People Ops Manager

Profound is the marketing platform for the AI era. As people increasingly turn to ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini to decide what to buy, we give brands the intelligence to see how AI represents them and the Agents to act on it. Today, ~13% of the Fortune 500, plus companies like Ramp, Figma, Chime, Calendly, and DocuSign, use Profound to turn AI Search from a black box into a measurable growth channel. Backed by Lightspeed, Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, and Khosla Ventures at a $1B valuation, we're a lean, fast-moving team across NYC, SF, Buenos Aires, and London, shipping at a relentless pace and defining a new category at the biggest shift in marketing in 25 years. If you want to do the best work of your career at the frontier of AI, come build it with us. As we scale rapidly, we are hiring a People Operations Manager to own people operations and the employee experience, from onboarding and manager enablement to performance conversations, benefits, and compliance. This is a hands-on, builder role for someone who wants to be close to the business, help leaders and employees day to day, and build lightweight people processes that actually work at a fast-growing startup. WHAT YOU’LL DO - Own and evolve people operations end to end, including onboarding, performance processes, compensation cycles, benefits, and compliance - Serve as the primary point of contact for employees and managers on people-related questions - Support managers with feedback, performance conversations, and difficult moments including exits and terminations - Help ensure a consistent, thoughtful employee experience as the company scales across teams and offices - Partner with Operations to build and iterate on onboarding, ensuring new hires feel oriented, supported, and effective quickly - Help design and roll out lightweight performance review processes that give clarity without unnecessary bureaucracy - Support managers in setting expectations, giving feedback, and growing their teams - Create simple templates, guidance, and norms that make people management easier rather than heavier - Manage and optimize Rippling across payroll, benefits, devices, and system access - Oversee offer letters, commission agreements, and employment documentation - Work directly with legal partners on contracts, immigration, and compliance matters - Own benefits administration, renewals, and open enrollment - Bring people operations work currently handled by external partners in-house WHO YOU ARE - 4 to 7 or more years of experience in people operations, HR, or a generalist people role at a fast-growing startup - Warm, pragmatic, and approachable, with employees and managers trusting you and coming to you early - Comfortable handling sensitive conversations with judgment and empathy - Strong operator who can build systems and knows when not to overbuild - Fluent in HR systems, ideally Rippling, and comfortable working with recruiters, finance, and legal partners - Low ego and high ownership, with a deep care for getting things right and helping the company scale well - Excited to be hands-on and close to the work rather than operating a policy-first or overly corporate function LOCATION This is an on-site role based in our Union Square, NYC office, designed for builders who thrive on speed, iteration, and meaningful impact. For this role, the expected base salary range is $130,000 to $190,000. Profound’s total compensation package is designed to be competitive and includes base salary, equity, and a full range of benefits and perks. Final compensation will depend on factors such as your skills, experience, qualifications, and location, and will be determined during the interview process. Our recruiting team will share more details about the full compensation package and benefits as you move through hiring. Note: All official communication from Profound will come from a @tryprofound.com email address. If you're contacted by anyone using a different domain, please disregard and rep