About the Role ZBiotics is growing and so is the complexity of taking care of our people. As a People Operations Senior Associate, you'll be the operational backbone of our People function: the person who turns strategy into systems, keeps our HR infrastructure running smoothly, and ensures every ZBioneer experiences a consistent, high-quality people experience from day one through their entire tenure. This role sits within a lean, high-ownership People Ops team. You'll report directly to the Senior Director of People Operations and work closely with our Director of Talent Acquisition. You'll own the day-to-day execution of employee lifecycle operations and play a hands-on role across key employee programs and recruitment efforts. If you're a people-first operator who cares deeply about doing things right, and gets satisfaction from the operational work that helps a team function at its best, this role is for you. This is a remote role supporting a hybrid in-person and distributed remote team but may include travel to the San Francisco, CA area. Your Responsibilities HR Compliance & Policy Infrastructure - Contribute to the development and maintenance of ZBiotics' core HR policy materials-including the Employee Handbook-ensuring they are compliant, current, aligned with ZBiotics values, and practical for a growing team. - Work closely with the Senior Director of People Operations and General Counsel to stay up to date on labor laws and regulations across our operating locations, flagging issues proactively and updating policies accordingly. - Document and maintain a repeatable set of People Ops operating procedures that create consistency and reduce reliance on institutional memory. - Manage employee documentation with appropriate security and access controls in place. Employee Lifecycle Operations - Own the full administrative employee lifecycle: onboarding logistics, HRIS data integrity, employment changes, offboarding, and everything in between. - Partner with the Senior Director of People Ops and Director of Talent Acquisition to continuously improve the onboarding experience-making sure every new ZBioneer feels set up for success from day one. - Manage payroll and benefits administration in partnership with our PEO, including open enrollment and day-to-day employee inquiries. - Administer leaves of absence across all applicable leave types (FMLA, CFRA, PDL, and others), coordinating with employees, managers, and our third-party leave administrator to ensure compliance and a smooth experience. - Serve as a knowledgeable, empathetic and people-first point of contact for employee HR questions, benefits questions, and general People Ops support. Performance & Career Development Programs - Support the rollout and ongoing operations of key People programs: performance reviews, engagement surveys, and learning & development initiatives. - Champion ZBiotics growth mindset by partnering with the Senior Director of People Operations to ensure ZBioneers are consistently supported in their career growth, by coordinating on-the-job and external training opportunities. Team Culture & Engagement - Help coordinate team events-offsites, retreats, remote events-that build connection across our in-person and distributed team. - Contribute to the Best Place to Work Program, operationalizing the annual process and implementation of BPTW initiatives. - Contribute to annual DEI and Culture Colony initiatives. Talent Acquisition Support - Support the Director of Talent Acquisition as an early focus and ongoing responsibility-including scheduling interviews, managing candidate communications, maintaining ATS hygiene, and ensuring a smooth, high-quality candidate experience. - Partner with the Director of Talent Acquisition on new hire onboarding handoffs, ensuring a seamless transition from offer acceptance through to day one and beyond. - Flex across the Talent Acquisition team as hiring needs evolve, stepping into operational support as volume increases. HR Systems & Tools - Maintain and optimize our HRIS, ensuring data accuracy and a clean system of record. - Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency through better tooling, documentation, or process design. - Collaborate with the Operations Manager on key company-wide technology systems, ensuring hardware and software provisioning is coordinated in a structured and seamless approach. About You You're a people-first operator who rolls up your sleeves and takes pride in doing things well and completely. You deeply care about the people you support - on both a personal and professional level - and that shows in the quality and thoughtfulness you bring to your work, whether you're building a process from scratch or answering a benefits question. You have high emotional intelligence and great judgment, and you know that one size does not fit all. You're energized by figuring out the right approach for ZBiotics, specifically for our culture, our business, and our stage of growth. You're also a builder at heart. ZBiotics is adding people infrastructure it's never had before, and that excites you. You bring structure to ambiguity, follow-through to initiatives, and warmth to everything you touch. Desired Qualifications - 3+ years of progressive HR or People Operations experience, ideally in an HR generalist, HR specialist or HR operations role - Solid working knowledge of California and federal employment law and HR compliance best practices - Experience with HRIS administration, payroll coordination, and benefits administration - Proven ability to own projects end-to-end; you organize, prioritize, follow through, and close the loop - Strong written and verbal communication skills; you handle sensitive matters with discretion and care - Detail-oriented and organized without losing sight of the people behind the processes - Comfortable in a fast-moving, startup environment where priorities can shift and ambiguity is part of the job Additional Helpful Experience - Experience at a startup or small company where you've helped build new processes or policies from scratch - Familiarity with performance management cycles and career development frameworks - Experience supporting in-person teams and physical workspace operations - HR certification (SHRM-CP or PHR) is a plus - Hands-on experience with a PEO, specifically Rippling, as a platform for payroll, benefits, and employee data management This Role is Perfect For You If... - You genuinely care about the people you support and bring empathy and good judgment to every interaction - You love having ownership and running with it - You get deep satisfaction from knowing the operational layer is clean, compliant, and well-documented - You want to grow within a People function that's being built thoughtfully, and you want to help shape what it becomes - You embody the ZBiotics values of People-first, Integrity, Citizenship, and Science Benefits We believe in a life well-lived. ZBiotics offers competitive benefits including health/dental, 401(k) matching, a minimum PTO policy (with unlimited time off), 16 weeks fully paid parental leave, a home office stipend, transit benefits for those in the San Francisco Bay Area, and access to coworking office space. The base salary range for this role is $95,000, commensurate with experience. We Encourage You to Apply...