Senior Manager, People Operations

About Sparkfund

Sparkfund is the deployment services company utilities rely on to take DERs from grid edge to grid core.

With over a decade of experience as a utility services company, Sparkfund has pioneered a smarter approach to deploying distributed assets as part of a fast-growing grid. Through its Distributed Capacity Procurement (DCP) model, Sparkfund enables utilities to plan, deploy, and dispatch DERs at the scale and pace necessary to meet load growth demand and unlock the full value of the grid. We support program design, assessment of DER grid value, host engagement, and value chain management to ensure on-time, on-budget deployment of distributed resources with maximum grid value and lowest cost.

With more than 3,500 projects deployed across 43 states and more than 300MW of energized assets constructed, Sparkfund is transforming buildings into a valuable extension of the grid for the benefit of our society.

Position Summary

The Senior Manager of People Operations is responsible for building and executing on an employee-first People Operations function that drives company wide performance management, employee development, employee engagement from onboarding to exit, and own employee relations, across multi-state, hybrid, and remote environments. This role oversees and executes against employee-facing people operations functions, ensuring employees feel supported, emerging leaders and employees have the tools to succeed, and the organization maintains a positive, compliant, and high-performance culture. Reports to Chief of Staff, with the opportunity to oversee direct reports.

Location

Sparkfund is a remote-first company with a digital workplace built around emerging hub-offices; as a result, this role is flexible on location. However, candidates located in or around our Denver, Minneapolis, and Washington, DC hubs will be given preference. Company subsidized relocation is available for certain roles on a case by case basis and will be covered by the Sparkfund if eligible.

Key Responsibilities Performance Management & Professional Development

- Manage and evolve Sparkfund's performance review systems using Paycor, aligning reviews with role expectations, goals, and our competency framework, this will be in collaboration with the Senior Manager of Human Resources.

- Help teams with goal-setting, feedback cycles, 1-1s process, and review cadence.

- In partnership with both the Talent Acquisition Team, and Senior Manager of HR, build and manage job description frameworks, compensation benchmarking, and pay band structures.

- Design and deliver training and development programs for managers and employees, including leadership pathways and ongoing learning initiatives.

- Create and administer a professional development program

Employee Lifecycle & Engagement

- In partnership with Sparkfund's Talent Acquisition Team, develop and continuously improve onboarding experiences that accelerate employee readiness, leveraging cloud storage as a documentation and resource hub.

- Lead new hire onboarding and orientation (including benefits), ensuring a strong cultural integration and day-one employee experience.

- Oversee and administer employee engagement surveys, exit interviews, and feedback loops to ensure strong retention and morale.

- Design and lead programs that reinforce cultural alignment and belonging in a remote-first environment, such as administering recognition and rewards programs, and other engagement initiatives.

Employee Relations & Compliance

- Manage employment verifications, background checks, PSLF forms, and other official employee documentation requests in collaboration with the Senior Manager of Human Resource.

- Serve as an escalation point for employee relations cases, investigations, and corrective actions.

- Provide guidance to the Senior Manager of Human Resources on policy interpretation, handbook updates, and compliance matters.

Benefits & Leave Support

- Oversee and administer leave of absence management (FMLA, ADA, parental leave) programs.

- In collaboration with the Senior Manager of Human Resources, lead benefits education and open enrollment communication, ensuring employees understand their options and resources.

Communication & Culture Initiatives

- Collaborate (and potentially lead) with Sparkfund staff on company wide communications (intranet, newsletters, employee campaigns, All Hands).

- Facilitate company and large team offsite gatherings that support culture-building initiatives that align with organizational values

- Own company swag

- Partner with leadership to ensure people operations supports organizational goals, change management, and growth.

Backup Responsibilities

- Serve as backup for the Senior Manager of HR Operations during planned or unplanned absences, to ensure continuity of payroll, compliance reporting, and HR systems administration.

Required Skills & Qualifications

- Bachelor's degree in human resources, Business Administration, or related field OR progressive HR experience in lieu of a degree.

- 7+ years of progressive HR experience.

- Experience with compliance requirements (FMLA, ADA, EEOC, wage/hour laws). Demonstrated ability to balance strategic leadership with hands-on execution.

- Working knowledge of state by state rules and laws governing people operations, such as pay transparency, performance, and leave.

- Strong background in employee relations, engagement strategy, and leadership development.

- Excellent communication, facilitation, and influencing skills across all levels of the organization

- Ability to bring empathy, collaboration, and strong interpersonal skills into your every day work

Preferred Skills & Qualifications

- SHRM-SCP, SPHR, or other senior HR certification.

- Working knowledge of Paycor, Greenhouse

- Comfort with Slack, Google Workspace and Microsoft cloud products

- Experience scaling HR in high-growth, restructuring, and pre/post-M&A environments.

Benefits

- Competitive compensation and stock option plans - we believe in shared ownership.

- The anticipated base salary for this position is between $120,000 - $150,000 per year with a potential for bonus.

- Comprehensive benefits package including medical, vision, and dental insurance as well as disability and life insurance.

- 401(k) plan with up to 2% company match.

- Flexible vacation policy encouraging strong work life balance and paid time away. We also observe all federal holidays.

- Alternating 4 day weeks, with every other Friday off.

- 12 weeks gender-neutral paid leave for caregivers when they have a new addition to their families and an additional 4 weeks of paid leave for birthing parents.

- A one-time, work-from-home stipend to help cover any equipment, hardware, etc. you need to set up your remote office.

- A monthly allowance of $100 to help cover phone and WiFi expenses.

We Want You To Know

You can be a great candidate even if you don't fit everything we've described above. You can also have important skills we haven't thought of. If that's you, don't hesitate to apply and tell us about yourself. We are dedicated to environmental stewardship, and recognize we need diverse perspectives to successfully tackle this massive challenge. To change the world, we must first change ourselves, which is why Sparkfund has created a space that sources viewpoints from people who look and think differently.

We are committed to diversity and building an equitable and inclusive environment for people of all backgrounds and experiences, and we're taking steps to meet that commitment. Sparkfund is an Equal Opportunity Employer and provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to 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 laws. Sparkfund will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records consistent with federal, state, and local legal requirements.