Director, People Operations

About Snorkel

At Snorkel, we believe meaningful AI doesn’t start with the model, it starts with the data.

We’re on a mission to help enterprises transform expert knowledge into specialized AI at scale. The AI landscape has gone through incredible changes between 2015, when Snorkel started as a research project in the Stanford AI Lab, to the generative AI breakthroughs of today. But one thing has remained constant: the data you use to build AI is the key to achieving differentiation, high performance, and production-ready systems. We work with some of the world’s largest organizations to empower scientists, engineers, financial experts, product creators, journalists, and more to build custom AI with their data faster than ever before. Excited to help us redefine how AI is built? Apply to be the newest Snorkeler!

Director, People Operations

Location : San Francisco or New York City

Reports to : Chief People Officer

Overview

At Snorkel, we believe meaningful AI doesn’t start with the model, it starts with the data.

We’re on a mission to help enterprises transform expert knowledge into specialized AI at scale. The AI landscape has gone through incredible changes between 2015, when Snorkel started as a research project in the Stanford AI Lab, to the generative AI breakthroughs of today. But one thing has remained constant: the data you use to build AI is the key to achieving differentiation, high performance, and production-ready systems. We work with some of the world’s largest organizations to empower scientists, engineers, financial experts, product creators, journalists, and more to build custom AI with their data faster than ever before. Excited to help us redefine how AI is built? Apply to be the newest Snorkeler!

This year marks a period of significant growth and transformation for Snorkel. As demand for high-quality AI data accelerates, we are scaling both our internal organization and our contributor network at pace. We’re looking for a Senior Director of People Operations to build and scale the operational foundation that supports both. This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for designing and running world-class people systems across a hybrid workforce: employees and a large, distributed expert network.

This role will own the core People Operations function, partnering closely with our People Programs & Partners leader (who owns all People Programs [including Total Rewards], HRBP and Workplace functions) to deliver a cohesive, high-quality employee and contributor experience.

What You’ll Do

• Own and scale end-to-end People Operations across Snorkel, including:

• HR systems, data, and infrastructure

• Employee lifecycle operations (onboarding → offboarding)

• Compliance, policies, and risk management

• Immigration

• People analytics and reporting

• Build and operationalize People infrastructure to support rapid company growth

• Partner with the Head of EC Experience, Product and Engineering to ensure scalable systems for managing managing a large, distributed network of 1099 and temporary W-2 expert contributors (10,000s of workers) who support Snorkel’s data-as-a-service product, including:

• Onboarding and activation flows

• Engagement and retention mechanisms

• Quality and performance tracking in partnership with Operations

• Directly support cross-border compliance frameworks in coordination with Legal, Finance, Ops and People teams, as well as EoR and AoR partner management and ongoing relationship oversight

• Partner closely with Legal, Finance, and Operations on workforce models, classification, and compliance

• Improve efficiency and experience through automation, tooling, and AI-driven workflows

• Establish strong operational rigor: documentation, SLAs, and service delivery standards

• Lead, hire, and develop a high-performing People Operations team to support both sides of the business

Who You Are

• 8–12+ years in People Operations, HR Operations, or equivalent roles, including leadership experience managing second line

• Proven track record building and scaling People infrastructure in high-growth environments

• Experience supporting complex workforce models (e.g., contractors, marketplaces, gig networks, or global workforces)

• Strong operational mindset - looking for a systems thinker who drives efficiency and scalability

• Deep knowledge of HR systems, compliance, and employment frameworks

• Experience partnering cross-functionally with Legal, Finance, and technical teams

• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building from 0→1 and 1→n

• High ownership, high standards, low ego

Nice to have:

• Experience in AI, marketplace, or data platform companies

• Familiarity with managing large-scale contributor or contractor ecosystems (similar to models used by companies like Scale AI and Mercor)

• Experience leveraging automation or AI tools in People Operations

Salary Range
$186,000—$294,000 USD

Be Your Best at Snorkel

Joining Snorkel AI means becoming part of a company that has market proven solutions, robust funding, and is scaling rapidly—offering a unique combination of stability and the excitement of high growth. As a member of our team, you’ll have meaningful opportunities to shape priorities and initiatives, influence key strategic decisions, and directly impact our ongoing success. Whether you’re looking to deepen your technical expertise, explore leadership opportunities, or learn new skills across multiple functions, you’re fully supported in building your career in an environment designed for growth, learning, and shared success.

Snorkel AI is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Snorkel AI embraces diversity and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment. Snorkel AI prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. All employment is decided on the basis of qualifications, performance, merit, and business need.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.