People Operations & Experience Manager

What We Do Ascend is transforming the $10T global insurance industry by combining AI automation with embedded fintech. While insurance represents 7.2% of global GDP, outdated financial infrastructure like PDFs, emails, and manual reconciliation continues to slow the industry down. Ascend is the first and market-leading finance automation platform built specifically for insurance, driving the industry’s rapid digital transformation. In just five years: Trusted by thousands of insurance businesses nationwide Processes billions in transactions annually, growing 200%+ YoY Built a world-class team of 70+ across San Francisco and Columbus How We Do It Ascend automates the insurance financial lifecycle, from collections to disbursements. We streamline operations and drive real profitability. AI is rapidly driving the cost of software down, opening the door to faster innovation and broader access. At the same time, it is shifting where value is created. The strongest companies embed directly into financial workflows, capturing value at the point where money moves. Ascend brings AI and fintech together to automate financial operations inside the transaction itself. Customers do not just adopt software. They unlock powerful financial efficiency with a proven 5-7x return on investment. Why We Do It Insurance is a $10T+ industry running on legacy systems. AI alone won’t fix it, but AI-powered automation embedded into payments and transactions will. Ascend’s mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030—powering the entire industry’s financial operations while transforming the way trillions of dollars move. Your Role We are looking for a strategically minded, operationally strong People Operations Experience Manager to design, build, and lead a world-class People Ops function while elevating the day-to-day experience of our team. This role is a strong fit for someone who wants to own and build a People Ops function—not support one. This role blends People Operations, Office Operations, and executive support. You will serve as the foundation for scalable HR infrastructure while shaping the employee experience during a critical growth phase, scaling from 70 employees today to 150+ next year. (70% People Ops) You will own the people ops function to support and be the owner of the employee experience starting with onboarding and serve as Ascend’s first line of support for HR questions. You will also be responsible for building the internal systems and best practices to ensure scalability, consistency, and best practices. (30% Workplace Ops) You will be directly responsible for all workplace and office operational functions ensuring our physical space and office experience enables our growing team to do their best work. Responsibilities primarily include managing our office meals, groceries, supplies, utilities, mail, and in office events. You will own: Employee Experience HR Support Support the full employee lifecycle, including onboarding, ongoing employment, and offboarding Define people experience gaps and opportunities, drive forward in alignment with Head of Operations Serve as the primary HR point of contact for employees and managers, searching for answers both internally and externally, and creating systems for self-serve Respond to and resolve employee HR questions, escalating issues when needed Plan and execute company social events and team gatherings People Programs Processes Design and maintain standardized people programs and workflows (compensation, promotions, leveling, benchmarking) Document and enforce consistent people policies and practices across teams Provide managers with guidance on standard HR processes and policies Support manager effectiveness through clear processes and guidance Manage employee training program (content and execution) Compliance Risk Maintain the employee handbook, policy acknowledgements, and employment documentation Support vi ... (truncated, view full listing at source)