People Operations Manager

Plain is redefining customer support for the next generation of B2B companies. We’re building the fastest, most powerful platform to help companies move beyond reactive support and build true customer relationships.

Some of the world’s most forward-thinking companies, like Cursor, Ashby, Vercel, and Granola to unify all customer interactions, enable faster team collaboration, and supercharge their workflows with AI.

We’re a small, tight-knit crew with offices in SF and London. This role is hybrid with 3 days a week in our SF office. Because we work closely with our teammates in Europe, we start early (around 7am, with plenty of coffee!), but you’ll find quiet afternoons for heads-down work.

Why this role is special

This is a rare opportunity to help build and scale the company’s People foundations as a senior individual contributor at a high-growth, global startup.

You’ll be responsible for making sure Plain’s People systems actually work - from tooling and onboarding to performance and culture - while partnering closely with our Head of Operations (Youmna), founders, recruiters, and functional leads. You’ll work horizontally with Talent, enabling and supporting recruiting efforts, with end-to-end ownership of People operations and programs.

This role is ideal for someone who wants real scope and impact without managing a team, and enjoys being close to the details while shaping how the company operates as it scales.

What you’ll do

• Run end-to-end People operations across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding/offboarding, contracts, payroll changes, benefits, visas, and new-joiner logistics.

• Own coordination across SF and London, including scheduling, offsite planning, and cross-office travel.

• Own and improve the People tech stack (e.g. Ashby, Humaans, Remote, Justworks), partnering with Talent to support hiring workflows, automation, and reporting.

• Partner with Finance, Ops, and Talent on headcount planning, budgets, hiring forecasts, and hiring-related logistics.

• Design and run lightweight performance and growth processes, including probation reviews, feedback loops, and performance and compensation cycles.

• Build culture with intent, helping leadership to translate values into systems and rituals that reinforce urgency, ownership, and clarity across a globally distributed team.

This role is a great fit if you…

• Have 5–6 years of experience in People Operations or a closely related role at a fast-growing startup.

• Have worked in a global or multi-entity environment, and are comfortable operating across the US and Europe.

• Are systems-minded, and enjoy consolidating tools, automating workflows, and improving how things run.

• Have strong ownership and are comfortable operating without a playbook, including rolling up your sleeves and doing the gritty, unglamorous work when needed.

• Care deeply about culture and performance, and want to make values like urgency and accountability real and measurable.

This role won’t be the right fit if you…

• Are looking to manage or build a People team in the near term - this is a senior individual contributor role.

• Want a narrow or purely administrative HR role, rather than broad ownership across People systems, programs, and culture.

• Prefer highly structured environments where processes and answers are already defined.

• Are uncomfortable switching between hands-on execution and higher-level thinking in the same week.

• Aren’t excited about working in the office multiple days per week and collaborating closely in person.

The salary range shown is intentionally broad to reflect the range of skills and levels that we are open to for this role. Your placement within in the salary range will be decided upon completion of the interview process, taking into account factors like your demonstrated skills, and the depth of your experience. Our Recruiting team will be able to provide more details during the interview process.