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Mill is a waste prevention technology company reimagining what it means to eliminate waste, starting with food. We build smart systems and infrastructure for homes, businesses, and municipalities that transform food scraps from landfill-bound waste into valuable resources, including chicken feed. Tens of thousands of Mill’s residential food recyclers are already helping households divert millions of pounds of food scraps every year, paving the way for our upcoming launch of Mill Commercial—the industry’s first end-to-end solution for managing, understanding, and preventing food waste in commercial environments (e.g. grocery, restaurants, food services). At Mill, we are passionate about building easy-to-use, beautifully designed technologies that keep food in the food system and out of landfills.
As our HR Business Partner, you will start as the People partner to our hardware, software and product teams. You will work with engineering leaders, from seasoned to newly promoted, on how their teams grow, how their managers lead and how performance is judged. Our head of engineering comes from hardware, our software team is growing, and our commercial product is ramping up, so your work will change as the roadmap does. As Mill grows, we expect the role to reach other teams across the company.
You will report to our Head of People and work every day with our recruiting and People Operations teams. We are looking for someone who is at ease with engineers, direct in conversation and happy to move between strategy and the task that needs doing.
What you will do- Be the first call for engineering and product leaders on team design, hiring plans, performance and employee relations.
- Coach managers, from first-time to experienced, on setting expectations, giving direct feedback and developing their teams.
- Run the engineering side of our performance, promotion and talent review cycles, and help leaders calibrate across hardware and software.
- Work with Recruiting on engineering hiring plans, role levels and how new hires get up to speed.
- Partner with Legal and outside counsel on work authorization for the engineering team, including visa renewals, sponsorship.
- Help leaders plan team changes as we move into launch, including backup plans for critical roles.
- Build on our manager development program with material for technical leaders.
- Use data such as attrition, ramp time and engagement to spot issues early and propose practical fixes.
- Be instrumental in helping shape our performance and compensation philosophy as we grow.
- Join company-wide People work with the rest of the team, and pick up other projects as we grow. No task is too small.
- Know our engineering and product leaders and their teams, and share a clear view of where people support matters most.
- Solve a real problem that engineering leaders name early, so they see the value of the role quickly.
- Become the day-to-day People partner for engineering managers, including performance and employee relations conversations.
- Help build the hiring, succession and ramp-up plan for critical engineering roles, with Recruiting and the head of engineering.
- Take a lead role in the next performance and talent review cycle for engineering, including calibration across hardware and software.
- Share your point of view on our performance and compensation philosophy, and help us shape it.
- 10+ years of experience as an HR business partner or HR generalist, ideally with engineering, hardware or product teams in a growing company.
- Credibility with technical leaders, and comfort having brave, direct conversations with them.
- Hands-on experience coaching managers and running performance and talent review cycles.
- Sound judgment on employee relations, including when to bring in Legal or a specialist.
- Comfort with ambiguity, and the ability to zoom between high-level strategy and detail in the same day.
- Skill using data to tell a clear story, in a small meeting and in front of the whole company.
- Working knowledge of US employment law and work authorization, including visa sponsorship and renewals. Experience supporting teams in more than one country is a plus.
- Interest in Mill's mission to prevent waste.
The estimated base salary range for this position is $185k to $210K, which does not include the value of benefits or a potential equity grant. A wide range of factors are considered in making compensation decisions, including but not limited to skill sets, market conditions, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and business and organizational needs.
Skills Required
- 10+ years of experience as an HR business partner or HR generalist
- Experience supporting engineering, hardware, or product teams in a growing company
- Credibility with technical leaders and comfort having direct conversations
- Hands-on experience coaching managers
- Experience running performance and talent review cycles
- Sound judgment regarding employee relations and escalation to Legal or specialists
- Comfort working with ambiguity and balancing strategy with detailed execution
- Ability to use data to communicate clear insights
- Working knowledge of US employment law and work authorization, including visa sponsorship and renewals
- Experience supporting teams in more than one country
- Interest in Mill's mission to prevent waste
Mill Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Mill and has not been reviewed or approved by Mill.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is positioned as competitive for several senior technical and business roles, supported by multiple six‑figure base ranges in recent postings. Total compensation snapshots commonly cluster in the mid‑ to high‑$100Ks for individual‑contributor roles, reinforcing a generally market-competitive posture for the Bay Area.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off coverage appears broad, including paid holidays, paid sick days, flexible time off, and an unlimited vacation policy, with some company-wide time off. The overall setup signals strong flexibility for managing personal time, though day-to-day use may depend on team norms.
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Healthcare Strength — Core health coverage is described as comprehensive, including medical, dental, and vision, alongside wellness programs and an FSA. The package breadth suggests a solid baseline consistent with tech-startup standards.
Mill Insights
What We Do
We’re on a mission to eliminate waste for good, starting with the food that ends up in landfills. Did you know that more than half of the food in landfills comes from home kitchens (ReFED)? And food in landfills turns into methane – which is 80x more potent than CO2 over a 20-year period (IPCC). At Mill, we’re working to turn kitchen scraps into food for chickens. This keeps food in our food system and out of landfills.
Why Work With Us
Food isn't trash. Mill keeps it from stinking up your kitchen – and the planet.
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