HR Operations Lead, People Infrastructure

ABOUT SANDBOXAQ

SandboxAQ is a high-growth company delivering AI solutions that address some of the world's greatest challenges. The company's Large Quantitative Models (LQMs) power advances in life sciences, financial services, navigation, cybersecurity, and other sectors.

We are a global team that is tech-focused and includes experts in AI, chemistry, cybersecurity, physics, mathematics, medicine, engineering, and other specialties. The company emerged from Alphabet Inc. as an independent, growth capital-backed company in 2022, funded by leading investors and supported by a braintrust of industry leaders.

At SandboxAQ, we've cultivated an environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and impact. By investing deeply in our people, we're building a thriving, global workforce poised to tackle the world's epic challenges. Join us to advance your career in pursuit of an inspiring mission, in a community of like-minded people who value entrepreneurialism, ownership, and transformative impact.

THE OPPORTUNITY

At SandboxAQ, People infrastructure is not a back-office function. It is the platform on which we build the employee experience.

We have strong foundations in place, and we are entering the next evolution of how we operate. As the company grows, we need someone who can build for today while designing for what comes next. What works at 300 people is not what works at 600, and this role is about helping us stay ahead of that curve.

We are looking for a HR Operations Lead to own and evolve our People Infrastructure in North America, with select global overlap. This is a senior role that is both hands on, as well as responsible for the work and execution of more junior team members. The right person will bring strong judgment, systems thinking, and a practical builder mindset. They will know how to create infrastructure and experiences that work for employees, managers, and the business at the same time.

This person will lead across systems, workflows, policy, service delivery, and operational design. They should be comfortable being hands on and running critical day-to-day operations, improving the architecture behind them, and bringing practical ideas (that you have implemented prior!) for how AI and agentic workflows can help us work smarter as we scale. Experience supporting organizational growth, change, and M&A integration is highly valuable in this role.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

- Own HR Operations for North America across the employee lifecycle, while partnering on selected global processes and initiatives.

- Lead operational excellence across employee changes, leaves, separations, compliance, documentation, and employee support.

- Own and improve core HR systems, workflows, and operating infrastructure with a focus on scale, usability, control, and reliability.

- Translate policy into clear, workable processes and build durable operating practices, documentation, and governance.

- Strengthen workflows for contractors, consultants, advisors, and other non-employee populations.

- Manage and develop junior HR Operations team members, creating clarity, accountability, and stronger execution across the team.

- Partner closely with the People Team, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Legal, IT, Security, and other stakeholders to improve how work moves across the business.

- Identify friction, reduce manual work, and introduce practical uses of AI, automation, and agentic workflows to improve quality, speed, and scale.

- Help the function evolve for the future by building infrastructure that can support a more complex organization over time, including periods of rapid growth, change, or integration.

- Lead on select sensitive employee relations matters including investigations, policy review, and decision making

- Drive strategic projects and programs to make us more future ready (ex: roadmap for tech stack changes, new global time off policies)

ESSENTIAL SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

- Significant experience in HR Operations, People Operations, or HR systems-focused roles, with ownership of regional or multi-jurisdictional operations. Prior deliverables may include (but not limited to):

- Technology evaluation, re-design and implementation (ex: new HRIS system)

- Significant policy design and transition (ex: you made a large scale global policy change and drove the change management)

- Redesigning work flows with the use of AI/agentic solutions

- Experience leading complex employee relations matters (ex: difficult policy decision, standard employee investigation)

- Minimum of 9+ years of progressive experience across HR systems, operational infrastructure, employee lifecycle processes, policy execution, and service delivery.

- Someone who has held an HR Business Partner role (or similar employee facing role)

- Prior people management experience, including meaningful experience coaching and developing junior team members.

- Strong systems ori