People Operations & Payroll Specialist

About the position Responsibilities • Own and execute bi-monthly payroll with a high degree of accuracy and timeliness, including audits, reconciliations, and issue resolution. • Manage employee benefits administration, including enrollments, changes, terminations, and day-to-day employee inquiries. • Serve as the primary administrator of our HRIS and payroll systems (e.g., HiBob, Paylocity, Oyster, Empower, Sequoia), ensuring data integrity, accurate configuration, and strong system controls. • Partner with Finance and Accounting to ensure accurate payroll accounting, deductions, and reporting. • Act as the main liaison with HR, payroll, benefits, and EOR vendors, ensuring SLAs are met and systems/processes are continuously improved. • Support and help execute on our compensation and benefits strategy to remain competitive, cost-effective, and aligned with business goals. • Support the full employee lifecycle from onboarding through offboarding to ensure a seamless experience for team members. • Own and administer people operations processes and documentation, ensuring our systems of record are accurate, consistent, and up to date. • Serve as the primary point of contact for day-to-day employee inquiries related to HR policies, procedures, payroll, and benefits. • Provide generalist support for various people programs and projects across engagement, performance, and culture initiatives. • Coordinate multi-state hiring in the U.S., ensuring payroll, benefits, and compliance requirements are met across jurisdictions. • Manage global hiring through EOR partners (e.g., Oyster), including onboarding, documentation, and coordination with vendors to ensure compliant, timely, and accurate setup of international employees. • Own and drive HR compliance processes, ensuring adherence to federal, state, local, and applicable international/EOR requirements. • Conduct regular audits of payroll, benefits, HRIS data, and personnel files to maintain accuracy and mitigate risk. • Prepare and maintain required HR reports, metrics, and dashboards for leadership and cross-functional partners. • Administer leave of absence and disability processes, ensuring compliance and a supportive employee experience. • Facilitate new hire onboarding and offboarding processes, including system setup, documentation, and communications for both U.S. and global (EOR) hires. • Maintain accurate and confidential personnel records and ensure data hygiene across all systems. • Continuously optimize HRIS and payroll workflows, recommending improvements to increase efficiency, accuracy, and automation. Requirements • 2–4+ years of demonstrated success in HR operations, with emphasis on payroll, HRIS, benefits, and multi-state compliance • Experience in fast-paced environments, ideally startup or tech • Experience supporting multi-state U.S. teams • Experience working with or coordinating global employees via EOR providers (e.g., Oyster) • Experience as a system admin or heavy user of HRIS/payroll platforms Nice-to-haves • In startup or tech environments • HiBob, Paylocity, Oyster, Asana, Sequoia Benefits • Comprehensive Health Coverage: Medical, dental, and vision insurance plans • 401(k) with Company Match: Plan for your future with our retirement savings program • Equity Purchase Option: Participate in Fuel Cycle’s long-term success • Flexible Work Schedule: Empowering you to balance life and work • Generous Time Off: • 15 vacation days and 7 sick days per year • 12 company holidays • 4 floating holidays/recharge days to rest or celebrate what matters to you • Paid Parental Leave: Time to bond with your growing family • Monthly Internet & Phone Stipend: Support for remote work setup • Wellness & Lifestyle Perks: Access to tools like Rightway (healthcare navigation), Headspace (mental wellness), and more • Team Connection Perks: • Weekly community lunches, refreshments, and snacks at our LA & NY headquarters • Pet-friendly office environments Apply tot his job Apply To this Job