People Operations Manager

We’re hiring an Operations Manager on the People team at Gitpod.

Hey! I’m Eva, Head of People at Gitpod. I'm growing the People team, starting with an Operations Manager. This role will report directly to me and will be heavily focused on supporting the operations and compliance side of the People function.

You’ll be a champion of our operating principles, enhance our employment experience end-to-end, and create order from the complexity that comes with running a global team. The dream candidate has scaled benefits, compliance, and employment practices at an early stage before (ideally going from A to B) in some capacity. You have been deep in the implementation of complex projects and are eager to now lead them from 0 to 1.

This role will play a vital role in how we continue to strategically grow Gitpod and will have a significant opportunity to influence how we scale our people operations, specifically in the US. If you read this and think “this is me!” please submit your application so we can explore the opportunity with you. Looking forward to meeting you!
(P.S. the best way to connect with me is through this form instead of LinkedIn DMs)

Who we are

Five years ago, we set out to create a world where every software engineer is instantly ready-to-code. With over 1.5 million users, we are now the leading platform for standardized and automated development environments. In 2024, we quadrupled enterprise revenue, signed several seven-figure contracts with F500 companies, launched our AI-first product architecture and, most importantly, discovered our authentic rhythm. In 2025, we amp up our ambition.
We're a talent-dense group of people who transform how software is created, working to empower every company, every team, and every individual to succeed in a software-first world. We care deeply, and for many of us, building Gitpod is our life's work.
This is the best time to join the company. We've found product-market-fit and are scaling with high intensity towards repeatable go-to-market fit. Our operating principles are an honest representation of how we build relationships and make decisions. We choose colleagues carefully based on merit and their authentic alignment with those principles. If this excites you, we would love for you to apply.

Role responsibilities

Our operating principles are the standard that we drive towards. We are collectively accountable for enhancing and preserving our culture in alignment with these principles and expect people to view this as a core responsibility within the scope of their role.

In addition, here are the main areas of focus:

• People operations - own all administrative processes end-to-end and find ways to make hiring, tooling, and processes more efficient, faster, and automated wherever it makes sense

• Benefits and compliance - be the expert when it comes to internal benefits offerings and find ways to enhance how we support and invest in the team. Work in collaboration with our legal team to remain compliant in all employment-related domains

• Operational efficiency - evaluate, manage, and strategize how we run employment in collaboration with Head of People to reduce complexity and enhance the employee experience

• Vendor relations - manage the relationship with our partners like Deel and other third-party vendors that enable us to support a global team

• Events support - coordinate company events end-to-end including regular offsites and team meetups. Occasionally support other company travel and accommodations.

• G&A operations - establish and implement reporting and audits related to compensation and benefits and help streamline US G&A processes to ensure efficient resource allocation in collaboration with the Finance & Ops team

At the end of your first 30 days, you will:

• Fully understand Deel, HiBob, and Ashby basics

• Take over vendor relationships - specifically with Deel

• Scope transition plan for how we will manage our US entity in 2025

• Complete a holistic compliance audit across the People function

• Fully understand the current status of our next offsite and prepare to support

About you

• You work in alignment with our operating principles.

• You’re an activator. You embody true empowerment, proactivity, persuasiveness, agency and bias for action, decisiveness, curiosity, adaptability, and resilience. You are exceptional at getting stuff done in a way that enables everyone to win.

• Your principles enable your flexibility. You have a deep understanding of traditional HR processes and recognize and appreciate the shift towards a people-centric model. You have the discernment for knowing when to work by-the-book and when to throw out the rules. You're adept at balancing compliance with innovation to create efficient, scalable people operations that can support rapid growth and innovation and you view company principles as the foundation for unblocking and empowering people to reach their goals.

• You’ve seen a lot. Everyday at a Series A startup is different than the day before. What stays the same is the need for adaptability in the midst of change. Though you may have not seen everything, you’ve seen enough to become energized by the opportunity that change brings. Your emotional intelligence has stretched and strengthened as a result of your exposure to diverse business and people scenarios and you’re equipped to set the temperature of the room.

Additionally, we're looking for someone with most of the following:

• Significant experience in ambiguous/dynamic companies, like early stage startups or consultancies

• People operations, compliance, project management, and/or program management background

• Connection to our industry and product and empathy for the problem we are solving

• Significant experience managing multi-state employment compliance requirements

• Significant benefits selection, administration, and compliance experience

• Experience with international employment compliance requirements

• Clear evidence of successfully owning programs and projects end-to-end, driven by data

• Full-cycle vendor relations management

• Experience with people tools (ideally Deel, Ashby, and HiBob)

• Preference for automation and incorporates AI and automation into daily work

• SHRM/PHR certification* - note on this: you can effectively take the fundamentals and requirements of traditional "HR" and apply them within the context of our operating principles, current stage, and business objectives to help us thrive

We use these tools and expect you to have familiarity with most of them:

• Notion, Google, Slack

• Deel

• HiBob

• Ashby

• Checkr

• Claude, Granola, AI tools

• Zapier
  

Benefits

• Flexible paid time off including holidays that are most meaningful to you

• Employee-friendly equity terms (extended exercise)

• Health insurance (country-specific)

• Retirement (country-specific)

• Wellness allowance

• Premium work-from-home equipment

• Regular company off-sites

Interview process

We are remote-first and so is our hiring process. Contingent on schedules, we aim to complete the entire process in about 2 weeks. We are conscious of your time and are committed to being as efficient as possible.

1. We'll kick the process off with an intro call to see if there is mutual interest in moving forward.

2. Next, you'll complete a series of interviews designed to thoroughly evaluate our mutual compatibility.

   • Meet with Eva - we will do 2 interviews

     • Head of People - focused on operating principles

     • Hiring Manager - focused on the role

   • Peer chat

   • Project and panel presentation

   • CEO

3. References and background check - Before moving to an offer, we’ll set up video calls with 3 direct managers and/or senior leaders that can speak to your performance. Additionally, we will run a full background check (location dependent)

Gitpod provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.