People Operations Manager
- Role
- HR
- Experience
- Senior
- Employment
- Contract
- Company size
- Startup
Open to CA only · UTC-5…UTC-4. Set where you work from to check your eligibility.
No BS summary
People Operations Manager to build and run the operational backbone of employee experience in US markets. Requires 4-6+ years in People Ops/HR ops, hands-on US employment infrastructure ownership (multi-state payroll, compliance, ER), and demonstrated AI fluency. Must be able to work US Eastern hours with precision at high volume.
Core skills
Required skills
Optional skills
ANNA Autism Care
People Operations Manager
Remote (Canada) | Full-time, US Eastern Hours
CAD $95,000 – $135,000 (approximately $67,000–$96,000 USD)
ABOUT ANNA
ANNA (Allied Network for Neurodevelopmental Advancement) is a mission-driven organization that provides ABA services to young autistic children (under the age of 6) and their families using a neurodiversity-affirming, Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention (NDBI) approach. We operate multiple centers across Massachusetts and Missouri (6 and growing!) and are looking for an exceptional People Operations builder to construct the people engine behind our growth.
POSITION OVERVIEW
The People Operations Manager will build and run the operational backbone of the employee experience across ANNA's US markets — onboarding workflows, payroll accuracy, multi-state compliance, employee relations, performance infrastructure, and workforce reporting.
This is a high-velocity build role with unusually broad ownership for a manager-level position. We are scaling across states, which means the compliance calendar, the policy library, the dashboards, and the ER processes largely remain to be created — you will create them, run them, and improve them simultaneously. This is deliberately a sleeves-rolled-up role: you'll be in the payroll run, the I-9 file, and the compliance tracker yourself, and that's by design. You'll own US employment infrastructure end to end from Canada: state registrations, payroll cycles in Rippling, credential and I-9 compliance for a frontline clinical workforce, and the leave-law and classification decisions that keep a multi-state healthcare employer clean.
ANNA is an AI-native company, and we expect People Operations to be built that way — AI-assisted policy drafting, automated compliance monitoring, agentic onboarding workflows. You'll build people systems that most HR teams twice our size are still waiting on.
Strong performance in this seat has a defined growth path to Senior People Operations Manager.
WHAT THIS ROLE IS REALLY LIKE
- Builder-first. You'll create most systems from scratch. The satisfaction here is in standing things up.
- High-throughput. Payroll runs, compliance deadlines, ER cases, onboarding cohorts, and executive reporting all move on their own clocks. Strong operators find the rhythm; this role rewards them.
- AI-leveraged. The only way one person runs this scope is with AI doing the heavy lifting — and you'll build and improve those workflows yourself.
- High-agency. You'll spot the compliance gap or process failure before anyone assigns it to you — and fix it.
- Precise at volume. I-9s, credential expirations, deduction accuracy — the work is recurring and consequential, and the standard is zero dropped balls.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & DELIVERABLES
Payroll & HRIS Operations
- Own end-to-end US payroll execution in Rippling across multiple states, including deductions, adjustments, and off-cycle runs, with a zero-defect standard
- Serve as system owner for the HRIS — configuration, workflow automation, data integrity, and integrations with ANNA's broader stack
- Manage benefits administration operations in partnership with brokers and carriers
Compliance & Risk
- Build and run the multi-state compliance calendar: state registrations, wage and hour requirements, leave laws, posting requirements, and healthcare-specific credentialing
- Own I-9 and work-authorization compliance and the credential-expiration monitoring system for clinical staff
- Maintain the policy library and employee handbook across states, using AI-assisted drafting and review
Onboarding & Employee Lifecycle
- Design and run onboarding workflows that get new clinical and corporate hires productive fast — measured in hours, with automation carrying the repetitive load
- Own offboarding, transfers, and lifecycle changes with clean documentation and system hygiene
Employee Relations & Performance Infrastructure
- Run ER casework end to end under US employment law — documentation, investigation support, performance improvement plans, and terminations — in partnership with leadership
- Build ANNA's performance management infrastructure: review cycles, calibration tooling, and the reporting behind them
Reporting & AI-Native Systems
- Build and maintain workforce dashboards leadership actually uses: headcount, retention, compliance status, payroll accuracy
- Continuously identify manual People processes and replace them with AI-powered or automated workflows you design yourself
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- 4–6+ years in People Operations or HR operations, including time as an early People hire at a high-growth startup or scale-up
- Hands-on ownership of US employment infrastructure: multi-state payroll, state registrations, I-9 compliance, FLSA classification, and leave-law administration
- Experience personally running US ER cases end to end, including documentation and difficult conversations
- Demonstrated AI fluency through real work product — automated workflows, AI-assisted documentation systems, or reporting builds you created yourself
- Ability to work US Eastern business hours
- Precision and follow-through at high volume
Preferred
- Rippling administration experience
- Experience supporting a frontline, multi-site, or healthcare workforce (shift schedules, credential tracking, high-volume hiring)
- Background at an EOR, PEO, or payroll provider serving US clients
- Experience implementing or migrating an HRIS or payroll platform yourself
If you don't meet every preferred qualification, we still encourage you to apply.
IDEAL CANDIDATE
You are a precision-obsessed builder who thrives where systems remain to be created. You started somewhere structured — a payroll bureau, an EOR, people advisory — and it gave you zero-defect instincts; then you joined a scale-up as one of the first People hires and discovered you love standing things up at speed. You talk about your work in artifacts and numbers: the compliance calendar you built, the payroll migration you ran solo, the error rate you drove to zero. You use AI as a genuine work multiplier and have the workflows to prove it. You are energized by ownership well beyond a typical manager-level scope, and you're motivated by the chance to build the people engine of a mission-driven healthcare company from the ground up.
COMPENSATION & BENEFITS
Base Compensation
CAD $95,000 – $135,000
Engagement Structure
Full-time engagement through a Contractor of Record in Canada
Additional
Paid time off and holidays; professional development and growth opportunities; supportive leadership and collaborative team culture
WHY ANNA
At ANNA, we are working to transform autism care by combining rigorous clinical training, compassionate family-centered practice, and neurodiversity-affirming approaches. Our NDBI model supports each child's strengths through play-based, developmentally informed care. As People Operations Manager, you will build the systems that let our clinical teams focus entirely on children and families.
Remote, Canada-based, full-time US Eastern hours.
ANNA is an equal opportunity employer. We're committed to creating a diverse, inclusive, and supportive workplace. All qualified applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, age, disability, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), or any other characteristic protected by law. If you're passionate about our mission but don't meet every qualification listed, we still encourage you to apply. Your unique perspective might be exactly what we need."
What you'll do
- Own end-to-end US payroll execution in Rippling across multiple states, including deductions, adjustments, and off-cycle runs, with a zero-defect standard
- Serve as system owner for the HRIS — configuration, workflow automation, data integrity, and integrations with ANNA's broader stack
- Manage benefits administration operations in partnership with brokers and carriers
- Build and run the multi-state compliance calendar: state registrations, wage and hour requirements, leave laws, posting requirements, and healthcare-specific credentialing
- Own I-9 and work-authorization compliance and the credential-expiration monitoring system for clinical staff
- Maintain the policy library and employee handbook across states, using AI-assisted drafting and review
- Design and run onboarding workflows that get new clinical and corporate hires productive fast — measured in hours, with automation carrying the repetitive load
- Own offboarding, transfers, and lifecycle changes with clean documentation and system hygiene
- Run ER casework end to end under US employment law — documentation, investigation support, performance improvement plans, and terminations — in partnership with leadership
- Build ANNA's performance management infrastructure: review cycles, calibration tooling, and the reporting behind them
- Build and maintain workforce dashboards leadership actually uses: headcount, retention, compliance status, payroll accuracy
- Continuously identify manual People processes and replace them with AI-powered or automated workflows you design yourself
What they require
- 4–6+ years in People Operations or HR operations, including time as an early People hire at a high-growth startup or scale-up
- Hands-on ownership of US employment infrastructure: multi-state payroll, state registrations, I-9 compliance, FLSA classification, and leave-law administration
- Experience personally running US ER cases end to end, including documentation and difficult conversations
- Demonstrated AI fluency through real work product — automated workflows, AI-assisted documentation systems, or reporting builds you created yourself
- Ability to work US Eastern business hours
- Precision and follow-through at high volume
- If you don't meet every preferred qualification, we still encourage you to apply.
- You are a precision-obsessed builder who thrives where systems remain to be created.
- You started somewhere structured — a payroll bureau, an EOR, people advisory — and it gave you zero-defect instincts; then you joined a scale-up as one of the first People hires and discovered you love standing things up at speed.
- You talk about your work in artifacts and numbers: the compliance calendar you built, the payroll migration you ran solo, the error rate you drove to zero.
- You use AI as a genuine work multiplier and have the workflows to prove it.
- You are energized by ownership well beyond a typical manager-level scope, and you're motivated by the chance to build the people engine of a mission-driven healthcare company from the ground up.
- If you're passionate about our mission but don't meet every qualification listed, we still encourage you to apply.
- Your unique perspective might be exactly what we need.
Benefits
- Paid time off and holidays
- professional development and growth opportunities
- supportive leadership and collaborative team culture
ANNA (Allied Network for Neurodevelopmental Advancement) is a mission-driven organization that provides ABA services to young autistic children under the age of 6 and their families using a neurodiversity-affirming, Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Intervention approach. It operates center-based clinics across Massachusetts and Missouri.