Senior People Operations Manager

Full-Time | Remote | $80,000–$95,000 | Reports to COO

Why This Role Exists

Pesty Marketing is in a clear growth phase, and our people operations must scale with the business, not lag behind it.

Last year, we generated $2M in revenue. This year, we are on track to reach $5M. As part of that growth, we’ve built a distributed team of 11 U.S. full-time employees and 19 full-time offshore contractors (30 total), with plans to scale the team to 42 by the end of the year. Until now, People Ops has been handled by leadership with support from a fractional Head of HR.

That model no longer scales.

This role exists to bring People Operations in-house, reduce risk, and give leadership confidence that compliance, payroll, contracts, and lifecycle management are handled correctly without constant executive oversight.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to build HR the right way from the ground up and grow into a Head of People role as the company continues to scale.

The Mission

The mission of the People Operations Manager is to own and professionalize Pesty Marketing’s people operations—so compliance risk is reduced, employee and contractor lifecycle management is clean, and leadership no longer needs to manage HR details.

This is a senior individual-contributor role with full ownership. You will build systems, documentation, and processes that work without hand-holding.

Measurable Outcomes (12 Months)

An A Player in this role will consistently deliver the following outcomes:

• All people-related administrative work is fully owned and removed from CEO and COO plates
• Payroll, benefits, and contractor payments run accurately and on time, with no recurring issues
• Multi-state compliance risk is clearly understood, monitored, and documented, with leadership confident nothing is slipping through the cracks
• Onboarding and offboarding processes run cleanly and consistently across all roles and geographies
• Contracts, titles, and compensation data are accurate and up to date across all systems
• The employee handbook and core HR SOPs are current, usable, and enforced
• Leadership no longer worries about HR execution quality, only policy decisions

Failure to materially reduce risk or leadership involvement is considered underperformance.

What You’ll Own

• People Systems & Lifecycle Management
• Own end-to-end onboarding and offboarding for employees and contractors
• Manage contracts, role changes, promotions, and title updates
• Ensure all changes are reflected accurately across tools and documentation
• Build repeatable SOPs that scale as headcount grows

Payroll, Benefits & Compliance

• Manage payroll through Gusto for U.S. employees and offshore contractors
• Oversee benefits, including 401(k) and QSEHRA
• Monitor and maintain compliance across multiple U.S. states
• Maintain clean records for FTE vs. contractor distinctions
• Partner with external advisors as needed, but own execution internally

Compensation & Offer Support

• Support compensation benchmarking and offer design
• Maintain consistency and documentation around pay bands and role levels
• Ensure offers align with internal structures and compliance requirements
• Execute offers cleanly (note: termination conversations are not part of this role)

High-Agency Operations

• Take over fragmented HR responsibilities and turn them into durable systems
• Anticipate issues before leadership needs to ask
• Build processes that work without constant reminders
• Think two steps ahead as the company scales

Experience & Capabilities

Required

• 5+ years in People Operations, HR, or related roles
• Experience owning HR execution in a growing company or agency environment
• Strong understanding of U.S. employment compliance and contractor management
• Hands-on experience with Gusto and Google Workspace
• High attention to detail and strong documentation skills
• Ability to operate independently with minimal executive direction

Nice to Have

• Experience transitioning from fractional or founder-led HR to in-house ownership
• Familiarity with distributed or offshore teams
• Hands on experience with Asana
• Experience managing a QSEHRA program

Browse our curated collection of remote jobs across all categories and industries, featuring positions from top companies worldwide.

• Experience modernizing or rebuilding people systems from scratch
• Comfort using AI tools to improve efficiency and documentation

Core Competencies (Non-Negotiable)

An A Player in this role consistently demonstrates:

• Ownership – takes full responsibility for outcomes, not tasks
• Foresight – thinks two steps ahead instead of reacting
• Operational rigor – values accuracy, documentation, and consistency
• Judgment – knows when to escalate and when to decide
• Independence – does not require constant executive direction
• Professional backbone – builds HR systems, not “babysitting” functions

Who This Role Is Not For

• HR professionals who need constant guidance or validation
• People who avoid accountability or decision-making
• Soft, reactive HR profiles
• Career generalists who don’t build systems
• Anyone uncomfortable owning compliance and execution details

Growth Path

• This role is intentionally designed to grow:
• People Operations Manager → Head of People
• As the company scales, high performers will take on broader strategic ownership and eventually build a team.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $80,000–$95,000
• Fully remote
• Unlimited PTO (2-week minimum encouraged)
• Health benefits after 30 days
• 401(k)
• Professional development support

Final Note

This role is for someone who wants to build HR the right way, reduce risk, and create systems that leadership can trust. If you enjoy turning fragmented processes into clean, scalable operations, and want a clear path to Head of People, this role will fit.