Manager/Associate Director, People & Culture Operations

The role:

Dispatch is seeking a Manager/Associate Director, People & Culture Operations to design and run the programs, processes, and systems that shape every stage of the employee experience. Reporting to the Chief People & Culture Officer, you will be a founding member of our small People & Culture team and own the operational backbone of the function, with particular depth in benefits, compensation, and HR systems.

You will work with leaders and employees across every function at both of our sites (Philadelphia and San Francisco), collaborate with Finance and Legal, and manage relationships with external partners such as benefits brokers and carriers, payroll and HR technology vendors, compensation survey providers, and immigration counsel.

This is a hands-on role that spans strategy and execution. One day you may be designing our annual salary planning cycle; the next, answering a benefits question or fixing a system workflow. This is a great fit for someone who loves building from the ground up, takes pride in getting the details right, and wants to see the direct impact of their work on a team pursuing an ambitious goal for patients.

Key responsibilities:

• Build the foundation: Design, implement, and continuously improve People & Culture processes, policies, and programs across the full employee lifecycle — right-sized for where we are today and built to scale thoughtfully as we grow.
• Benefits: Own the design, and administration of our benefits programs (health and welfare, retirement, leave, and wellbeing), including annual renewal and open enrollment, broker and carrier management, market benchmarking, cost analysis, and compliance (e.g., ERISA, ACA, COBRA, Form 5500, nondiscrimination testing).
• Compensation: Maintain our compensation infrastructure, including job architecture and leveling, salary ranges, market benchmarking, and equity guidelines in partnership with Finance and Legal; provide the pay ranges and market data that Talent Acquisition uses to develop offers; monitor pay equity and ensure compliance with pay transparency requirements.
• Performance management & salary planning: Lead our annual performance and compensation cycles end-to-end, including process execution, merit and bonus modeling, equity refresh recommendations, manager tools and training, and employee communications.
• HR systems & people data: Own our core People & Culture technology stack (HRIS, payroll, benefits administration, performance, and learning tools) as hands-on administrator — leading selection, implementation, integrations, data integrity, and reporting.
• Offer acceptance to onboarding: Take the handoff from Talent Acquisition at offer acceptance and own everything that follows —new hire paperwork, and preboarding — through onboarding and the first 90 days, coordinating with hiring managers, IT, and Facilities across both sites to give every new hire an exceptional start.
• AI-enabled operations: Use AI tools to work smarter across People & Culture, from automating routine workflows and improving employee self-service to drafting communications and speeding up analysis and reporting.
• Employer brand support: Support the employer brand efforts led by Talent Acquisition by contributing content on our benefits, programs, and culture, and sharing insights from employee feedback and engagement data.
• Employee inquiries: Serve as the go-to resource for employee questions on benefits, pay, leave, and policies, and build scalable self-service resources so answers are easy to find.
• Immigration: Manage visa and permanent residency processes for current employees in partnership with outside immigration counsel, ensuring timely filings and a supportive experience. Coordinate closely with Talent Acquisition, who leads immigration for candidates through offer acceptance, so the handoff is seamless.
• Employee communications: Develop clear, timely communications about People & Culture programs and changes and own internal People & Culture resources.
• Compliance: Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment requirements for a multi-state workforce (including Pennsylvania and California), covering areas such as leave, I-9, required notices, and recordkeeping, partnering with employment counsel as needed.

Required experience & skills:

• Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 5+ years of progressive HR experience, including at least 3 years in a high-growth company environment
• Demonstrated depth and hands-on ownership in benefits and compensation — leading benefits renewals and open enrollment, building salary ranges and market benchmarking, and running annual compensation cycles
• Hands-on HRIS administration experience, including implementing or optimizing HR systems and their integrations with payroll and benefits
• Strong analytical and data skills, including advanced proficiency in Excel (pivot tables, etc.) and comfort building compensation and benefits cost models
• Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and benefits compliance, including multi-state requirements
• A track record of building People & Culture processes and programs from the ground up, and comfort moving fluidly between strategic and tactical work
• Ability to travel (if you are located in the Philadelphia area, then travel will be quarterly or less to our San Francisco office; if you are located in the Bay Area, the travel may be once per month or so to the Philadelphia office)
• Collaborative nature, geared toward cross-functional teamwork
• Excellent organizational, problem-solving and time management skills, with strong attention to detail and the judgment to handle confidential information with discretion
• Positive attitude, dedicated work ethic, and flexible orientation for operating in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain complex topics like benefits and compensation clearly and with care
• Comfort giving and receiving feedback, with a focus on continuous improvement

Preferred experience & skills:

• Experience in biotech or life sciences, including equity compensation at a venture-backed company and use of life sciences compensation surveys
• Experience supporting employees in both Pennsylvania and California, or another multi-state, multi-site workforce
• Hands-on experience using AI tools to streamline HR operations (such as workflow automation, employee self-service, communications, or people analytics), with a strong sense of how to protect confidential employee data
• Experience managing employment-based immigration for employees (e.g., visa extensions and permanent residency) in partnership with outside counsel
• Experience with Rippling
• Professional certification such as CCP, CBP, CEBS, SHRM-CP/SCP, or PHR/SPHR

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Base Salary Range: $140-225K