People Operations Manager

We're building the company which will de-risk the largest infrastructure build-out in history. When people finance GPU clusters, the datacenters housing them, and the infrastructure powering them, they need "offtake" - meaning someone has signed a contract to lease the cluster for a period of time before its even built. Financing a GPU cluster is inherently risky, since margins are thin and volumes are huge. Lenders don't want to take on the risk that cluster developers can't repay their loan, and cluster developers really don't want to risk not selling their cluster. As a result, risk is offloaded to the customer using fixed-price long-term contracts. If you don't mitigate this customer risk, there's a bubble. This isn't SaaS anymore - application layer companies sign multi-year contracts for computer and inference, but sell to customers on monthly subscriptions. If you mess up a purchase, it's game over: a minor shift in your revenue growth rate might mean the difference between profit or bankruptcy. But what if companies could exit their contract by selling it back to the market? Otherwise, as AI scales, compute only becomes available to folks who can effectively take on that risk. A 2-person startup in a San Francisco Victorian can't realistically sign a 5-year take or pay contract on $100m supercomputers. But they may be able to buy the month of liquidity that someone else sold back. So that's what we make: a liquid market for GPU offtake. About the Role SF Compute is looking for a People Operations Manager to build and own the operational backbone of our People function. We're a fast-growing infrastructure company (currently 56 employees and growing), and up to now, HR operations has been split between an outsourced vendor and team members stretching outside their core roles to fill gaps. That's no longer sustainable at our scale. You'll be the first dedicated owner of People Operations at SF Compute starting with a focused sprint to bring vendor-managed HR operations fully in-house within your first 30-45 days, then building the systems, processes, and programs that let our People function scale alongside the company. You'll partner closely with our Recruiter and Office Manager (who've been carrying this work) and report to our People Lead, with real latitude to shape how this function runs. This role suits someone who's genuinely energized by ambiguity who'd rather diagnose a messy situation and build the right process than inherit a polished one and maintain it. You'll be trusted to exercise judgment, escalate what needs escalating, and make the call on what to keep versus rebuild. We're a lean team in a fast-evolving company, so the scope of this role will keep expanding alongside it; this description is a starting point, not a ceiling. This role is located in our SF office and has the opportunity for hybrid work from home with a minimum of three days a week in the office. A Note on Growth Mindset The person who thrives here won't have done this exact job before because at this stage, this exact job doesn't really exist yet anywhere else. What matters more than a perfect resume match is whether you're the kind of person who gets energy from an undefined problem, builds the plane while flying it responsibly, and treats "I don't know yet, but here's how I'll find out" as a completely acceptable answer in week one. If you read this and thought "I can figure that out" rather than "I'd need a playbook first," that's the signal we're looking for. Responsibilities Own the transition of outsourced HR operations in-house, stabilizing day-to-day support (onboarding paperwork, benefits, employee inquiries, etc) within the first 30-45 days Own and evolve our HRIS (currently Gusto) integrations, data integrity across HR systems, ensuring it stays accurate and scalable as we grow, and periodically assessing whether it still fits, coordinating with Accounting and Finance on payroll cycles. Identify current and future opportunities for automation and scaling Own and continuously improve onboarding and offboarding; offer acceptance through onboarding, ensuring preboarding, new-hire documentation, employee records, benefits including 401K, and day-one readiness are coordinated; final pay and offboarding logistics compliant. Administer open enrollment and manage our benefits broker relationship directly Handle sensitive leave situations (CFRA, PDL, ADA interactive process) with discretion and rigor Build lightweight, startup-appropriate programs over time from manager training to employee engagement as the function matures Bring an operational lens to People decisions, surfacing risks, dependencies, and tradeoffs early, and helping leadership navigate complex situations with sound judgment Use data and operational insights to catch issues early and improve programs, building just enough reporting and process to operate proactively rather than reactively You may be a good fit if you have 6+ years of HR generalist or People Operations experience, including time in a lean function (1-3 people) at a company under ~150 employees Full ownership experience with an HRIS platform: payroll, integrations, permissions, data integrity not just end-user familiarity A track record of stabilizing an operational function quickly after joining a company, ideally from an undocumented or loosely-defined starting point Working knowledge of California employment law (FEHA, CFRA/PFL, exempt classification, final pay) sufficient to recognize risk and know when to escalate Experience owning benefits administration and leave management directly, including sensitive or confidential situations A bias toward building rather than maintaining: you can point to something you built from scratch and owned end-to-end, HR-related or not Comfort using data to spot problems and inform decisions: you don't need a BI background, but you notice when the numbers are telling you something Strong candidates may also Have partnered with leadership on employee relations matters and performance management processes, escalating complex or high-risk situations appropriately Have designed or overhauled a performance review cycle Have worked in a technical, engineering-heavy, or infrastructure-focused company before Have direct hands-on experience with Gusto specifically Benefits Generous equity grant Team members are offered a competitive salary along with equity in the company Visa Sponsorships Yes, we sponsor visas and work permits Retirement matching We match 401(k) plans up to 4% Medical, dental & vision We offer competitive medical, dental, vision insurance for employees and dependents and cover 100% of premiums Time off We offer unlimited paid time off as well as 10+ observed holidays Parental leave We offer biological, adoptive, and foster parents paid time off to spend quality time with family Daily lunch We cover lunch daily for employees Unlimited office book budget You can buy as many books for the office as you want The San Francisco Compute Company is committed to maintaining a workplace free from discrimination and harassment. We make employment decisions based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, belief, national origin, social or ethical origin, age, physical, mental, or sensory disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, HIV status, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status including pregnancy, or any other status protected by law. We welcome the opportunity to consider qualified applicants with prior arrest or conviction records. Our commitment to diversity includes hiring talented individuals regardless of their criminal history, in accordance with local, state, and federal laws, including San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance and California’s ban-the-box laws.