Hybrid Director of People Operations

at TENEX.AI

• Job title: Director of People Operations
• Job type: Full Time
• Experience level: Lead
• Salary: Not specified
• Degree requirement: Bachelor's Degree
• Tech skills: Cyber Security
• Location requirements: Hybrid, Kansas City, United States

About the role

• Director of People Operations overseeing HR infrastructure and scaling operations for an AI-driven cybersecurity company. Focused on optimizing HR systems and culture while supporting rapid growth.

Responsibilities

• Own and optimize the People Operations architecture to support 3x growth without operational breakdown.
• Maintain and continuously optimize existing HRIS and People systems; ensure integrations across payroll, benefits, equity, ATS and finance remain accurate, automated, and scalable while leveraging new platform capabilities as they evolve.
• Strengthen and scale onboarding and offboarding workflows, ensuring alignment with security protocols and close coordination with IT and Security.
• Establish data governance standards, reporting dashboards, and vendor oversight to support headcount planning, retention tracking, and executive visibility.
• Partner closely with the Talent team to ensure hiring strategy aligns with organizational design and growth plans.
• Collaborate with Department Heads, Talent, and Finance on workforce planning, hiring roadmaps, and compensation forecasting.
• Ensure structured hiring processes reflect role clarity and leveling frameworks.
• Lead salary benchmarking and compensation philosophy development.
• Provide People analytics and organizational insight, including capacity planning, headcount modeling, and retention data, to guide hiring decisions.
• Ensure People Operations meets regulatory requirements and aligns with cybersecurity industry standards.
• Own Payroll process and ensure accuracy, multi-state employment compliance, and policy governance.
• Oversee annual compensation cycles and benefits strategy as the company scales.
• Maintain adherence to SOC 2, ISO 27001, and other security-related People controls in partnership with Security.
• Lead employee relations, investigations, and audit readiness across payroll, benefits, and HR systems.
• Preserve what makes Tenex strong while building the structure required for scale.
• Codify and operationalize company values as headcount grows.
• Design engagement and retention programs that maintain accountability and cohesion.
• Implement career pathing, leveling frameworks, structured performance reviews, and succession planning.
• Develop first-line managers through coaching, training, and performance management frameworks.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Organizational Development, or related field preferred.
• 7+ years in People Operations or HR, including experience scaling a company from under 100 employees to 200+ employees in a high-growth environment.
• Proven track record building infrastructure during rapid growth, not simply maintaining mature systems.
• Direct experience managing or overseeing multi-state payroll operations, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and clean system integrations.
• Experience in Technology, Cybersecurity, or SaaS environments with competitive technical hiring dynamics.
• Demonstrated ability to use workforce analytics, retention data, compensation benchmarks, and performance metrics to drive decisions.
• Strong partnership experience with Finance on headcount planning and compensation modeling.
• Hands-on experience optimizing and integrating modern HRIS and People systems, ensuring data integrity across payroll, benefits, and equity platforms.
• Advanced HR certification (SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR) is a plus.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and benefits package
• A culture of growth and development, with opportunities to expand your knowledge in AI, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies.