Executive Director, People Operations

Your work will change lives. Including your own. 

The Impact You’ll Make

Recursion is seeking a dynamic Executive Director of People Operations to play a key role in supporting and defining our people processes at Recursion. This role will manage all people operations, driving initiatives that enhance the employee experience and ensure operational excellence across our global offices throughout North America and the UK. This role is for you if you love systemizing the employee experience without losing the human touch, you get a kick out of process improvement, you like to bring order to ambiguity, and you enjoy the full scope of backend to employee-facing efforts in an international environment - and an extra bonus if payroll-wrangling is a compelling intellectual challenge!  

As the Executive Director of People Operations, you will lead Recursion’s global People Operations function, ensuring our people infrastructure, processes, and programs align with our ambitious mission and growth. You will design, develop and execute scalable, tech-enabled people-centric solutions. You will thrive to drive operational outcomes, compliance, and employee experience across all our international locations. 

In this role you will: 

• Drive process improvements to enhance service delivery, operational excellence, and compliance with internal and external regulations and processes 
• Develop, mentor, and lead the People Operations team, fostering a culture of collaboration, innovation, and accountability
• Curate and implement policies and procedures that align with business needs, labor laws, and company culture
• Oversee people operations, including payroll, benefits administration, employee records, immigration, and compliance with company policies and legal requirements
• Evolve the use of people systems, AI and automation to enhance the employee experience and provide real time analytics
• Partner with other People Teams (PBPs, TA, Benefits, Reward), Finance, and Legal to align operations with organizational objectives and long-term goals
• Serve as a trusted advisor on operations and employee experience, promoting continuous improvement and best practices

The Team You Will Join:

Reporting to the Vice President of Global People Ops, you will play a pivotal role in shaping our global workforce strategy. Our People Operations team is the foundation of our company’s workforce, ensuring seamless people processes that support our employees and drive business success. Focused on the employee experience, payroll, benefits, compliance, and HR systems, they create efficient, scalable solutions that constantly improves what it feels like to work at Recursion. With a data-driven and people-first approach, they align people operations with company goals, fostering a productive and engaging workplace culture.

The Experience You’ll Need: 

• 7+ years of relevant experience in People Operations in tech enabled industries
• Minimum of 5 years of experience managing,leading and developing high-performing teams within HR operations or a related function.
• Proven success in developing and executing people projects in a high-growth, fast-paced environment.
• Extensive experience in all areas of people operations, including payroll, compliance, benefits, LOA, immigration, and employee relations.
• A strong interest and proven capability in using AI, automation and tech ecosystems to improve the employee experience
• Demonstrable experience working with North American and the UK and an appreciation for cultural norms and  legal frameworks
• Knowledge of HiBob HRIS and ADP Payroll Systems an advantage but not required 
• In-depth understanding of employment law and compliance best practices.
• Strong analytical abilities, with the ability to use data-driven insights to inform decisions and drive results.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and collaborate at all levels of the organization.

Working Location:

This position is based at our US headquarters located in Salt Lake City, UT. Please note that we are a hybrid environment and ask that employees spend 50% of their time in the office.

At Recursion, we believe that every employee should be compensated fairly. Based on the skill and level of experience required for this role, the estimated current annual base range for this role is:

• Developing: $212,000
• Skilled: $234,000
• Expert: $258,000

To learn more about our level within levels, click here.

You will also be eligible for bonuses and equity compensation + our comprehensive benefits package for United States based candidates. The range displayed on each job posting reflects target ranges for US new hire salaries and is determined by job, level, and market factors.  

During the interview selection process, you will connect with a Talent Acquisition Partner who will be your advocate and ally to ensure you receive the appropriate compensation that meets your needs for your skills, experience, and relevant education/training, while also reviewing our very competitive total rewards package.

#LI-LM1

The Values That We Hope You Share:

• We Care: We care about our drug candidates, our Recursionauts, their families, each other, our communities, the patients we aim to serve and their loved ones. We also care about our work.
• We Learn: Learning from the diverse perspectives of our fellow Recursionauts, and from failure, is an essential part of how we make progress.
• We Deliver: We are unapologetic that our expectations for delivery are extraordinarily high. There is urgency to our existence: we sprint at maximum engagement, making time and space to recover. 
• Act Boldly with Integrity: No company changes the world or reinvents an industry without being bold. It must be balanced; not by timidity, but by doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
• We are One Recursion: We operate with a 'company first, team second' mentality. Our success comes from working as one interdisciplinary team.

Recursion spends time and energy connecting every aspect of work to these values. They aren’t static, but regularly discussed and questioned because we make decisions rooted in those values in our day-to-day work. You can read more about our values and how we live them every day here.

Recursion is headquartered in Salt Lake City, where it is a founding member of BioHive, the Utah life sciences industry collective. Recursion also has offices in London, Toronto, Montreal and the San Francisco Bay Area. Learn more at www.Recursion.com, or connect on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

Recursion is an Equal Opportunity Employer that values diversity and inclusion.  All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, local, or provincial human rights legislation. 

Recursion welcomes and encourages applications from people with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.Recruitment & Staffing Agencies: Recursion Pharmaceuticals and its affiliate companies do not accept resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Recursion or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Recursion’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Recursion, and Recursion will not owe any referral or other fees. Our team will communicate directly with candidates who are not represented by an agent or intermediary unless otherwise agreed to prior to interviewing for the job.