Head of People

Astra is building mission-critical infrastructure for moving money at scale. Our platform processes billions in annual transaction volume with 99.9%+ uptime, powering real-time transfers, bank debits, card disbursements, and complex financial compliance systems. We provide APIs and automation tools that enable businesses to move money programmatically while maintaining strict regulatory requirements.

As Astra’s Head of People and first dedicated human resources professional, you will be at the center of how we build, scale, and sustain a high-performing company. This is much more than a traditional HR role – it’s an opportunity to design the people systems, culture, and operating foundations that allow Astra to grow quickly while preserving clarity, accountability, and excellence across our entire team.

You’ll own the full spectrum of people operations and talent strategy: building scalable hiring processes, designing compensation and performance frameworks, strengthening manager effectiveness, professionalizing compliance and employee operations, and shaping the employee experience across the entire lifecycle. You’ll partner closely with the executive team to translate business strategy into organizational design, headcount planning, and leadership development.

Because this is an early leadership hire, you’ll have direct input into how Astra structures its org, develops talent, manages performance, and builds culture as we scale from a small team into a durable company. You’ll collaborate deeply with leaders across engineering, product, sales, and operations to ensure that Astra remains a place where exceptional people do the best work of their careers.

This role is perfect for someone who can operate tactically today while building systems for tomorrow – someone who enjoys creating structure without slowing teams down and who believes people operations is a strategic advantage, not an administrative function.

• People Strategy & Org Design: Partner with leadership on headcount planning, organizational design, role clarity, and scaling strategy aligned with company goals.

• Hiring & Talent Systems: Build scalable recruiting processes, interview frameworks, onboarding programs, and hiring manager enablement to support rapid growth with high quality.

• Performance & Development: Design performance management, feedback cycles, goal-setting frameworks, and career progression systems that drive accountability and growth.

• Compensation & Benefits: Own compensation philosophy, leveling frameworks, equity programs, benchmarking, and benefits strategy to attract and retain top talent.

• Manager Enablement: Coach and support managers on hiring, feedback, performance management, employee development, and difficult conversations.

• People Operations & Compliance: Own HR operations including payroll, benefits administration, employment compliance, policies, documentation, and HR tooling.

• Employee Experience: Design and continuously improve onboarding, engagement, retention, and employee communications across a remote-first workforce.

• Culture & Values: Help articulate and reinforce company values, operating norms, and leadership behaviors as Astra scales.

• Data & Insights: Build people analytics and dashboards to inform leadership decisions on retention, performance, hiring velocity, and organizational health.

• Risk Management: Partner with legal and finance on employment risk, policy compliance, investigations, and sensitive employee matters.

Required Experience

• 8-12+ years of experience in People Operations, HR leadership, Talent, or related roles, including experience leading people functions in high-growth environments.

• Experience building people systems from early-stage or mid-stage scale (e.g., 20 → 100+ employees).

• Strong working knowledge of U.S. employment law, HR compliance, benefits, compensation, and payroll operations.

• Proven ability to partner with executive leadership on org design, talent strategy, and culture building.

• Experience supporting both technical and non-technical teams in modern, distributed organizations.

• Track record of building simple, scalable systems rather than heavy bureaucracy.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business, Psychology, or related field (or equivalent practical experience).

• HR certifications (PHR, SHRM, SPHR) are a plus but not required.

• Organizational Design: Structuring teams, roles, career paths, and growth plans.

• Talent Systems: Recruiting operations, interview design, onboarding, and workforce planning.

• Performance Management: Goal setting, feedback systems, calibration, and manager coaching.

• Compensation & Equity: Leveling frameworks, benchmarking, and incentive design.

• HR Operations: Payroll, benefits, compliance, policies, vendor management, HRIS tooling.

• Employee Relations: Conflict resolution, investigations, sensitive employee matters.

• Change Management: Scaling processes without slowing velocity or morale.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Metrics-driven approach to people operations and organizational health.

• Executive Communication: Clear, trusted partner to leadership and the board.

• Startup / Fintech: Experience scaling teams in regulated or infrastructure-driven companies.

• Remote-First Organizations: Designing strong culture and accountability in distributed teams.

• International Hiring: Exposure to global employment models (nice to have).

• M&A / Integration: Experience supporting acquisitions or rapid organizational change.

• Compliance-Heavy Environments: Experience working alongside security, finance, or regulatory functions.

People systems determine whether great strategy becomes great execution. Hiring quality, manager effectiveness, performance clarity, and cultural integrity all compound over time.

Your work will:

• Enable Astra to scale from a tight early team into a high-performing, durable organization.

• Ensure we attract, develop, and retain exceptional talent in a competitive market.

• Give leaders the tools and clarity they need to manage teams effectively.

• Build trust, fairness, and operational rigor across the employee lifecycle.

• Protect the company through strong compliance, policies, and governance.

By joining at this stage, you’ll shape not just how Astra grows – but who we become as a company.

• Competitive compensation with equity in a growing fintech company.

• Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements

• Small team, big impact — your work directly supports Astra’s ability to scale responsibly

• Professional growth opportunities in compliance and risk management

• Mission-driven — build infrastructure that powers financial innovation while meeting the highest regulatory standards

Astra is a remote-first company hiring only within the U.S. We value thoughtful collaboration, clarity, and initiative. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.

If you’re an HR professional who thrives on building structure and driving clarity in a fast-growing fintech, we’d love to hear from you.

Please submit with your application:

• Resume highlighting leadership experience scaling teams and building people systems.

• Brief cover letter (300 words max) answering:
  “Describe a people system or organizational change you built that meaningfully improved performance, retention, or culture.”

• Optional: Examples of frameworks you’ve built (career ladders, performance systems, compensation frameworks, onboarding programs, etc.).