Head Of People Operations Jobs in California
Head Of People Operations jobs in California are in strong demand, concentrated in technology, entertainment, healthcare, and venture-backed startups, with openings at every level from first-time people ops managers to senior executives overseeing enterprise-wide workforce strategy. The largest hiring markets are San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, where companies like Google, Apple, and Kaiser Permanente maintain significant California footprints. The most sought-after specialties include organizational design, HR technology implementation, and employee experience. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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Head of Human Resources
Lief Labs is a premier contract manufacturer and product development innovator in the nutraceutical industry. Our passion is to collaborate with entrepreneurial firms and help our clients build premium lasting and innovative brands. Lief offers a complete turn-key solution for its clients manufacturing needs to better streamline their operation. With the highest quality certifications, talented product development and flavoring team, and fast turn-around times, Lief is an integral part of the success of its clients’ brands.
Lief Labs’ facility is cGMP-certified and FDA-registered. They are compliant with 21 CFR Part 111 guidelines and ensure their products are of the highest quality when they leave the facility. Liefs’ Quality Control laboratory has been recognized by A2LA – ISO/IEC 17025 accredited body for microbiological testing. Lief takes tremendous pride in the “quality” of their products and always demands the best from its team members and vendors.
Lief’s highly talented product development team consists of industry experts who excel at creating innovative, effective, and great tasting products that stand out in the market. Over 500 new products are developed each year in our laboratory where we bring our client’s ideas to life.
Wellness Through Innovation
Lief Labs is entering a strong period of renewed growth and operational momentum following several challenging years. As the company expands and diversifies into new market segments, evolving organizational capabilities, leadership agility, and an updated go-to-market approach are required.
Lief’s CEO is seeking a new Head of Human Resources to lead the people function as they enter this new phase. The Head of HR will serve as a key member of the leadership team, aligning talent strategy, organizational effectiveness, and workforce capability with the company’s operational and commercial priorities. This role will be central to enabling scalable growth, strengthening leadership effectiveness, and ensuring operational discipline as the organization builds on improving performance and market opportunity.
The new Head of HR will lead a team of three and bring a best-in-class understanding of HR, an exceptional ability to develop a team with an eye toward continuous improvement, and a business-first perspective with experience within a manufacturing environment, all while honoring Lief’s core values.
The Director of Human Resources oversees a team of two HR professionals and one Office Administrator and is responsible for the full employee lifecycle, including HR strategy, talent acquisition, organizational development, employee relations, change management, organizational design, total rewards, compliance, HR systems, workforce planning, and payroll partnership with Finance.
Strategic HR Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
- Partner with the CEO and leadership team to align workforce strategy with business growth, operational performance, and market expansion objectives.
- Lead organizational design, succession planning, and talent strategies that support scalability, leadership effectiveness, and evolving business priorities.
- Assess organizational capability and implement practical initiatives that strengthen accountability, performance management, succession planning, and management capability across the organization.
- Build scalable HR processes, policies, and infrastructure appropriate for a growing, multi-site manufacturing organization.
- Provide grounded, business-oriented guidance that balances strategic direction with operational feasibility and resource constraints.
- Support executive leadership in navigating organizational complexity associated with growth, evolving markets, and operational scaling.
Talent, Leadership Development & Employee Experience
- Oversee workforce planning and talent acquisition strategies across manufacturing, technical, commercial, and corporate functions.
- Coach managers and leaders on performance management, employee relations, organizational effectiveness, communication, and leadership practices.
- Drive leadership development initiatives that elevate manager capability and strengthen organizational performance.
- Collaborate with executive team on strategy for compensation, benefits, and total rewards programs and related programs. Administer programs directly or through team members.
- Improve onboarding, engagement, retention, and career development practices across the organization.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
- Facilitate organizational alignment during periods of ambiguity, restructuring, and growth.
Operational Excellence, Systems & Process Improvement
- Build and continuously improve scalable HR infrastructure, policies, workflows, and operating rhythms appropriate for a growing multi-site manufacturing organization.
- Identify and execute opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, reporting, and employee experience through process optimization and technology enablement.
- Lead change management efforts associated with organizational transformation, operational improvements, and market expansion initiatives.
- Strengthen HR systems utilization, data integrity, reporting capabilities, and workforce analytics to support better decision-making.
- Partner closely with Finance on payroll administration, reporting, audits, and process optimization.
Employee Relations & Compliance
- Manage employee relations matters, investigations, policy interpretation, and organizational risk management.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across multi-state operations.
- Maintain practical, compliant HR policies that support both operational effectiveness and positive employee experience.
Team Leadership & Capability Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of HR professionals and administrative staff, establishing clarity, accountability, and strong operating discipline.
- Intentionally develop high-potential junior HR team members into more capable, independent HR business partners.
- Create structure and prioritization within the HR function while maintaining responsiveness and execution quality.
- Model a hands-on, solutions-oriented leadership approach grounded in professionalism, urgency, and continuous improvement.
Leadership Expectations
- Serve as both a strategic advisor and a hands-on operator.
- Balance long-term organizational planning with disciplined execution and follow-through.
- Bring executive presence, sound judgment, and credibility with leaders at all levels of the organization.
- Leverage technology and systems to improve efficiency, scalability, and decision quality.
- Lead effectively through ambiguity, growth, and change with sound judgement and resilience.
- Develop talent and elevate the overall capability of the HR function.
- Influence organizational decisions through data, insight, and business acumen.
- Lead with a high degree of accountability, professionalism, and integrity.
Candidate Requirements
Candidates for this position must have significant proven success leading the human resources function for companies of similar size and scope. Candidates must also bring to this position a proven ability to lead during a time of significant change, and an ability to influence other executives through both formal and informal leadership. The ideal candidate brings strong business acumen, operational rigor, and a technology-forward mindset, with the ability to build scalable HR infrastructure while developing a capable, high-potential HR team.
This role requires a leader who can operate seamlessly across both strategic and hands-on execution. The successful candidate will be expected to think at a senior leadership level while staying closely connected to the day-to-day operational realities of a manufacturing environment. This is a highly practical leadership role requiring strong execution discipline, process orientation, and the ability to personally drive improvements in HR systems, workflows, and organizational effectiveness. Additional professional and personal requirements include:
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including senior HR leadership within manufacturing, industrial, or operational environments.
- Strong working knowledge of California employment law and employee relations practices.
- Demonstrated success building scalable HR infrastructure, processes, and organizational capability in lean or resource-conscious environments.
- Experience partnering directly with executive leadership teams on business and workforce strategy.
- Strong leadership coaching, organizational development, and change management capabilities.
- Experience managing HR teams and multiple functional areas across the employee lifecycle.
- Excellent communication, influencing, and relationship management skills.
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience within private equity held organizations.
- Experience supporting organizational transformation, growth initiatives, or business turnaround environments.
- Experience implementing or optimizing HRIS and people analytics capabilities.
- Exposure to commercial transformation or evolving go-to-market organizations.
- Professional working proficiency in Spanish preferred.
- SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification.
Compensation
The anticipated base salary range for candidates who will work in Valencia, CA is $200,000 to $210,000. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, type and length of experience within the industry, education, etc.
Additional benefits include comprehensive health care, 401(k), paid time off, wellness programs, and a collaborative work environment.
Lief is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Suppose you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran. In that case, you have the right to request accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center due to your disability. To request an accommodation, contact the Lief Human Resources department.
Lief will consider employment-qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.
Lief uses E-Verify to confirm work eligibility in the United States. E-Verify compares the information on your Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to official government records.
No Visa Sponsor
Head of Human Resources
Lief Labs is a premier contract manufacturer and product development innovator in the nutraceutical industry. Our passion is to collaborate with entrepreneurial firms and help our clients build premium lasting and innovative brands. Lief offers a complete turn-key solution for its clients manufacturing needs to better streamline their operation. With the highest quality certifications, talented product development and flavoring team, and fast turn-around times, Lief is an integral part of the success of its clients’ brands.
Lief Labs’ facility is cGMP-certified and FDA-registered. They are compliant with 21 CFR Part 111 guidelines and ensure their products are of the highest quality when they leave the facility. Liefs’ Quality Control laboratory has been recognized by A2LA – ISO/IEC 17025 accredited body for microbiological testing. Lief takes tremendous pride in the “quality” of their products and always demands the best from its team members and vendors.
Lief’s highly talented product development team consists of industry experts who excel at creating innovative, effective, and great tasting products that stand out in the market. Over 500 new products are developed each year in our laboratory where we bring our client’s ideas to life.
Wellness Through Innovation
Lief Labs is entering a strong period of renewed growth and operational momentum following several challenging years. As the company expands and diversifies into new market segments, evolving organizational capabilities, leadership agility, and an updated go-to-market approach are required.
Lief’s CEO is seeking a new Head of Human Resources to lead the people function as they enter this new phase. The Head of HR will serve as a key member of the leadership team, aligning talent strategy, organizational effectiveness, and workforce capability with the company’s operational and commercial priorities. This role will be central to enabling scalable growth, strengthening leadership effectiveness, and ensuring operational discipline as the organization builds on improving performance and market opportunity.
The new Head of HR will lead a team of three and bring a best-in-class understanding of HR, an exceptional ability to develop a team with an eye toward continuous improvement, and a business-first perspective with experience within a manufacturing environment, all while honoring Lief’s core values.
The Director of Human Resources oversees a team of two HR professionals and one Office Administrator and is responsible for the full employee lifecycle, including HR strategy, talent acquisition, organizational development, employee relations, change management, organizational design, total rewards, compliance, HR systems, workforce planning, and payroll partnership with Finance.
Strategic HR Leadership & Organizational Effectiveness
- Partner with the CEO and leadership team to align workforce strategy with business growth, operational performance, and market expansion objectives.
- Lead organizational design, succession planning, and talent strategies that support scalability, leadership effectiveness, and evolving business priorities.
- Assess organizational capability and implement practical initiatives that strengthen accountability, performance management, succession planning, and management capability across the organization.
- Build scalable HR processes, policies, and infrastructure appropriate for a growing, multi-site manufacturing organization.
- Provide grounded, business-oriented guidance that balances strategic direction with operational feasibility and resource constraints.
- Support executive leadership in navigating organizational complexity associated with growth, evolving markets, and operational scaling.
Talent, Leadership Development & Employee Experience
- Oversee workforce planning and talent acquisition strategies across manufacturing, technical, commercial, and corporate functions.
- Coach managers and leaders on performance management, employee relations, organizational effectiveness, communication, and leadership practices.
- Drive leadership development initiatives that elevate manager capability and strengthen organizational performance.
- Collaborate with executive team on strategy for compensation, benefits, and total rewards programs and related programs. Administer programs directly or through team members.
- Improve onboarding, engagement, retention, and career development practices across the organization.
- Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, adaptability, and continuous improvement.
- Facilitate organizational alignment during periods of ambiguity, restructuring, and growth.
Operational Excellence, Systems & Process Improvement
- Build and continuously improve scalable HR infrastructure, policies, workflows, and operating rhythms appropriate for a growing multi-site manufacturing organization.
- Identify and execute opportunities to improve efficiency, consistency, reporting, and employee experience through process optimization and technology enablement.
- Lead change management efforts associated with organizational transformation, operational improvements, and market expansion initiatives.
- Strengthen HR systems utilization, data integrity, reporting capabilities, and workforce analytics to support better decision-making.
- Partner closely with Finance on payroll administration, reporting, audits, and process optimization.
Employee Relations & Compliance
- Manage employee relations matters, investigations, policy interpretation, and organizational risk management.
- Ensure compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws across multi-state operations.
- Maintain practical, compliant HR policies that support both operational effectiveness and positive employee experience.
Team Leadership & Capability Development
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of HR professionals and administrative staff, establishing clarity, accountability, and strong operating discipline.
- Intentionally develop high-potential junior HR team members into more capable, independent HR business partners.
- Create structure and prioritization within the HR function while maintaining responsiveness and execution quality.
- Model a hands-on, solutions-oriented leadership approach grounded in professionalism, urgency, and continuous improvement.
Leadership Expectations
- Serve as both a strategic advisor and a hands-on operator.
- Balance long-term organizational planning with disciplined execution and follow-through.
- Bring executive presence, sound judgment, and credibility with leaders at all levels of the organization.
- Leverage technology and systems to improve efficiency, scalability, and decision quality.
- Lead effectively through ambiguity, growth, and change with sound judgement and resilience.
- Develop talent and elevate the overall capability of the HR function.
- Influence organizational decisions through data, insight, and business acumen.
- Lead with a high degree of accountability, professionalism, and integrity.
Candidate Requirements
Candidates for this position must have significant proven success leading the human resources function for companies of similar size and scope. Candidates must also bring to this position a proven ability to lead during a time of significant change, and an ability to influence other executives through both formal and informal leadership. The ideal candidate brings strong business acumen, operational rigor, and a technology-forward mindset, with the ability to build scalable HR infrastructure while developing a capable, high-potential HR team.
This role requires a leader who can operate seamlessly across both strategic and hands-on execution. The successful candidate will be expected to think at a senior leadership level while staying closely connected to the day-to-day operational realities of a manufacturing environment. This is a highly practical leadership role requiring strong execution discipline, process orientation, and the ability to personally drive improvements in HR systems, workflows, and organizational effectiveness. Additional professional and personal requirements include:
Required Qualifications
- 10+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, including senior HR leadership within manufacturing, industrial, or operational environments.
- Strong working knowledge of California employment law and employee relations practices.
- Demonstrated success building scalable HR infrastructure, processes, and organizational capability in lean or resource-conscious environments.
- Experience partnering directly with executive leadership teams on business and workforce strategy.
- Strong leadership coaching, organizational development, and change management capabilities.
- Experience managing HR teams and multiple functional areas across the employee lifecycle.
- Excellent communication, influencing, and relationship management skills.
- Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Organizational Development, or related field.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience within private equity held organizations.
- Experience supporting organizational transformation, growth initiatives, or business turnaround environments.
- Experience implementing or optimizing HRIS and people analytics capabilities.
- Exposure to commercial transformation or evolving go-to-market organizations.
- Professional working proficiency in Spanish preferred.
- SHRM-SCP or SPHR certification.
Compensation
The anticipated base salary range for candidates who will work in Valencia, CA is $200,000 to $210,000. The final salary offered to a successful candidate will be dependent on several factors that may include but are not limited to the type and length of experience within the job, type and length of experience within the industry, education, etc.
Additional benefits include comprehensive health care, 401(k), paid time off, wellness programs, and a collaborative work environment.
Lief is an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability, protected Veteran Status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Suppose you are a qualified individual with a disability or a disabled veteran. In that case, you have the right to request accommodation if you are unable or limited in your ability to use or access our career center due to your disability. To request an accommodation, contact the Lief Human Resources department.
Lief will consider employment-qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.
Lief uses E-Verify to confirm work eligibility in the United States. E-Verify compares the information on your Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to official government records.
See All 15 Head Of People Operations Jobs in California
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Find JobsHead Of People Operations Jobs by City in California
Where California roles are concentrated, by current openings.
Head Of People Operations Job Market in California
A snapshot from current California openings, updated as new roles post.
Who's Hiring
Top Industries Hiring
- Consulting & Professional Services
- Technology & Software
What California Employers Look For
The qualifications that appear most often in head of people operations jobs across California.
- Bachelor's degree in human resources, business administration, or a related field
- Seven or more years of progressive HR or people operations experience
- Demonstrated experience leading HR teams and managing full-cycle people programs
- Deep knowledge of California employment law, including CFRA, FEHA, and AB5
- Proficiency with HRIS platforms such as Workday, BambooHR, or Rippling
- Experience partnering with executive leadership on workforce planning and organizational design
Head Of People Operations Jobs in California: Frequently Asked Questions
How do you become a head of people operations in California?
Most heads of people operations in California reach the role by building a decade or more of progressive HR experience, often starting in generalist or business partner roles and moving into director-level positions before stepping into a top people ops seat. A bachelor's degree in human resources or business is the standard baseline, and many California employers favor candidates who hold the SHRM-SCP or SPHR designation. Fluency in California-specific employment law, including CFRA, FEHA, and wage-and-hour compliance, is a practical requirement that separates qualified candidates from the field.
How much do head of people operationses make in California?
Head of people operationses in California earn a median of about $170,080 a year, based on May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics wage data, ranging from around $96,430 for the lowest 10% to over $307,600 for the top 10%. Pay rises with experience, specialty, and employer.
Which companies hire head of people operationss in California?
Employers hiring head of people operationss in California right now include Respiris, AURORA, and Picarro, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of September 2026. California's concentration of technology companies, healthcare systems, and growth-stage startups means demand is especially consistent for candidates who understand both scaling culture and the state's complex employment compliance requirements.
Which California cities have the most head of people operations jobs?
San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Dublin lead California for head of people operations openings. San Francisco's density of technology and venture-backed companies drives the largest share of postings, Los Angeles generates strong demand across entertainment, media, and healthcare, and San Diego's life sciences and biotech sector creates a steady pipeline of senior people ops roles tied to rapidly scaling organizations.
Are there remote head of people operations jobs in California?
Yes, and more than many senior leadership roles, given that much of the strategic and analytical work in people operations translates well to distributed environments. About 67% of head of people operations openings tied to California are remote or hybrid as of September 2026, reflecting how broadly California technology and professional services companies have embraced flexible work. The functions most commonly offered remotely include HR technology oversight, workforce planning, and people analytics, while roles that require frequent onsite presence tend to focus on culture, employee relations, or multi-site operations.
How can I get hired as a head of people operations in California with little or no experience?
The most realistic entry path is to join a California employer in an HR coordinator or people operations associate role and build toward the title over several years. Large California technology companies and health systems often run structured HR development programs that rotate early-career professionals across recruiting, compensation, and HR business partner functions. Earning the SHRM-CP credential demonstrates seriousness to California hiring managers before your experience fully speaks for itself. Lateral moves from talent acquisition, total rewards, or HR business partnering at mid-size Bay Area or Los Angeles companies are among the most common ways candidates transition into broader people ops ownership.
Where can I find and apply to head of people operations jobs in California?
You can find and apply to head of people operations jobs in California on Migrate Mate, which lists current California openings updated on an ongoing basis. Find roles that fit your background and apply directly to the ones that match.
See All 15 Head Of People Operations Jobs in California
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