Manager, People and Talent Operations

Role Overview

Ascend is seeking a Manager, People & Talent Operations to serve as the operational backbone for the People & Talent Operations pillar. The role owns day-to-day generalist HR operations, oversight of regulatory/immigration, employee relations, and employment verifications (via specialized best-in-class vendors). It also leads key talent operations functions including ATS administration and recruiting compliance.

Responsibilities

Generalist People Operations

• Own lifecycle processing in partnership with HRIS owners: onboarding, offboarding, transfers, and status changes; ensure inputs are accurate and timely.
• Maintain and apply HR policies and the employee handbook.
• Resolve Tier 1 inquiries via self-service; handle Tier 2 escalations requiring policy interpretation and/or cross-system research.
• Build and maintain SOPs and process maps; identify automation/self-service opportunities to reduce manual work.
• Support partner-firm integrations, collaborating with Total Rewards, People Technology, and People Integration, especially during M&A surges.
• Drive employment verifications and unemployment claims.

Regulatory / Immigration / Employee Relations Oversight

• Ensure Ascend and partner firms remain compliant in a multi-state and M&A-active environment.
• Govern external specialty vendors for immigration, employee relations, and employment verifications.
• Support payroll accuracy and ensure employee relations issues are resolved with sound judgment.

Talent & Recruiting Operations

• Administer Greenhouse ATS.
• Own recruiting compliance and pay transparency processes.
• Build/maintain reporting infrastructure that keeps the talent function operating cleanly.

Automation & AI Mindset

• Continuously streamline, automate, and embed self-service tooling to scale capacity rather than headcount as the network grows.

Key Relationships

• Reports to: Head of People Operations
• Works with: Heads of People, Finance, Legal, Total Rewards, People Technology, Talent Acquisition
• External partners: candidates, external vendors, consultants

Requirements

• Experience owning operational HR processes (lifecycle, HR policies/handbook, Tier 1/Tier 2 support) and managing cross-functional work.
• Ability to ensure compliance across multiple states in a fast-changing, M&A environment.
• Strong governance mindset for external specialty vendors.
• Experience with recruiting operations and ATS administration, particularly Greenhouse.
• Strong drive for automation/self-service and an AI-focused improvement mindset.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience supporting employment verifications, immigration/regulatory programs, unemployment claims, and payroll accuracy.
• Experience with reporting infrastructure for talent teams and pay transparency processes.