About this role
ABOUT CONDOREvery year, hundreds of billions of dollars are invested to discover and develop new therapies, yet the financial infrastructure behind that work has not kept pace. Clinical operations and finance live in disconnected worlds, forcing teams to make high-stakes decisions using fragmented tools and static data.
Condor exists to change that. We are a system of action, building the financial intelligence layer that will power the next era of clinical development. Condor connects clinical operations, vendor activity, and financial signals into a single, real-time intelligence layer, giving R&D and finance leaders true command over how their organizations operate.
Condor is pharma-native, AI-driven infrastructure built to scale industry standards we helped define with Big 4 partners. It powers prediction, control, and execution across the most complex R&D environments in the world.
WHY THIS MATTERS NOWCondor has moved past proving the concept. Enterprise teams already trust Condor to run critical operations and finance. The work ahead is the hardest part: scaling something people depend on when the stakes are this high.
Condor is a high-growth company backed by top institutional partners like Felicis and 645 Ventures, growing rapidly with Top 200 biopharma companies. We are building foundational infrastructure for how new therapies reach patients, and we are building the internal systems to match.
THE ROLECondor Software is seeking a People Operations Manager to build and run the people function end to end. This is our first dedicated People hire. How we onboard someone on day one, how we level and pay people, how we develop them, and how we decide what kind of company we are: all of it is open, and all of it is yours to design.
You will report to the VP of Finance & Operations, who owns executive and leadership team partnership. Your focus is the function itself and the day-to-day experience of everyone in the company.
You will also be the person people come to. Being close to the team, knowing how they are actually doing, and removing the friction that makes someone's week harder than it needs to be is a real part of this job, not a byproduct of it.
This is a builder role. Not a lot exists yet, which means you get to decide how a company scales its people function rather than inheriting someone else's version of it. You will have a leadership team that backs your judgment and moves quickly on it, and you will see the effect of what you build almost immediately.
It is also a real operating role. The recurring work has to run well, because people's pay, benefits, and careers depend on it. The best person for this job is energized by both: the blank page and the thing that runs reliably every month.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIESPeople Operations & SystemsOwn Rippling as the system of record for the company, including data integrity, workflow automation, and integrations across the rest of our stack
Run payroll and benefits administration, including open enrollment and renewals, broker relationships, 401(k), and COBRA
Own employment compliance, including multi-state registrations, exempt and non-exempt classification, I-9s, required filings, the employee handbook, and leave administration
Maintain people data and reporting, including headcount, attrition, and org views that tie to Finance's headcount plan and board materials
Own the structure and standards of our internal Notion workspace so that company knowledge, policies, and process documentation live somewhere findable and current
Use AI to take manual work out of the function wherever it makes sense, from drafting and documentation to onboarding workflows and answering common employee questions
Talent LifecycleDesign and run onboarding so that a new hire has a great first day and gets productive quickly
Own offboarding end to end, including transition planning, systems and access deprovisioning, final pay, and exit interviews
Own recruiting operations, including Ashby, interview process design, scorecards, offer letters, and candidate experience, working alongside our external recruiting partners
Partner with hiring managers on role scoping, interview loop design, and closing candidates
Performance, Levels & CompensationBuild out our leveling framework and career ladders, partnering with the VP of Finance & Operations and function leads on the design
Build defensible salary bands using market data, and help shape our compensation philosophy alongside Finance
Design and run performance review cycles, including calibration, manager enablement, and follow-through on outcomes
Own the annual compensation review and promotion process
Manager Support & Employee RelationsCoach and support managers on giving feedback, running performance conversations, and developing their teams
Support managers through sensitive employee relations matters with discretion and sound judgment
Bring a clear point of view and the judgment to push back when something does not look right
Culture & Employee ExperienceDefine and steward what it actually means to work at Condor, in practice rather than on a poster
Be a visible and approachable point of contact for the whole company, including for the questions people do not know who to ask
Own the employee experience end to end and keep looking for the small things that would make working here better
Build the rituals that hold a distributed, fast-moving team together, including onboarding traditions, recognition, and team gatherings
Measure engagement on a regular cadence and act on what the data says
Build our learning and development approach, including manager training, individual development planning, and how we invest in people's growth
FIRST YEAR PRIORITIESWhat we would expect this person to have delivered twelve months in:
The operational foundation running cleanly, with payroll, benefits, and compliance in good shape
A leveling framework and compensation bands in place, applied consistently across the company
A performance review cycle designed, run at least once, and improved based on what we learned
Onboarding rebuilt into an experience new hires talk about, with a faster path to being productive
Managers better equipped to manage, with a clear point of view from you on where the gaps still are
Notion structured as a real internal knowledge base, with clear standards for where things live
A team that knows who to go to, and a People function people actually want to engage with
SKILLS & EXPERIENCERequired5 or more years in People Operations, HR, or a combined People and Talent role, including time at a growing startup
Direct experience with multi-state employment compliance and the practical realities of California employment law
Experience building or contributing to leveling frameworks and compensation bands, not just administering someone else's
Strong HRIS and systems fluency, with hands-on Rippling experience strongly preferred, and a track record of choosing, implementing, or cleaning up people systems
Comfort owning payroll and benefits administration
Daily use of AI in your own work, with a real instinct for what should be automated and what should not
Comfort with ambiguity and a bias toward building the thing rather than waiting for a mandate
Experience handling sensitive employee relations matters independently
Sound judgment and complete discretion with sensitive information
PreferredExperience as the first People hire at a company, or an early member of a People team that was being built
Experience supporting a company through a Series B or later financing, including people-related diligence
A track record of building documentation systems that stay organized and current
Experience in B2B SaaS, life sciences, or healthcare
PERSONAL ATTRIBUTESBuilder mentality, energized by creating structure where there is none
Operationally rigorous, and proud of work that runs reliably without anyone having to check
Genuinely interested in people and in what makes a team work well together
Direct and warm at the same time, able to deliver hard messages without damaging the relationship
Self-directed and comfortable operating without a defined playbook
WHAT WE OFFERCompetitive compensation and meaningful equity participation
Comprehensive employee benefits, including 100% company-paid health, dental, vision, and life insurance
401(k) plan with a 3% company match that vests immediately
Unlimited PTO
Condor is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected status.