People Operations Specialist

ABOUT US: Astro Mechanica is a vertically integrated aerospace company developing a scalable technology platform to power critical infrastructure, mission operations, and the future of flight. We apply aerospace engineering and quality standards across our products, delivering high performance, reliability, and efficiency for the most demanding operating environments. Astro Mechanica is backed by leading venture and strategic investors, including Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Giant Step Capital, United Airlines Ventures, and Voyager Ventures. WHO WE ARE: We’re a team of passionate engineers dedicated to advancing aerospace. We’re generalists with specialist depth, united by a flat structure and a shared obsession with building things that work well. We move fast, stay pragmatic, and let engineering excellence speak louder than hierarchy. WHO YOU ARE: You are a strong operator with a people-first mindset who is passionate about creating an exceptional employee experience. You are excited to own the employee journey from offer acceptance through offboarding, ensuring every interaction is seamless, thoughtful, and well executed. You are exceptionally organized and detail-oriented, with a track record of managing multiple priorities while ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. You thrive in a fast-paced environment, are comfortable navigating ambiguity, and take pride in bringing structure and consistency to complex problems. You build trust quickly through excellent interpersonal and communication skills, exercise sound judgment when handling sensitive and confidential matters, and know when to resolve issues independently. Most importantly, you take ownership, sweat the details, and are excited to shape what it means to work at Astro Mechanica as the company grows. WHAT YOU’LL DO: - Build scalable People Operations processes from the ground up, creating systems that enable the company to grow while staying lean - Support recruiting operations, including interview scheduling, candidate coordination, ATS administration, reporting, and recruiting metrics to provide visibility into hiring health across the organization - Own benefits administration end-to-end, including enrollment, employee support, vendor management, compliance, annual renewals, and continuous improvements to the employee experience - Own HR compliance administration across multiple states, including claims management, compliance, and coordination with insurance carriers and external partners, catching gaps before they become liabilities - Own onboarding execution, including employment documentation, HRIS setup, benefits enrollment, and first-day readiness - Support compensation planning, market benchmarking, equity administration, and annual compensation review cycles in partnership with leadership - Serve as the primary point of contact for employee questions related to benefits, policies, and HR operations, exercising sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus when to involve leadership or outside counsel - Own and continuously improve HR systems, documentation, workflows, and reporting to increase operational efficiency and reduce administrative burden WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR: - 3–6+ years of experience in People Operations, HR Operations, Benefits Administration, or a generalist HR role with significant operational ownership - Working knowledge of U.S. employment law and multi-state HR compliance, with sound judgment on when to resolve issues independently versus escalate to leadership or outside counsel - Experience independently owning a benefits renewal cycle, including broker coordination, plan evaluation, employee communications, and open enrollment - Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, with a proven ability to manage multiple priorities and ensure nothing falls through the cracks - Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with the ability to build trust across all levels of the organization while handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion - A proactive, ownership-oriented mindset with the ability to build processes, solve problems, and drive initiatives with minimal direction - Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, high-growth startup environment where priorities evolve quickly - Experience in aerospace, defense or another hardware-focused industry a plus, familiarity with ITAR facilities a plus PERKS & BENEFITS: - Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance, including Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) - 401(k) program and transparent stock option plan - Self-managed and flexible time-off policy, including PTO, paid holidays, and sick time - Flexible work environment ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: At Astro Mechanica, we highly value in-office work to foster collaboration and strengthen our company culture. We consider working in the office five days a week an essential part of the employee's role. Astro Mechanica is an equal opportunity employer. We proudly recruit and hire a diverse workforce and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.