Manager, People Operations

Manager, People Operations

Position Overview

The Manager, People Operations is a hands-on people leader responsible for leading a team of four and overseeing the day-to-day details of the People Operations function.

This role is accountable for ensuring that People processes are completed accurately, consistently, on time, and with strong attention to detail. The Manager will oversee the full volunteer lifecycle, review team deliverables, maintain People records and systems, monitor workflows, identify gaps, and ensure that nothing falls through the cracks.

A key element of this role is automation and process optimization. The Manager will identify opportunities to automate repetitive and administrative work while ensuring that technology never replaces the human interactions that are critical to a strong volunteer experience. The goal is to create the right balance: automate the transactional work so the team has more time for meaningful, high-value human engagement.

This is an ideal opportunity for someone who enjoys leading a team, staying close to the details, improving processes, leveraging technology, and creating an efficient and people-centered People Operations function.

Key Responsibilities

Team Leadership & Operational Oversight

• Lead, coach, and manage a People Operations team of four.
• Assign work, establish priorities, monitor progress, and ensure deadlines are met.
• Review team deliverables for accuracy, completeness, quality, and consistency.
• Maintain visibility into day-to-day People Operations activities and follow through on outstanding items.
• Serve as the escalation point for operational issues, questions, and process gaps.
• Hold the team accountable for established service levels, documentation standards, and response times.
• Step into the details when necessary to resolve issues and ensure work is completed correctly.

Volunteer Lifecycle Management

• Oversee all details related to onboarding, role changes, transfers, leaves, and offboarding.
• Ensure required documents, approvals, acknowledgments, access requests, and system updates are completed.
• Monitor onboarding and offboarding checklists to ensure every step is completed and documented.
• Review volunteer records to identify missing information, incomplete documentation, or outstanding actions.
• Partner with managers to resolve delays and ensure People processes move forward appropriately.
• Ensure volunteers receive a consistent, organized, professional, and human-centered experience throughout their lifecycle.

Automation, Systems & Process Optimization

• Make automation a core part of the People Operations strategy, identifying repetitive or administrative work that can be streamlined.
• Evaluate where automation improves speed, accuracy, consistency, and the volunteer experience.
• Ensure automation is thoughtfully balanced with human interaction, judgment, empathy, and relationship-building.
• Automate routine transactions, reminders, notifications, approvals, data updates, reporting, and other repeatable workflows where appropriate.
• Preserve personal interaction for moments that require conversation, judgment, support, coaching, onboarding, performance discussions, or sensitive People matters.
• Continuously evaluate workflows to determine whether a process should be automated, simplified, eliminated, or handled personally.
• Partner with People leadership to introduce scalable tools and technology without creating an impersonal volunteer experience.
• Measure the effectiveness of automation and adjust processes when technology creates unnecessary friction.

HRIS, Records & Data Management

• Oversee the accuracy and integrity of the organization's People data and records.
• Ensure HRIS and other People systems are updated promptly and accurately.
• Conduct regular audits of volunteer records, status changes, documentation, and system data.
• Establish clear standards for data entry, file maintenance, naming conventions, and documentation.
• Identify discrepancies and ensure corrections are completed.
• Maintain appropriate confidentiality and data privacy practices across all People records.

Process & Workflow Management

• Manage the daily workflows that support the People Operations function.
• Create and maintain SOPs, checklists, templates, trackers, and process documentation.
• Monitor open tasks and follow up to ensure actions are completed.
• Identify bottlenecks, duplicate work, manual processes, and opportunities for improvement.
• Standardize recurring processes so work is completed consistently across the team.
• Build workflows that combine automation, clear accountability, and appropriate human touchpoints.

Volunteer & Manager Experience

• Ensure volunteers and managers receive timely, accurate, and consistent People Operations support.
• Monitor incoming questions and requests to ensure they are resolved appropriately.
• Identify recurring questions and develop resources, templates, self-service tools, or automated solutions where appropriate.
• Recognize when a personal conversation is more appropriate than an automated response.
• Partner with managers to reinforce People processes, expectations, and timelines.
• Ensure efficiency never comes at the expense of the human experience.

What We're Looking For

• Experience in People Operations, HR Operations, HR Shared Services, or a related HR function.
• Previous experience leading or coordinating the work of a team.
• Strong attention to detail and a demonstrated ability to manage operational complexity.
• Experience overseeing onboarding, offboarding, employee or volunteer records, HR systems, and People processes.
• Experience identifying and implementing automation, workflow improvements, or HR technology solutions.
• Ability to determine when automation is appropriate and when direct human interaction is necessary.
• Strong follow-through and the ability to track multiple activities through completion.
• Experience reviewing work for accuracy and identifying errors, gaps, or inconsistencies.
• Strong organizational and project-management skills.
• Experience with HRIS platforms, spreadsheets, trackers, reporting tools, and collaborative systems.
• Comfortable working at both the managerial and detailed execution level.
• Strong judgment, discretion, empathy, and ability to handle confidential information.
• Ability to operate effectively in a growing environment where processes continue to evolve.

Why This Role Matters

The Manager, People Operations is the person who ensures the People function runs smoothly behind the scenes.

This role will lead the team while maintaining strong oversight of the details—ensuring records are accurate, processes are followed, deadlines are met, documentation is complete, and outstanding issues are closed.

Just as importantly, this role will help determine where technology should do the work and where people should. By automating repetitive administrative tasks while preserving meaningful human interactions, the Manager will help create a People Operations function that is both highly efficient and highly personal.

For someone who enjoys leading people, creating structure, leveraging technology, staying close to the details, and improving the human experience, this role offers the opportunity to make a significant impact on how the organization operates and scales.