Senior Manager, People

About Peak Design

The purpose of Peak Design is to create happy, meaningful lives for the people that work here. We believe this purpose can only be achieved when self-actualizing, highly stoked people enthusiastically step into (or log onto) the Peak Design office every day. Our purpose and our mission go hand-in-hand and we encourage and celebrate authenticity and the unique perspective each of our employees brings. We’re a close-knit team that thrives on mutual respect and the belief that every voice matters—especially when it’s got something interesting to say.

We make radical, meticulously-engineered gear for detail-obsessed people. Our backpacks, travel bags, camera gear, and phone accessories are used dang-near everywhere. If you’ve visited Machu Picchu, Tokyo, or an REI store in the last 10 years, you’ve been within ogling distance of a Peak Design product.

Alongside our award-winning gear is a brand that truly reflects who we are as people—passionate about design, deeply caring about our environmental and social impact, unafraid to speak up, radically transparent, and generally down to clown. Whether we’re explaining a product , running a sale , launching a nonprofit , sponsoring a film , or razzing the biggest company on Earth , we do it with our trademark honesty, warmth, and wit. Through our products and our brand, we aim to create delight, and leave this world better than how we found it.

About the job

Reporting to the Head of People, this is a high-impact individual contributor role on a lean People team (just two of us!). At Peak Design, strategy and execution aren't separate jobs. The right person moves fluidly between designing the compensation philosophy one day and overseeing payroll reconciliation the next. Beyond owning compensation, keeping our systems humming, and turning HR data into insight, you'll roll up your sleeves on people initiatives across the business, serve as a trusted thought partner to our leadership team, and show up for every Peak employee, whether they need a quick answer or someone to think through a hard situation with them.

What you'll do:

People Projects

Shape and drive a range of cross-functional people initiatives, from framing the problem to seeing it through

Own policy development, onboarding improvements, and people program design in partnership with the Head of People, concept through execution

Compensation

Develop and steward Peak Design's total rewards philosophy and strategic roadmap in partnership with the Head of People, CEO, and Head of Finance

Own end-to-end execution of the annual compensation review cycle, including data preparation, modeling, and manager communications

Conduct market benchmarking and analysis to ensure competitive, equitable pay practices

Build and maintain job architecture and salary bands, updating as the org evolves

HR Operations

Administer and optimize our HRIS and people systems, serving as primary systems administrator

Manage HR compliance across federal, state, and local requirements, staying ahead of regulatory changes

Partner with our external payroll processor to ensure accurate, on-time payroll runs and resolve any issues

Maintain employee records, documentation, and audit-readiness across all HR processes

Identify and implement process improvements that reduce friction and increase reliability

Role requirements

5+ years of HR experience spanning both operations and people programs

Building people programs from scratch as well as owning and running legacy people programs

Comfortable pulling, cleaning, and presenting HR data. You can build a model and tell the story behind it

Experience supporting or partnering with an executive and/or leadership team

Excited to work in a small team environment where the job description is a starting point, not a ceiling

Able to travel up to 4 times a year for work (within US and Asia)

Local to the San Francisco Bay Area (or willing to relocate for this role) and excited to work from our office in the Dogpatch neighborhood a minimum of 2-3 days per week (i.e. this is not a remote role, though we do maintain flexibility.)

Nice-to-haves

Experience working at a company with multiple types of employee populations (i.e. corporate/retail, salary/hourly, contract/full-time/EOR)

Familiarity with multi-state employment law and HR compliance

Genuine enthusiasm for design, photography, travel, or the outdoors

Wants to be in-office, collaborating, and contributing to a strong team culture

Salary Range

$125,000 - $165,000 USD

In addition to base salary, this role is eligible for a performance-based bonus

Compensation will vary based on geographic location and level. Leveling, as well as positioning within a level, is determined by a range of factors, including, but not limited to, a candidate's relevant years of experience, domain knowledge, and interview performance. The salary range listed in this posting is representative of the range of levels Peak Design is …