People Operations Manager, Zum
$145-180k
More information about location
3 days a week in office (Redwood City, CA)
Student transportation services
Be an early applicant
Student transportation services
201-500 employees
Be an early applicant
$145-180k
More information about location
3 days a week in office (Redwood City, CA)
201-500 employees
Company mission
To bring student transporation into a new era enabling greater safety, sustainability, equity, and transparency.
Role
Who you are
- 8+ years of progressive HR experience, ideally in early-stage or scaling startups
- Deep expertise in benefits strategy, compliance, and administration
- Demonstrated success managing HR programs for large, distributed, hourly workforces
- Strong systems and process orientation, with a love for solving messy problems
- A natural collaborator and communicator, equally effective with employees, brokers, and executives
- Proficiency in HRIS platforms, benefits systems, and comfort navigating ambiguity
- Strong Excel / Google Sheets expertise
Desirable
- Built or scaled HR programs in a Series B–E stage startup
- Experience managing across unionized environments
- Led HR initiatives beyond benefits: onboarding, performance, policy, change management, compliance, etc
- A point of view on what makes people programs meaningful, not just efficient
- An interest in exploring how AI can increase effectiveness and the will to experiment
What the job involves
- To be successful in the People Operations Manager role, you are a confident generalist who thrives in high-growth, fast-paced environments
- Benefits may be an area you’re particularly passionate about, but you’re ready (and eager) to go broader
- You relish the idea of creating structure where there was ambiguity and complexity
- You've supported organizations with large non-exempt populations and understand the real-world challenges of building equitable, compliant, and employee-friendly programs at scale
- You're analytical and empathetic, tactical and strategic
- Help define benefits strategy and own operationalizing it company wide , including PEO, MERP, union benefits, 401(k), and Leaves of Absence
- Manage annual benefits, open enrollment, broker relationships, and employee education
- Ensure benefits compliance with federal, state, and local regulations (ERISA, ACA, COBRA, HIPAA, FMLA, etc.)
- Monitor benefit utilization and cost trends and drive strategic recommendations
- Support and own select People Programs including compliance, compensation, performance, and learning
- Lead and improve related People programs like wellness, recognition, and employee communications
- Partner with HR leadership to support broader People initiatives across the employee lifecycle
- Collaborate with field HRBPs, payroll, legal, and finance to operationalize policies and programs
- Support employee relations, compliance initiatives, and special projects at HQ as needed
- Own and continuously improve People systems, documentation, and internal processes
- Build scalable programs with the foresight needed for a growing, distributed workforce
- Support workforce initiatives across exempt and non-exempt populations, including union and non-union environments
- Work cross-functionally to translate People Ops strategy into practical, field-ready processes
- Provide guidance and support on complex employee questions, especially regarding benefits and leaves
Our take
The largest mass transit system in the US is student transportation, and it’s more than double the size of all others combined. It’s rife with inefficiencies, however: circuitous routes mean many students are spending more time travelling and less time sleeping, exercising, or participating in enrichment activities, affecting student outcomes and inequalities.
Zum is looking to overhaul school transport with the help of cloud computing and AI. It has a central hub from which it manages route planning and vehicle assignments across 4,000 areas and school districts in California, meaning fleet deployment, maintenance, and operational efficiency can be optimized. It also offers cameras and tracking in vehicles, and is committed to having a fully electric, 10,000-strong bus fleet by 2025.
It's an ambitious plan, but it’s clear that the US school busing system is in dire need of an overhaul. We’re seeing startups like Via offer a similar service to NY schools, gathering similarly strong momentum. With Zum fast approaching Unicorn status, and its California roll-out continuing without a hitch, it appears, for now, to be leading the modern student transportation startup pack.
Kirsty
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
18% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 7 rounds)
Jun 2024
$32m
GRANT
Jan 2024
$140m
SERIES E
Total funding: $368.8m
Company benefits
- Medical, dental and vision benefits, including paid membership to One Medical
- Unlimited vacation policy
- Free daily catered lunches + fully stocked kitchen at HQ
- Ability to have a huge impact at an early-stage, mission-driven startup
- Fun office culture and a team you would be proud to work with
Company HQ
Redwood Shores, Redwood City, CA
Leadership
Ritu Narayan
(Co-Founder & CEO)Worked as a Lead Product Manager at Yahoo!, eBay, then took up a Sloan Fellowship at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Vivek Garg
(Co-Founder & COO)Spent over a decade as a Major in the Indian Army, then went on to found and lead BAPAR, before taking up a Researcher role at Stanford University's SEED Institute.
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