Head of People

📋 Description

• • As Astra's Head of People, you will be instrumental in shaping the future of our organization, serving as the first dedicated human resources leader. This pivotal role transcends traditional HR, offering a unique opportunity to architect the people systems, cultivate a robust culture, and establish the operational foundations necessary for Astra to scale rapidly while upholding clarity, accountability, and excellence across our entire team.
• • You will own the comprehensive spectrum of people operations and talent strategy. This includes building highly scalable hiring processes designed to attract and onboard top-tier talent efficiently. You will also be responsible for designing sophisticated compensation and performance frameworks that align individual contributions with company objectives, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and high achievement.
• • A key aspect of this role involves strengthening manager effectiveness through targeted coaching and development programs. You will empower our leaders with the skills and resources needed to guide their teams, manage performance, and navigate complex employee relations situations with confidence and expertise.
• • Furthermore, you will professionalize our compliance and employee operations, ensuring adherence to all relevant regulations and establishing streamlined processes for payroll, benefits administration, and HRIS management. This will create a foundation of trust and operational rigor for all employees.
• • You will play a critical role in shaping the employee experience throughout the entire lifecycle, from initial onboarding to ongoing engagement and retention. This involves designing and iterating on programs that foster a positive, inclusive, and productive work environment, particularly within our remote-first setting.
• • Collaborating closely with the executive team, you will translate business strategy into actionable organizational design, strategic headcount planning, and targeted leadership development initiatives. Your insights will directly influence how Astra structures its organization, develops its talent pool, manages performance effectively, and builds a lasting culture as we transition from a small, agile team into a durable, industry-leading company.
• • This is an exceptional opportunity for an individual who excels at operating tactically in the present while strategically building systems for the future. You should possess a passion for creating structure and scalable processes without impeding team velocity or agility. You view people operations not as an administrative burden, but as a significant strategic advantage that drives business success.
• • **Key Responsibilities Include:**
• • **People Strategy & Organizational Design:** Partner with executive leadership to define and execute headcount planning, organizational structure, role clarity, and scaling strategies that are tightly aligned with Astra's overarching business goals and long-term vision.
• • **Hiring & Talent Systems:** Develop and implement robust, scalable recruiting processes, including sophisticated interview frameworks, comprehensive onboarding programs, and effective hiring manager enablement strategies to support rapid growth with uncompromising quality.
• • **Performance & Development:** Design and implement performance management systems, regular feedback cycles, clear goal-setting frameworks, and structured career progression pathways that foster accountability, drive individual growth, and align with organizational objectives.
• • **Compensation & Benefits:** Lead the development and management of Astra's compensation philosophy, establish clear leveling frameworks, oversee equity programs, conduct regular benchmarking, and define a competitive benefits strategy to attract and retain world-class talent.
• • **Manager Enablement:** Provide ongoing coaching, support, and resources to people managers, focusing on critical areas such as effective hiring, constructive feedback delivery, performance management, employee development, and navigating challenging employee conversations.
• • **People Operations & Compliance:** Oversee all aspects of HR operations, including payroll processing, benefits administration, ensuring employment law compliance, developing and maintaining company policies, managing HR documentation, and optimizing HR tooling and systems.
• • **Employee Experience:** Design, implement, and continuously improve programs focused on onboarding, employee engagement, retention strategies, and internal communications, with a specific focus on enhancing the experience for our remote-first workforce.
• • **Culture & Values:** Actively contribute to articulating, reinforcing, and embedding company values, operating norms, and desired leadership behaviors as Astra continues to scale.
• • **Data & Insights:** Establish and maintain people analytics capabilities, developing dashboards and reports to provide leadership with actionable insights on key metrics such as retention rates, performance trends, hiring velocity, and overall organizational health.
• • **Risk Management:** Collaborate closely with legal and finance departments to proactively manage employment-related risks, ensure policy compliance, conduct thorough investigations when necessary, and handle sensitive employee matters with discretion and professionalism.