About Primer

Fixing our K-12 education system is a civilizationally-important problem. We believe that all of our problems — including the ones that dominate the headlines — are downstream of education.

We have a simple thesis on how to solve it: empower 1,000's of educators to launch microschools in their communities.

We believe the historical tradeoff between price (tuition) and quality is a false dichotomy.

PrimerOS automates and eliminates much of the costs of traditional schools. Microschools have a structural advantage — asset-light real estate — which means much lower capex and opex. You put it together, and you get something that's never existed before: a world-class education that's accessible to normal American families and can rapidly scale.

The Role

We’re looking for a Head of People Operations who can keep pace with our growth: someone who loves fixing broken systems, thrives in ambiguity, and knows how to balance airtight compliance with a human-first approach. You’ll be the architect of our people systems and culture, ensuring that everyone at Primer can do the best work of their lives.

Core Responsibilities

1. Payroll & Benefits – Own end-to-end payroll administration, compensation changes, and record-keeping; run best-practice controls and ensure compliance with federal / state regulations.

2. Systems & Compliance – Administer and configure the HRIS / payroll stack (Rippling) create scalable onboarding and core-workflow automations; maintain airtight documentation.

3. People Strategy – Partner with leadership to refine the people philosophy, performance architecture and cadence

4. Headcount Planning – align recruiting efforts with headcount plans, financial targets, and benchmarking data.

5. Compensation Philosophy: Bring an informed point of view on compensation and benefits; deepen ownership as you learn the business.

First-90-Day Mandate

• Employee Effectiveness: Diagnose blockers and quick-win opportunities that improve day-to-day productivity and effectiveness.

• Compliance & HR Hygiene: Close any gaps in federal/state labor compliance, documentation, and policy coverage.

• Systems Stabilization: Audit HRIS configuration, fix break-points, and harden workflows for onboarding, changes, and payroll.

• Policy Refresh: Publish clear, up-to-date policies, playbooks, etc.

• Performance Review Process: Design and socialize a lightweight but credible review cycle that supports rapid feedback and merit-based decisions.

Who You Are

• 8+ years of experience in People Ops in high-growth, operationally intensive businesses (workforces more complex than a typical SaaS start-up).

• Deep HRIS/payroll expertise—you’ve wrestled with messy configurations and come out ahead.

• Command of U.S. labor law & risk management, leveraging counsel when needed.

• Proven success with multi-state, multi-schema workforces (on-site educators, HQ, part-timers, contractors).

• Data-driven headcount planner who partners tightly with Finance on costs and trade-offs.

• Credible mediator & culture-builder who can navigate ambiguity, drive change, and keep things human.

If this sounds like you, fill out the application below with a bit about yourself and we'll take it from there! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email us at jobs@primer.com.