Senior Manager, People Operations

ABOUT BASETEN Baseten powers mission-critical inference for the world's most dynamic AI companies, like Cursor, Notion, OpenEvidence, Abridge, Clay, Gamma and Writer. By uniting applied AI research, flexible infrastructure, and seamless developer tooling, we enable companies operating at the frontier of AI to bring cutting-edge models into production. We're growing quickly and recently raised our $300M Series E https://www.baseten.co/blog/announcing-baseten-s-300m-series-e/, backed by investors including BOND, IVP, Spark Capital, Greylock, and Conviction. Join us and help build the platform engineers turn to to ship AI products. THE ROLE We’re looking for a Senior Manager, People Operations to own and scale the operational backbone of our People function. This is a high-impact, high-ownership role for someone who has done this before and is excited to do it at an even more ambitious level. You will be responsible for building and scaling a best-in-class foundation across systems, compliance, and employee lifecycle operations. This is not a maintenance role. You'll modernize, streamline, and future-proof our People infrastructure. You'll bring deep expertise in compliance and risk management, strong experience in HR systems and integrations, and a forward-thinking approach to building operational rigor that supports rapid growth. You’ll partner closely across Finance, Legal, IT, RevOps, Talent, HRBP, Workplace Experience, and Total Rewards to ensure operational excellence at every stage of the employee lifecycle. Baseten is building the infrastructure layer for AI-native companies, and we’re scaling quickly — in team size, customer growth, and ambition. It’s a rare moment to join: we’re shaping how cutting-edge AI companies operate, and building the systems that will carry us from hundreds to thousands of employees. If you’re energized by scale, complexity, and the opportunity to build the operational engine of a generational company, this role offers meaningful scope and ownership. RESPONSIBILITIES People Operations Leadership - Lead and develop the People Operations team, setting a high bar for operational excellence, accountability, and service delivery - Drive efficiencies across People systems and workflows, leveraging automation and AI to keep pace with rapid growth Systems, Infrastructure, and Controls - Own HRIS strategy and systems architecture, including integrations, data governance, reporting infrastructure, and access controls - Establish and maintain strong internal controls across People systems and processes, including data privacy, security, and audit readiness, in partnership with IT and Legal - Assess timing and lead the transition off our PEO to a scalable in-house model Compliance, Governance, and Risk - Own employment compliance across jurisdictions, including state registrations, regulatory requirements, leave administration, and policy governance - Maintain and evolve our employee handbook and internal policies, ensuring they are clear, current, and well-governed - Lead visa and immigration operations and support global expansion, including international compliance and EOR oversight Payroll and Benefits Operations - Partner with Finance to oversee payroll operations, including compensation governance, pay change controls, and accurate processing of promotions, equity, and variable compensation - Own benefits strategy, vendor selection, and ongoing optimization, including healthcare funding models and 401(k) plan design Employee Lifecycle Operations - Own end-to-end employee lifecycle operations, including onboarding, role changes, promotions, compensation adjustments, org updates, and offboarding REQUIREMENTS - 8+ years of People Operations experience, including owning the function at a high-growth technology company of 500+ employees - Deep, practical expertise in U.S. employment compliance, multi-state operations, leave administration, immigration, and risk management - Proven experience evaluating and