Manager, People Operations

About the role Muon is built on a vision of a world that sees itself clearly—where real-time planetary insight drives action to protect lives, build resilience, and compound into shared prosperity. To support this mission, Muon seeks a People Operations Manager to join our rapidly growing People Operations team. The ideal candidate is a highly empathetic, high-integrity leader who will serve as the operational bedrock of our employee experience. Reporting to the VP of People Operations, you will lead a dedicated team delivering operational excellence across the employee experience balancing strategic scaling and compliance with a deeply human-centric approach. This position is hybrid and requires working on-site in our San Jose, CA office three days per week. Could flex to accommodate remote for exceptional candidates who are located in the West Coast timezone and could travel to the Bay Area at least once a quarter. Responsibilities • Directly partnering with the VP of People Operations to design and execute scalable HR strategies, programs, and infrastructure built for rapid headcount growth to support the company. • Ensure seamless execution across the employee lifecycle from onboarding, benefits administration, payroll processing, internal employee support and offboarding. • Foster an inclusive, supportive, and kind workplace culture grounded in integrity, psychological safety, and clear communication. • Design, launch, and analyze regular pulse surveys to measure employee engagement, gather actionable feedback, and drive continuous improvement in workplace culture. • Maintain full compliance with federal, state, and local labor laws (including FLSA, FMLA, ADA, and aerospace-specific regulations like ITAR/EAR), and continuously update company policies as needed. • Lead annual Open Enrollment, vendor management, and benefits strategy to ensure competitive and compassionate total rewards packages. • Oversee accuracy and compliance in payroll workflows, HRIS management, and time-tracking systems. • Lead and empower your team and be a role model for the company of management capability. • Serve as a trusted, approachable point of contact for employees, handling complex personal or professional inquiries with total confidentiality. • Manage sensitive employee relations and conflict resolution with fairness, discretion, and deep emotional intelligence. Qualifications • Experience: 8–12+ years of progressive experience in People Operations or Human Resources, with at least 4+ years of direct people management experience. • Scaling & Growth: Proven track record of building, scaling, and managing People Operations functions through rapid hyper-growth phases. • Autonomy & Drive: Proven ability to translate broad business goals into actionable project roadmaps and execute independently with minimal direction. • Total Rewards Strategy: Strategic expertise in Total Rewards and benefits design, vendor negotiations, and overseeing end-to-end Open Enrollment strategy. • Problem Solving & Discretion: Demonstrated mastery in handling complex employee relations, internal investigations, and sensitive organizational challenges with exceptional emotional intelligence, discretion, and high integrity. • Executive Partnership: Strong executive presence with proven success advising and partnering with stakeholders across our growing organization on people strategies. • Communication Skills: Outstanding verbal and written communication skills with a natural approachability and warmth. • Adaptability: Excited to work in a fast-paced environment with new challenges each week. • Systems and Documentation: Hands-on experience architecting and managing modern HR systems (Rippling, Lattice) and building out accessible and clear documentation (Google Workspace, Confluence). Nice-to-have Skills • Legal Compliance: Deep knowledge of multi-state federal, state, and local employment laws, compliance frameworks, and complex HR governance. • Aerospace Regulations: Familiarity with ITAR/EAR regulatory compliance and security clearances and its implications on talent acquisition, onboarding, and export control workflows. Salary The salary range for this role is $193,000 - $214,000, plus a competitive equity grant and comprehensive benefits package. Final compensation will be determined based on skills, qualifications, experience, and geographic location as assessed during the interview process. About Muon Space Founded in 2021, Muon Space is an end-to-end Space Systems Provider that designs, builds, and operates LEO satellite constellations delivering mission-critical data. Our revolutionary, integrated technology stack enables customers to optimize every dimension of their missions for faster time-to-orbit and superior constellation remote sensing performance. Our state-of-the-art facility in the heart of Silicon Valley is optimized for manufacturing spacecraft and rapid, flexible payload integration at scale. From climate monitoring to national security, Muon Space is dedicated to delivering Earth Intelligence for a safer and more resilient world. Taking Care of Our Team At Muon salary is only part of our total compensation package. In addition to salary, full-time employees receive equity compensation as well as benefits including medical, dental, and vision insurance, a 401k retirement plan, short & long term disability and life insurance. We also offer three weeks paid vacation for new employees, along with 12 paid holidays, unlimited sick time and paid parental leave. Our mission embraces the entire planet and we believe our team should too. Muon is dedicated to creating a diverse and dynamic company and workforce. We believe in equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, age, national origin, citizenship, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or gender identity. We value diversity in the workplace, and that starts with our applicants. We encourage you to apply, even if you don't check all the boxes, and we look forward to reviewing your application! In addition, if you need a reasonable accommodation as part of your application for employment or interviews with us, please let us know. Muon is currently registered and able to hire in the following states: AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DC, FL, GA, IL, IA, ID, MD, MA, MI, MN, MO, NJ, NY, NC, OH, OR, PA, TN, TX, VT, VA, WA ITAR/EAR Requirements This position requires access to export controlled information. To conform to U.S. Government export regulations applicable to that information, applicant must either be (A) a U.S. person, defined as a (i) U.S. citizen or national, (ii) U.S. lawful, permanent resident (green card holder), (iii) refugee under 8 U.S.C. § 1157, or (iv) asylee under 8 U.S.C. § 1158, (B) eligible to access the export controlled information without a required export authorization, or (C) eligible and reasonably likely to obtain the required export authorization from the applicable U.S. government agency. The Company may, for legitimate business reasons, decline to pursue any export licensing process.