Senior People Operations Specialist

People Operations Specialist - Onboarding

About Kikoff

Kikoff is a profitable fintech unicorn on a mission to help millions of Americans build credit and financial independence. Having grown from 10 to 150+ employees over the past four years, we're scaling rapidly while maintaining our culture of excellence and intensity. We believe in moving fast, raising the bar, and drinking from the firehose - and we need someone who can ensure every new hire is ready to thrive in this environment from day one.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a People Operations Specialist to own and revolutionize our onboarding experience. You'll be responsible for transforming high-potential candidates into fully ramped Kikoff team members, managing multiple cohorts per week through an intensive onboarding program. This is a high-visibility role reporting directly to our Chief of Staff / VP of HR, with clear paths to HRBP or People program management leadership.

This isn't your typical warm-and-fuzzy HR role. You'll be equal parts operational executor, cultural ambassador, and accountability driver - ensuring new hires are welcomed warmly while being pushed to ramp faster than they thought possible.

What You'll Own

Pre-Boarding Operations (25%)

Coordinate end-to-end visa and immigration processes for international employees

Manage background check processes to ensure on-time starts

Temporarily own IT systems and equipment coordination (until IT Manager hire)

Track and resolve any pre-boarding blockers that could delay start dates

Onboarding Program Execution (50%)

Design and execute cohort-based onboarding for new hires weekly

Coordinate and schedule cross-functional programming, ensuring all departments deliver their components

Create an intense yet welcoming experience that reinforces our hard-charging culture

Maintain energy and momentum throughout the onboarding journey

Ensure seamless logistics from day 1 through 90-day milestone

Program Innovation & Improvement (25%)

Partner with leadership to continuously iterate on onboarding programming

Define and track success metrics including time-to-productivity, new hire NPS, and manager satisfaction

Identify bottlenecks and implement data-driven improvements

Push departments to develop role-specific onboarding tracks

Collaborate with our People Analytics & Insights Strategist to measure program effectiveness

What Success Looks Like

Onboarding runs smoothly without executive involvement in logistics

New hires consistently rate their onboarding experience 4.5+ out of 5

Managers report new hires are productive 20% faster than baseline

Successful experiments and iterations launched monthly

Zero delays or mishaps in pre-boarding logistics

Other functions proactively engage in delivering their onboarding components

You'll Thrive in This Role If You

Live for operational excellence : You're naturally organized, detail-obsessed, and nothing falls through the cracks on your watch

Influence without authority : You've successfully coordinated complex projects across multiple stakeholders who don't report to you

Balance warmth with intensity : You can make someone feel welcomed while pushing them to perform at their highest level

Think in systems and data : You don't measure success by "feelings" but by metrics, trends, and quantifiable improvements

Learn and iterate quickly : You're comfortable with ambiguity and see every week as a chance to make onboarding better

Communicate with precision : You can create clear, thoughtful content and facilitate engaging programming

Experience We're Looking For

1-2+ years of experience in operations, HR, consulting, or program management (exceptional high-slope candidates with less experience will be considered)

Track record of managing complex, multi-stakeholder processes

Experience in high-growth tech companies or fast-paced consulting environments preferred

Data analysis skills and comfort with metrics-driven decision making

Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

Bonus : Experience with visa / immigration processes or HRIS systems