Interim Director of People (Parental Leave Cover) in Pleasanton, California at Hively

Duration: Approximately 4 months (August 3rd, 2026 – December 4th, 2026)

Location: Hybrid, 1 day/week in Pleasanton Office (Wednesdays), 1 day in Oakland Office (Flexible).

Reports to: CEO

The Role

We are looking for a seasoned, empathetic, and operationally-strong Interim Director of People & Culture to lead our People function while our current Director is on parental leave.

• Strategic Advisory: Act as the primary HR Business Partner and advisor to the leadership team on organizational design, talent strategy, and sensitive employee matters.

• Team Leadership & Collaboration: Manage and mentor our small People team, acting as both a leader and an active teammate to ensure priorities are met.

• Performance & Culture: Oversee and help execute the end-to-end performance management cycle; utilize engagement data to maintain a high-performing, inclusive work environment.

• Total Rewards & Compliance: Directly manage the benefits renewal and open enrollment process, handle the day-to-day administration of company benefits, and ensure all compliance standards are met.

• HRIS & Systems Management: Provide hands-on management and oversight of Rippling, ensuring data integrity, running reports, and troubleshooting system efficiencies.

• Talent Acquisition: Provide high-level oversight of the recruiting function while actively partnering with hiring managers and vendors to ensure candidate experience remains top-tier and hiring targets are hit.

• Employee Relations: Serve as the primary escalation point for complex employee relations issues, providing hands-on mediation and resolutions rooted in fairness and company values.

• Experience: Minimum of 8 years of progressive HR/People experience, with at least 2–3 years in a senior leadership capacity. Experience in a small-team or startup environment where you had to balance strategy with execution is highly preferred.

• Education: A Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related field (or equivalent work experience) is required. An HR certification (e.g., SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, or SPHR) is strongly preferred.

• Employment Law: Must have demonstrated knowledge of California employment law, wage and hour regulations, and compliance requirements.

• Systems Fluency (Hands-on): You must be "plug-and-play" and comfortable doing the actual data entry and management in our tech stack: Rippling, Lever, CultureAmp, Google Suite.

• Benefits Administration (Open Enrollment & Strategy): Demonstrated success directly managing the full annual benefits renewal and open enrollment process. This includes strategic decision-making on plan lineup and hands-on, meticulous configuration and auditing of the Open Enrollment workflow within Rippling HRIS to ensure rate and plan accuracy.

• Rippling (HRIS/Payroll): Experience with Rippling HRIS. You are comfortable navigating the platform to manage employee data, pull reports, and support benefit workflows

• Interim Mindset: Proven ability to build trust quickly, assess immediate needs, and maintain momentum in a fast-paced environment. Strong learning velocity and able to ramp quickly on new organizations, leaders, and evolving operating models.

• Communication: Exceptional emotional intelligence and the ability to deliver candid, constructive feedback at the executive level.

• Collaboration: Demonstrated experience building relationships with senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders.

• Approx. Dates: July 27, 2026 – December 4, 2026 (4 months)

• Commitment: 40 hours/week, temporary.

• Location: Hybrid – must be able to work in person at least 1X per week at our Pleasanton, CA office and one day/week in our Oakland Office. Additional flexibility to commute to other office locations in Alameda County as required.