Activate empowers scientists to reinvent our world and address climate change by bringing their research to market. We partner with leading funders and research institutions—including a groundbreaking new partnership with the National Science Foundation—to offer the Activate Fellowship, providing the funding, technical support, networking, community, and time that scientists need at the outset of their entrepreneurial journey.

The results are game changing: Activate Fellows have launched 147 new companies since 2015. These companies have raised nearly $1.9B in follow-on funding, created more than 1,800 U.S.-based high-tech jobs, reached scientific breakthroughs, and defined new market categories. Activate supports fellows in Berkeley, CA; Cambridge, MA; New York, NY; Houston, TX; and across the U.S. through Activate Anywhere.

Activate exists to create a better future, for all. In service of this purpose, we are building a foundation of equity and inclusivity across our business, including our operations, our fellowship, our partnerships, and our brand.

Position Summary

Activate’s People & Culture (P&C) team is looking for a Generalist with direct experience managing operations and benefits to join us and work on an array of high-impact Operations, Benefits and Recruiting projects across the P&C umbrella. We’re looking for someone with high attention-to-detail, strong independence in problem solving, and who is excited to dig into operational challenges, identify the root cause and pave the way towards a solution. This is a generalist role where you might touch any of the following in the same week: leading recruiting searches, onboarding a new hire, working with insurance providers and states to get relevant documents our team needs, reviewing our employee handbook, conducting a 401K audit, or working on culture projects. In this role, you’ll get to influence every step of the employee lifecycle and enable us to deliver on a truly supportive employee experience.

Primary Responsibilities

Lead People Operations efforts including managing relationships with our benefit broker, generating reports and sending receipts to our accounting team, troubleshooting coverage problems, running payroll, coordinating 401K management, investigating the cause of operational issues, and being a go-to resource for People Operations and Benefit questions.
Deliver an exceptional hiring and candidate experience by managing our hiring processes, coordinating scheduling, leading improvements on our ATS (Greenhouse), conducting screening calls and being a thought partner to our hiring managers.
Enable a smooth and successful employee onboarding experience by managing the onboarding process, being the go-to person for new hires, gathering consistent feedback and incorporating improvements to continuously improve new hires’ experience at Activate.
Partner with VP of People to create resources and coordinate projects around performance management, Diversity & Inclusion, learning & development and employee engagement.
Support cultural efforts such as advising on a company culture plan, strategizing around events, coordinating swag, and partnering with relevant team members on larger scale quarterly team events.
Manage low–lift office operations including managing relationships with building management, partnering with certain team members to order supplies, creating processes around parking and mail management. Occasional in-office presence in our Berkeley office will be required for this role.
We have an exciting People & Culture strategy and series of projects to work on! This role will include plenty of opportunities to take on additional projects aligned with P&C strategy based on the individual’s interests and experience.

Core skills and competencies

4-7 years of professional experience, with at least 3 years direct experience with operations and benefit management and exposure to people & culture processes and the employee life cycle
Familiarity with leave of absences, state employment law and regulations
Exceptional attention to detail and ability to be resourceful and self-organized in a fast-paced environment
Independent problem-solver who is able to relentlessly drive tasks to completion through delays and redirections
Ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality regarding payroll, benefits and employee issues
Comfort juggling multiple ongoing work-streams and context-switching with ease
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Alignment with our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging
High level of empathy and compassion
Excited to be at a mission-oriented organization who is very dedicated to our fellows’ success

About The Role

This is a full-time position with a competitive salary starting at $90K/year with a generous benefits package that includes $2,000 in annual wellness funds, unlimited paid time off, healthcare premiums covered for employees and dependents at 90%, and the opportunity to join a retirement plan with a 3% match beginning after 3 months at Activate.

Encouraging Applications from All Backgrounds

We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Activate Global, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

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People Operations and Recruiting Generalist