Talent & People Lead

About the role

We're looking for a Talent & People Lead to own and help build the People function at CREW Carbon.

This is a unique opportunity for someone with a strong foundation in Talent who is excited to expand into broader People Operations and HR leadership. You'll own our recruiting efforts, support the employee experience, and help build the people processes, programs, and infrastructure needed as we scale.

You'll report directly to the CEO and partner closely with a fractional Head of People for strategic guidance and support. While this is an individual contributor role, you'll have meaningful autonomy and ownership across the entire employee lifecycle. This role is ideal for someone who has helped scale an early-stage startup and is ready to take the next step toward owning a People function.

This position is a full-time role. Location is onsite at CREW's Brooklyn, NY office.

Responsibilities

• Own full-cycle recruiting across technical, scientific, operational, and business functions, from intake through offer acceptance.
• Own day-to-day People Operations across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, employee changes, and offboarding.
• Partner directly with the CEO and hiring managers to define hiring needs, develop recruiting strategies, and prioritize open roles.
• Manage candidate experience, interview processes, assessments, and offer coordination.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for employee questions related to policies, benefits, and People processes.
• Support performance management, employee feedback, engagement surveys, and professional development initiatives.
• Partner with leadership and the fractional Head of People on employee relations matters, policy development, and HR compliance.
• Help foster a strong company culture through thoughtful employee programs, communications, and team initiatives.
• Build, document, and improve scalable People processes, policies, and systems appropriate for an early-stage company.
• Identify gaps in our existing People infrastructure and independently drive practical improvements.
• Maintain accurate employee data and provide reporting and insights to support leadership decisions.

Experience Requirements

• 4+ years of experience in Talent Acquisition, People Operations, or a combination of these functions.
• Startup experience is essential. You've worked in an early-stage, fast-paced environment where priorities shift, resources are limited, and individuals wear multiple hats.
• Full-cycle recruiting experience, including sourcing, interviewing, candidate management, and partnering with hiring managers.
• Experience working directly with founders, executives, or senior leaders on People and Talent challenges
• Exposure to broader HR responsibilities, including compensation, benefits, employee relations, onboarding, or performance management.
• Experience building or improving recruiting and People processes, systems, or programs in a growing organization.
• Strong organizational and project management skills, with the ability to independently manage multiple priorities.
• Excellent communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to build trust across all levels of an organization.
• A self-starter mentality with a willingness to take ownership, solve problems, and execute without extensive direction.
• Comfort operating in ambiguity and moving between strategic conversations and hands-on administrative work.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship-building skills.
• Comfortable working in a rapidly evolving startup setting and able to quickly synthesize new information to proactively adjust focus and maintain high-impact results
• You practice extreme ownership (no task is too small).
• You love being in the trenches with your team and working with high empathy.
• You have a growth mindset.

Bonus Qualifications

• Experience as an early Talent or People hire at a Seed, Series A, or Series B startup.
• Experience recruiting technical, engineering, scientific, or other specialized roles.
• Experience in climate tech, hard tech, industrial technology, or other technically complex industries.
• Familiarity with HRIS and ATS platforms, such as Ashby, Greenhouse, Rippling, or Sequoia.
• Experience supporting compensation benchmarking, benefits administration, or employee relations.
• Experience implementing new People programs or infrastructure from scratch.

Compensation

Compensation at the time of offer is unique to each candidate and based on a variety of factors such as skill set, experience, qualifications, and work location. Salary is one part of the total compensation and benefits package. Other benefits for eligible employees may include: equity through the form of option grants, flexible paid time off, 401(k) plan, well equipped office environment, and health benefits offerings.

The expected base salary range for this role is $95,000 - $125,000. This range represents the company's estimate for this position at the time of posting however actual compensation may vary based on skills, experience, location, role scope, and business needs.

CREW has offices and labs in New Haven, CT and offices in Brooklyn, NY.