set a direction, make a recommendation, and get into the details to deliver it. You take pride in both the quality of your decisions and the reliability of everyday operations. You understand that People Operations is part of how the business performs. You bring financial discipline and employee empathy to decisions, explain trade-offs clearly, and build trust through sound judgment and follow-through. You’re curious about what’s possible with AI and automation, and are thoughtful about where human judgment matters. You challenge processes that no longer serve their purpose, learn quickly, and move improvements forward without waiting for perfect conditions. You’re a strong teammate who listens before making changes, respects the expertise others bring, and builds solutions with the people who will use them. You share information openly, welcome feedback, and work through disagreements directly and respectfully. You’re comfortable leading an initiative, supporting someone else’s, and rolling up your sleeves when the team needs help. Our values should feel familiar in how you work: ● Champion Customers: Understand the needs of the employees and leaders you support and make their experience better. ● Wonder Why: Ask questions, investigate root causes, and stay open to a better approach. ● Own It: Take accountability from identifying a problem through delivering a lasting solution. ● Build Bold: Test new approaches and turn ideas into measurable improvements. ● One Team: Work with low ego, share context, and build solutions across functions. Follow through on commitments, address challenges together, and put shared outcomes ahead of individual credit. WHAT YOU’LL OWN PEOPLE OPERATIONS AND SYSTEMS ● Set and execute the People Operations roadmap, prioritizing improvements based on business needs, employee experience, risk, and available resources. ● Own reliable operations across onboarding, offboarding, employee records, leaves, accommodations, policies, and employee changes. ● Partner with Finance on payroll, establishing clear responsibilities, accurate inputs, reconciliations, and timely resolution of issues. ● Improve our HR technology stack, integrations, workflows, documentation, and data quality. Use AI and automation to reduce manual work while protecting sensitive information and validating results. ● Establish service standards, controls, and escalation paths, and personally resolve complex operational issues. ● Partner with the People Business Partner on performance-cycle operations, organizational changes, and program rollouts, with clear ownership and coordinated employee communication. Build a close working partnership that connects operational improvements with what employees, managers, and the business need. ● Coordinate immigration matters with external counsel and internal stakeholders, ensuring dependable tracking, communication, and follow-through. TOTAL REWARDS ● Develop and evolve our compensation and benefits strategy with the Head of People and Culture, People Business Partner, and Finance, balancing competitiveness, internal equity, affordability, and business priorities. ● Lead market benchmarking, job architecture, leveling, salary ranges, pay equity analysis, and compensation review cycles. ● Advise leaders on offers, promotions, incentives, and retention decisions, using market data and clear decision frameworks. ● Partner with Finance and Legal on equity program administration, approvals, and employee communications. ● Translate complex analysis into clear recommendations and help managers communicate compensation decisions with confidence. BENEFITS AND WELLBEING ● Own benefits strategy and delivery, including renewals, plan evaluation, cost modeling, open enrollment, and employee communications. ● Manage brokers, carriers, and vendors, holding partners accountable for service, accuracy, and value. ● Use employee feedback, utilization, and market insights to recommend improvements that balance employee needs with cost. ● Make benefits and leave programs understandable and accessible to employees. COMPLIANCE, ANALYTICS, AND BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP ● Maintain compliant People practices across applicable employment requirements, with strong working knowledge of California and federal requirements and sound judgment about when to involve counsel. ● Own operational audit readiness, records management, access controls, and documentation; identify and address risks proactively. ● Partner with Finance, IT, Legal, and business leaders on workforce data, budgeting, systems, and operational priorities. ● Build useful reporting on workforce trends, compensation, benefits costs, and operational performance. ● Measure whether improvements reduce errors, save time, strengthen controls, and improve the employee experience. WHAT YOU BRING ● 7+ years of progressive experience across People Operations, total rewards, or related HR disciplines, with accountability for a broad portfolio. ● A track record of building or improving People infrastructure in a lean, changing environment. ● Direct ownership of compensation programs, including benchmarking, salary structures, compensation cycles, and advising leaders on decisions. ● Experience owning benefits renewals, broker relationships, program costs, and enrollment. ● Strong HR systems and payroll process knowledge, including integrations, reporting, data quality, and controls. ● Practical experience managing employment compliance and sensitive operational issues. ● Financial and analytical confidence, including building cost models, evaluating market data, and making clear recommendations. ● Evidence of delivering measurable process improvements through technology, automation, or simpler ways of working. ● Strong communication, prioritization, and cross-functional leadership skills, with the willingness to stay hands-on. EXPERIENCE THAT WOULD BE HELPFUL ● B2B SaaS or technology company experience. ● Experience supporting a primarily California-based workforce, with smaller teams in other locations, and coordinating immigration matters with external counsel. ● Experience with BambooHR, ADP Workforce Now, Lattice, Pave, Radford, or comparable platforms. ● Relevant HR, compensation, or benefits certifications. WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE Employees and managers experience accurate, responsive support. Our systems require less manual work, our data is dependable, and responsibilities across People and Finance are clear. Leaders have practical frameworks for compensation decisions, and the People team has more capacity to support the business as it evolves.

Requirements

Must-haves

Santa Clara, CA | Reports to the Head of People and Culture
LeanData helps the world’s fastest-growing companies automate, simplify, and accelerate revenue.
This is a hybrid role, with 3 days onsite (M/W/Th) in our Santa Clara office.
Our values should feel familiar in how you work:
Champion Customers: Understand the needs of the employees and leaders you support and make their experience better.
Wonder Why: Ask questions, investigate root causes, and stay open to a better approach.
Own It: Take accountability from identifying a problem through delivering a lasting solution.
Build Bold: Test new approaches and turn ideas into measurable improvements.
One Team: Work with low ego, share context, and build solutions across functions. Follow through on commitments, address challenges together, and put shared outcomes ahead of individual credit.
Set and execute the People Operations roadmap, prioritizing improvements based on business needs, employee experience, risk, and available resources.
Own reliable operations across onboarding, offboarding, employee records, leaves, accommodations, policies, and employee changes.
Partner with Finance on payroll, establishing clear responsibilities, accurate inputs, reconciliations, and timely resolution of issues.
Improve our HR technology stack, integrations, workflows, documentation, and data quality. Use AI and automation to reduce manual work while protecting sensitive information and validating results.
Establish service standards, controls, and escalation paths, and personally resolve complex operational issues.
Coordinate immigration matters with external counsel and internal stakeholders, ensuring dependable tracking, communication, and follow-through.
Own benefits strategy and delivery, including renewals, plan evaluation, cost modeling, open enrollment, and employee communications.
Manage brokers, carriers, and vendors, holding partners accountable for service, accuracy, and value.
Use employee feedback, utilization, and market insights to recommend improvements that balance employee needs with cost.
Make benefits and leave programs understandable and accessible to employees.
Maintain compliant People practices across applicable employment requirements, with strong working knowledge of California and federal requirements and sound judgment about when to involve counsel.
Own operational audit readiness, records management, access controls, and documentation; identify and address risks proactively.
Partner with Finance, IT, Legal, and business leaders on workforce data, budgeting, systems, and operational priorities.
Build useful reporting on workforce trends, compensation, benefits costs, and operational performance.
Measure whether improvements reduce errors, save time, strengthen controls, and improve the employee experience.

Nice-to-haves

None flagged.

Application prep

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Platform: ashby
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