Senior People Operations Manager San Carlos

At Nautilus, we have a big and important mission: improve the health of millions by unleashing the potential of the proteome to accelerate drug development and enable a new world of precision and personalized medicine. We are developing a single‑molecule protein analysis platform of unprecedented sensitivity, scale, and ease of use that we believe will democratize access to the proteome – one of the most dynamic and valuable sources of biological insight. To accomplish this, we are pursuing hard scientific problems with an entrepreneurial mindset and creating a world‑class team of builders, innovators, and dreamers across a wide range of disciplines. We are looking for a self‑directed Senior People Operations Manager to own the infrastructure that makes our people experience work. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who geeks out on process efficiency, data integrity, and building people team infrastructure. This person will be the sole HR Operations owner on the team, which means they’ll have real scope, real autonomy, and real impact. You won't be waiting for someone to tell you what to do. You'll assess what's broken, propose a solution, and execute with appropriate partnership from HR leadership and cross‑functional teams. The ideal candidate is equally comfortable pulling compensation benchmarking data, configuring an HRIS workflow, and presenting a process improvement recommendation to leadership. You move fast, simplify by default, and treat every operational touchpoint as an opportunity to make the employee experience better. Responsibilities Serve as the internal owner of all HR/Talent systems and vendor relationships, including HR Information System (HRIS), Application Tracking System (ATS), Performance Management, leave management, etc. Lead the evaluation, implementation, and optimization of HR technology, from configuration to adoption. Ensure data integrity across all people systems and serve as the connective tissue between HR, Finance, IT, and Legal. Build and maintain integrations and automations that reduce manual work and improve data reliability. Proactively identify and pilot AI tools and capabilities that can improve how the People Operations function works, from automating repeatable tasks to surfacing better insights. Own end-to-end operational execution across the employee lifecycle: hiring operations, onboarding, offboarding, transfers, and leaves. Ensure all people data, headcount, organizational structure, compensation, employment status, is accurate, complete, and audit‑ready. Manage the operational components of performance cycles, engagement surveys, and other recurring people programs. Build scalable processes and playbooks that can flex as the company grows. Manage end-to-end benefits administration, including open enrollment, and carrier relationships in partnership with brokers. Identify and recommend improvements to the benefits portfolio based on employee data, market trends, and cost analysis. Own compensation benchmarking end-to-end: manage survey participation, analyze market data, and translate findings into clear, actionable recommendations for HR leadership – you understand how pay ranges are built, where we sit in the market, and what it means for our ability to attract and retain talent. Maintain and evolve job architecture and salary bands as the company grows, keeping the framework simple, defensible, and grounded in market realities. Ensure pay equity and compensation data integrity across systems. Own all people compliance obligations: EEO‑1 reporting, I‑9 audits, ACA compliance, state/local regulatory requirements. Manage the company's immigration program, including coordination with external immigration counsel, visa tracking, and employee communication. Prepare for and support audits; ensure all policies stay current and reflect regulatory changes. Partner with Legal to ensure operational readiness as the company enters new geographies or employment structures. Lead people operations work required to support expansion: new legal entities, new state registrations, new office locations. Identify and close gaps in systems, processes, and data infrastructure before they become problems at scale. Build and own the people analytics function: workforce dashboards, headcount reports, attrition analysis, compensation reporting. Go beyond data pulls, synthesize insights and bring actionable recommendations to HR leadership. Make data accessible and visual for non‑HR stakeholders. Qualifications 8+ years in HR Operations, People Operations, or Total Rewards, ideally at a startup or high‑growth tech company. Demonstrated experience as a generalist operator — you've worked across compensation, benefits, HRIS, compliance, and reporting, not just one area. HRIS implementation experience: you've been in the room where it happened, not just a passive stakeholder. Experience owning immigration programs and working with immigration attorneys. Background working cross‑functionally with Finance, Accounting, IT, and/or Legal. Strong data skills: comfortable with Excel/Sheets at an advanced level; able to build dashboards, models, and visualizations that tell a story. Systems thinker: you instinctively ask, "how do we automate this" and "how do we make this simpler". AI‑curious and applied: you actively use AI tools in your day‑to‑day work and think creatively about where they can eliminate friction – you don't need to be a technical expert, but you need to be ahead of the curve, not behind it. High ownership: you move without waiting for permission, elevate appropriately, and close loops. Clear communicator: able to translate operational complexity into simple recommendations for leadership. Compliance fluency: you understand what we're obligated to do and why it matters. Who You Are You simplify. Your default is to reduce steps, not add them. You are proactive, not reactive. You identify problems before they become crises. You're genuinely curious about how AI and emerging tools can change the way HR operations works — and you're already experimenting, not waiting to be told to. You care about employee experience from an operations lens — not perks and parties, but making systems and processes easy to navigate. You thrive in ambiguity and can prioritize effectively without a full roadmap. You're comfortable being the only HR Ops person on the team — that excites you, not intimidates you. You know the difference between an operations problem and an employee relations problem, and you don't blur the line. Nautilus Team Culture We are determined to do whatever it takes to get our platform into the hands of researchers who will use it to upend the status quo in basic research and healthcare. We work on cross‑functional teams, wear many hats, take risks to work through uncertainty, enjoy working collaboratively on challenging problems, and celebrate one another’s victories. We go above and beyond, but also strive to provide a supportive atmosphere of colleagues who are willing to lend a helping hand and make working at Nautilus not only fulfilling in its end goals, but enjoyable on a day‑to‑day basis. Our Values Be Excellent Be a Good Human Catalyze Customer Success Dream Big Drive for Results Enjoy the Voyage Succeed as One Team #J-18808-Ljbffr