Senior People & Talent Operations Specialist

SimSpace serves as an AI Proving Ground where organizations can confidently train, test, and outmaneuver adversaries in any environment. Trusted by allied governments, militaries, enterprises, and research institutions worldwide, SimSpace enables adaptive, AI-ready defenses that stay ahead of evolving threats. Founded in 2015 by experts from U.S. Cyber Command and MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the platform unifies training, testing, and validation in a realistic, live-fire simulation—helping teams evaluate security investments, optimize performance, and compress cyber readiness cycles from months to days.

Why join SimSpace? We are an organization that is focused on building our culture and mindfully enhancing our atmosphere every day which is why we have collaborated on an integral value system. Our governing philosophy of being Human Centered is deeply embedded within our value system. We apply this philosophy to every one of our internal team members, external clients, and their customers.

How Do We Work? We believe that people are at the center of everything we do. SimSpace fosters a culture of continuous learning, curiosity, and professional growth. That belief shows up in action: in-house training, internal and external learning platforms, cyber conferences, industry events, and dedicated time for skill development. Our people are empowered to shape their careers - and it shows. Year over year, SimSpace consistently outperforms industry benchmarks in internal mobility, promotions, and total rewards growth.

Who Thrives Here? We are a team of innovators, protectors, and problem-solvers. We believe diversity of thought and experience fuels better solutions, and we’re committed to building teams that reflect the communities we serve. Whether you’re remote or office-based, you’ll collaborate with talented colleagues across departments and time zones, united by the mission to create a safer digital world.

We invite you to apply today!

👋 Hi, I'm Tabitha - Head of Hiring at SimSpace. I lead our Talent function, which spans recruiting, talent operations, employee experience, internal mobility, learning and development, employee voice, culture initiatives, and the systems that power all of it.

At SimSpace, we believe that exceptional employee experiences don't happen by accident. They are intentionally designed, thoughtfully supported, continuously improved, and powered by people who genuinely care about making work better.

As our company continues to grow, we're investing heavily in the systems, processes, programs, and experiences that help employees thrive from the moment they accept an offer through every stage of their career journey.

That's where you come in...

We're looking for a Senior People & Talent Operations Specialist who is equal parts builder, systems thinker, analyst, problem solver, and employee advocate.

This role sits at the intersection of technology, employee experience, talent operations, onboarding, automation, analytics, and program execution. You'll help shape how employees experience SimSpace while building scalable systems that allow our team to operate more efficiently and effectively.

If you get excited about creating seamless experiences, automating manual work, uncovering insights hidden in data, and turning ideas into reality, I'd love to meet you.

This is not a traditional HR operations role. You will spend approx. 50%-60% of your time within Ashby.

We're looking for someone who sees systems as opportunities, not limitations. Someone who enjoys finding inefficiencies before they become problems. Someone who notices patterns, identifies root causes, and proactively creates solutions.

You'll serve as a key partner to our Recruiting team, our People Program Partner, People Ops Business Partner, hiring managers, and employees while helping us maximize the value of our technology ecosystem—particularly Ashby.

We're early adopters of Ashby's People Workflows and see tremendous opportunity to continue building automations, communications, onboarding experiences, and operational efficiencies that improve both employee and administrator experiences.

The right person for this role loves connecting dots. One hour you might be building an onboarding workflow, auditing data quality, or configuring an automation in Ashby.

The next you might be analyzing adoption trends, identifying a process gap, partnering with Recruiting on preboarding logistics, or translating employee experience data into actionable recommendations.

You'll have significant ownership and autonomy in this role. We're looking for someone who doesn't wait to be told what needs attention—they see it, investigate it, and either solve it independently or bring thoughtful solutions to the table when collaboration is needed.

As Senior People & Talent Operations Specialist, you will:

• Own and continuously improve our preboarding and share onboarding experience across systems, communications, and operational processes

• Serve as one of our internal Ashby experts, helping build, optimize, and scale People Workflows, automations, reporting, and employee lifecycle processes

• Partner closely with Hiring and People teams to ensure seamless transitions from candidate to employee

• Manage employee data integrity, audits, workflows, and operational processes across people systems

• Create, maintain, and optimize employee communications, workflows, and automated touchpoints

• Monitor program adoption and utilization, identifying opportunities to increase engagement and effectiveness

• Analyze people, recruiting, onboarding, and employee experience data to identify trends and recommend improvements

• Build dashboards, reports, and insights that help leaders make informed decisions

• Support employee experience, learning, development, and performance programs through operational execution and process optimization

• Identify process inefficiencies and implement scalable solutions that improve accuracy, consistency, and employee experience

• Partner cross-functionally to support new initiatives, systems implementations, and operational improvements

• Act as a trusted operational resource for employees, managers, recruiters, and leaders

The strongest People & Talent Ops professionals I've worked with combine curiosity, systems thinking, business acumen, and empathy.

They understand that behind every workflow, report, automation, or process is a real human experience. They love solving problems but don't stop at fixing symptoms - they look for root causes. They notice patterns before others do. They enjoy turning complexity into simplicity. They're energized by data and analytics, but they're equally passionate about using those insights to improve employee experiences and business outcomes.

Most importantly, they operate with a high degree of ownership. They don't wait for instructions. They proactively identify opportunities, make recommendations, and help move the organization forward.

📊 You're a data nerd who loves uncovering insights, trends, and stories hidden within data.

⚙️ You genuinely enjoy building workflows, automations, and scalable systems.

🚀 You have deep experience with Ashby and get excited about maximizing the platform's capabilities.

🧩 You naturally connect dots across teams, systems, processes, and employee experiences.

🔍 You proactively identify issues, investigate root causes, and develop solutions.

📈 You enjoy measuring adoption, analyzing effectiveness, and improving outcomes through data.

🛠️ You think like a builder and are energized by creating processes that didn't exist before.

🤝 You build strong partnerships and know how to influence through collaboration.

📚 You're continuously learning and enjoy staying current on People Operations technology, analytics, and best practices.

🌟 You balance operational excellence with a genuine passion for creating exceptional employee experiences.

❌ You prefer highly defined work where priorities, solutions, and next steps are always provided.

❌ You view systems administration as maintenance rather than an opportunity for innovation and optimization.

❌ You wait for issues to be assigned instead of proactively identifying them.

❌ You enjoy running reports but don't enjoy translating data into recommendations and action.

❌ You prefer executing established processes over designing and improving them.

❌ You become frustrated when priorities shift or new challenges emerge.

❌ You see employee experience, onboarding, learning, performance, and operations as separate functions rather than interconnected parts of the same journey.

❌ You prefer narrowly defined responsibilities over broad ownership and cross-functional partnership.

❌ You need extensive oversight to stay aligned, motivated, or productive.

A few things that are important to me and the team:

• We care deeply about employee experience because every interaction matters.

• We use data to inform decisions, not replace judgment.

• We believe technology should simplify work, not create more of it.

• We value curiosity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

• We believe operational excellence creates better employee experiences.

• We embrace automation where it adds value and human connection where it matters most.

• We prioritize transparency, accountability, empathy, and trust.

We're a small team with ambitious goals and significant opportunities ahead. That means you'll have the ability to influence systems, programs, processes, and experiences that impact every employee at SimSpace.

At SimSpace, we want our interview process to help you show your best self while giving you an authentic understanding of who we are, how we work, and what success looks like in this role.

Our goal isn't to catch you off guard or put you through unnecessary hoops. We want meaningful conversations that help us learn about your experience, leadership style, and approach to building great teams. Just as importantly, we want to give you the opportunity to evaluate whether SimSpace, our culture, and this role are the right fit for you.

Here's what you can expect:

You'll meet directly with me, for an introductory conversation focused on your career journey, leadership experience, accomplishments, and what you're looking for in your next opportunity. We'll also spend time discussing SimSpace, our Talent philosophy, how the team operates today, and where we're headed in the future.

This conversation is designed to help us get to know one another and determine whether there's mutual alignment around the opportunity.

Our second conversation will go deeper into the role itself. We'll explore your approach to recruiting leadership, internal mobility, talent operations, organizational effectiveness, and building high-performing teams. We'll discuss how you've leveraged systems, data, behavioral assessment techniques, and stakeholder partnerships to drive hiring outcomes and scale recruiting functions.

This is also an opportunity to dive into real-world scenarios, leadership philosophy, and how you approach balancing strategy, execution, people leadership, and operational excellence.

You'll meet with a small group of cross-functional partners that you'll work closely with in this role. Rather than a formal Q&A session, these are conversational discussions focused on collaboration, stakeholder partnership, problem-solving, and leadership philosophy.

Our final step is an informal conversation with our Chief People Officer. This is an opportunity to discuss the broader vision for Talent at SimSpace, ask any remaining questions, and ensure mutual alignment on where we're headed as an organization.

Throughout the process, you'll have opportunities to learn about our team, our operating philosophy, and the work we're building together. We believe interviews should be a two-way conversation, and we encourage you to bring your questions, ideas, and perspectives along the way.

We’re proud to offer a competitive and comprehensive package designed to support your well-being, growth, and success:

• Compensation. The salary range for this role is $80,000–$130,000. While we expect most candidates hired into this position to fall within the $100,000–$115,000 range, we consider a variety of factors when determining compensation, including experience, demonstrated expertise, geographic location, and the unique value each candidate brings to the team.

• Health & Wellness. Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision benefits, plus savings plans—coverage starts on day one!

• Mental Health Support. Access to company-paid counseling, coaching, and resources for you and your family through Spring Health.

• Financial Well-Being. Plan for your future with a 401(k)-retirement savings plan featuring a company match.

• Flexible Time Off. Take the time you need with unlimited vacation and dedicated health & wellness days. SimSpace provides flexible solutions to meet the diverse work-life needs of team members.

• Parental Leave. Paid leave plans to support you and your loved ones during life’s most important moments.

• Ownership Opportunities. Equity stock options at hire, with annual performance-based grants—become an invested stakeholder in our shared success.

• Referral Rewards. Earn $1,500–$3,500 for every qualified hire through our employee referral program.

• Peloton Interactive Wellness Program. Full- and partial- subsidized membership plans and equipment discounts to help you reach your personalized fitness goals.

• Continuous Learning. Access a LinkedIn Learning membership to prioritize your personal and professional development.

• Social Connections. Monthly reimbursements for meaningful connections with teammates through our SocialSpace Community.

• Extra Perks. Legal plan coverage, pet insurance, wellness reimbursements, and more to simplify life’s details.

If that sounds exciting to you, I'd love to start a conversation!

SimSpace is an Equal Opportunity Employer:

In compliance with federal law, all persons hired will be required to verify identity and eligibility to work in the United States and to complete the required employment eligibility verification document form upon hire.

SimSpace is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws. We are committed to providing an inclusive and welcoming environment for all members of our staff, clients, volunteers, subcontractors, vendors, and clients.

Research shows that women and people from underrepresented groups only apply to jobs if they meet all of the qualifications. However, no one ever meets 100% of the qualifications. SimSpace encourages you to break that statistic and to apply. We look forward to your application!

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, in accordance with applicable law. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities in our job application procedures. If you need assistance or accommodation due to a disability, please contact [email protected].

SimSpace does not accept unsolicited resumes from employment agencies.

Actual compensation for the position is based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to affordability, skills, qualifications and experience, and may vary from the range.