Director of People Operations, Shield AI

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or related field
• 15+ years of progressive HR or People Operations experience in complex or high-growth environments
• 7+ years leading People Operations or HR Shared Services teams
• Experience designing and scaling shared services and service delivery models
• Proven track record of operational transformation, including automation and AI-enabled solutions
• Strong expertise in employee lifecycle operations, compliance, and data governance
• Experience partnering with HRIS and enterprise technology teams
• Demonstrated success with KPIs, SLAs, and operational reporting
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills
• Experience in technology, aerospace, defense, or high-growth industries
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, Agile, or ITIL methodologies

Desirable

• Shield AI is seeking a Director of People Operations to lead and evolve our People Operations function as we continue to scale
• In this role, you'll shape how we deliver an exceptional employee experience by building efficient, technology-enabled, and AI-powered processes that support every stage of the employee lifecycle
• You'll balance strategic transformation with hands-on operational leadership, partnering closely with HR, Payroll, Finance, IT, Legal, and business leaders to create a high-performing, scalable People organization that enables our employees—and our business—to thrive
• Define and execute a unified People Operations vision, operating model, and multi-year roadmap spanning candidate interviewing, hiring, employee onboarding and employee lifecycle operations
• Lead day-to-day operations, ensuring consistent, high-quality service delivery across the employee lifecycle
• Lead and scale a rapidly growing People Operations function through direct leadership, with full accountability for team performance, service quality, and outcomes across the candidate and employee lifecycle
• Establish team structure, capacity planning, KPIs, and operating rhythms to support hiring velocity, onboarding effectiveness, and ongoing operational excellence
• Serve as a strategic advisor to executives on workforce operations, hiring experience, service delivery, and AI enablement
• Transform People Operations into a self-service-first, AI-enabled support model
• Design and implement service delivery architecture, including automation, case management, and digital support channels to support rapid company scaling and global expansion
• Lead enterprise knowledge management to enable self-service and improve consistency and AI effectiveness
• Own and drive service performance, including SLAs, response times, quality, and employee satisfaction
• Establish governance for AI-enabled execution and support, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and appropriate escalation
• Continuously improve services through analytics, feedback, and process optimization
• Select and manage external vendors and platforms specific People Operations
• Own end-to-end workforce lifecycle processes, from interview coordination and candidate logistics through onboarding, employee changes, and offboarding
• Ensure seamless handoffs between recruiting and employee operations to deliver a cohesive, high-quality experience
• Lead process redesign initiatives to improve hiring efficiency, onboarding speed, service quality, and risk reduction
• Establish policies, documentation, controls, and service standards
• Drive automation strategies to reduce manual effort and improve quality
• Ensure operational continuity and audit readiness
• Lead change management and adoption for new processes, tools and capabilities
• Ensure accuracy, security, and integrity of employee data and workforce transactions
• Establish governance, audit, and validation practices to reduce risk
• Partner with HRIS, Payroll, Legal, and Finance to maintain compliance and alignment with internal controls
• Drive enterprise accountability for data quality across People systems
• Partner with HRIS, IT, Talent Acquisition, and Digital teams to define and execute the People Operations technology roadmap
• Support adoption and optimization of platforms such as UKG, Jira Service Management, Ashby, and automation tools
• Translate business needs across the People Operations function into scalable systems and workflows
• Establish related service metrics, dashboards, and reporting frameworks
• Monitor SLAs, KPIs, and operational health indicators
• Use data to identify trends, inefficiencies, and opportunities for automation
• Drive continuous improvement and data-informed decision-making
• Measure service effectiveness, employee experience, and AI performance
• Evaluate emerging technologies, industry trends, and evolving best practices to continuously modernize and scale People Operations