Job Title: People Operations Manager
Department: People Operations
Employment Type: Full Time
FLSA: Exempt
Location: Houston, TX - Onsite
About the RoleWe're looking for a People Operations Manager to join our Houston team onsite. This is a standalone role with no direct reports: you'll personally own the day-to-day people operations work - administering benefits, processing payroll, and running employee onboarding - while building the programs, systems, and workflows that let it scale.
For employees, you'll be the primary point of contact and a dependable source of information on the people matters that affect them day to day - the reliable face of People Operations and their experience of it. As one part of a broader people team, you'll bring more presence and initiative, owning your work end to end.
Based in our Houston office, you'll serve as a vital anchor for our expanding teams in Texas and Florida, leaving a lasting impact on how Persona AI operates as a people-first company.
What You Will Be Doing- Administer health, dental, vision, and ancillary benefit plans; manage open enrollment and carrier/vendor relationships.
- Manage multi-state and interstate tax obligations for the distributed workforce.
- Process bi-weekly and semi-monthly payroll accurately using HRIS/payroll platforms (e.g., Rippling, ADP, Workday).
- Design and own the full onboarding program, from offer acceptance through 90-day check-in, building scalable processes for both local and remote hires.
- Manage state tax registrations, withholding compliance, and nexus determinations for employees working across multiple states.
- Maintain I-9 compliance, employee records, and HRIS data integrity; support audits and reporting requirements.
- Serve as the first point of contact for employee questions on benefits, pay, and onboarding; resolve issues promptly and accurately.
- Coordinate with Finance and Legal on multi-state employment agreements, W-4 updates, and year-end W-2 processing.
- Build and maintain People Operations dashboards and metrics reports covering headcount, benefit utilization, and payroll variances; use data to drive program decisions and present insights to leadership.
- Enforce and champion safety, confidentiality, and PO compliance standards across all people operations activities.
- Design and implement people programs across the employee lifecycle, including performance management, engagement surveys, recognition, and culture initiatives, building from the ground up where programs don't yet exist.
- Own systems access provisioning, assist with HRIS configuration, and new hire equipment coordination to ensure seamless day-one readiness; identify and implement tools that improve PO efficiency.
What We Are Looking For:- Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field, or equivalent practical experience
- 6-10 years of People Operations experience with hands-on ownership of payroll processing, benefits administration, PO compliance, and program or systems building, ideally in a fast-paced or high-growth environment
- Working knowledge of multi-state payroll tax rules, reciprocity agreements, and state income tax withholding compliance
- Experience administering FMLA, ADA accommodations, and Texas or Florida specific leave and labor laws
- Proficiency in modern HRIS platforms
- Strong understanding of ACA, ERISA, HIPAA, and COBRA compliance requirements
- High attention to detail, strong documentation habits, and ability to manage competing deadlines in a fast-paced environment
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex PO/tax topics into clear guidance for employees and managers
Bonus Skills:- PHR, SHRM-CP, or Certified Payroll Professional (CPP) certification
- Prior hands-on experience with interstate nexus analysis and SIT (state income tax) registrations for a multi-state workforce
- Experience supporting PO operations for 50-200 employee organizations
- Comfort working in a high-growth, startup or tech/robotics environment where processes are still being built, and a genuine passion for creating structure from ambiguity
