People Operations Lead

About the role

Kernel is making its first People team hire: an experienced generalist who will own HR and people operations end-to-end for a ~30-person team across San Francisco, New York, Cincinnati, and remote.

This is a hands-on, individual contributor role. You'll run the day-to-day yourself, including onboarding, payroll, benefits, compliance, and employee relations, and build systems appropriate for our stage and then scale them as the team grows. You'll work closely with the recruiting team on offers and onboarding.

What you'll do

• Own the employee lifecycle from signed offer to offboarding, including onboarding, I-9s, equipment, and policy acknowledgments
• Run payroll and benefits administration in our HRIS and payroll systems, including our 401(k)
• Keep us compliant across states (CA, NY, OH, and anywhere remote teammates live) including registrations, state-mandated benefits, and required trainings
• Build just enough playbooks and structure: handbook, leveling, comp bands, and a lightweight performance and feedback cycle
• Be a trusted resource for employees and managers on policies, benefits, and employee relations
• Help shape culture across offices: team rituals, offsites, and how we work as we grow
• Use AI and automation to handle the busywork so you can focus on the work that needs a human

What we're looking for

• 4+ years in people operations or HR, ideally as an early people/HR hire at a high-growth startup
• Hands-on experience running payroll, benefits, and an HRIS (Rippling a plus)
• Working knowledge of multi-state US employment compliance
• Strong judgment and discretion with sensitive topics
• A builder's mindset: you know when process helps and when it gets in the way
• Startup experience: you've built fast, worn multiple hats, and figured things out without a playbook
• Excited to grow into building a team as Kernel scales