Senior People Operations Manager

About us

Re-architecting Engineering for the Age of Intelligence

PhysicsX is the physics AI company for industrials. The company’s mission is to accelerate hardware innovation by overhauling what industrial engineering and manufacturing look like today. PhysicsX is building a new simulation software stack to deliver deep physics AI enablement across the entire engineering lifecycle. The company partners with leading organisations in aerospace & defence, automotive, semiconductors, materials, and energy & renewables, supporting them on some of their most critical and complex challenges. PhysicsX is headquartered in the United Kingdom, with offices in London, New York, and Singapore and an expanding presence in the Bay Area.

About the Role

We're looking for a People Operations Specialist to provide day-to-day People Ops support for our US team — currently our second-largest hub and growing quickly. Reporting to our London-based Head of People Ops & Data, you'll be the main point of contact for everything from onboarding and offboarding to benefits and compliance for our North America colleagues. You'll work alongside a colleague from our People Partnership team who previously held this role, so you won't be starting from scratch.

This is a hands-on, high-autonomy role. You'll run US People Ops day-to-day, plug into broader People Ops projects as our team scales, and have support from the wider global People team whenever you need it — we operate as one team, not in regional silos. We're a fast-growing company, not yet a large, fully specialised corporate People function — which means this role, and the way it's scoped, will evolve as our needs change. You should be genuinely comfortable with ambiguity, happy to build process as you go rather than inherit a finished playbook, and energised by the idea of taking on new areas of ownership as the company grows. If something isn't working as well as it could — a process, a system, a workflow — we want someone who takes the time to understand what's already there and why, then brings solutions rather than just flagging the problem.

What You'll Do

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Own onboarding end-to-end for US new hires — from offer acceptance through day one and beyond — partnering with the wider People team and other functions to make sure every new joiner has a great, consistent experience
• Manage offboarding for departing US employees, coordinating exit interviews, documentation, and access removal

Employment Documentation & HR Administration

• Prepare and issue employment contracts, amendments, and verification letters
• Support payroll processing by keeping employee data accurate and up to date
• Support relocations into the US

Visa & Immigration

• Manage visa and immigration processes for US-based employees, including work authorisation applications and renewals, working with external immigration providers as needed

Benefits

• Own the US benefits programme end to end — enrolment, renewals, open enrolment, and broker relationships
• Be the go-to person for benefits questions, and help keep our offering best-in-class as we grow

Legislation, Policy & Compliance

• Keep on top of US federal and state employment legislation, flagging changes and helping shape policy in response
• Keep our US policies, employee handbook, and internal documentation accurate and current
• Maintain compliance with US employment law, including state-specific requirements
• Maintain right-to-work and I-9 records

Data & Reporting

• Keep US employee data clean and accurate in our HR system
• Produce regular US reporting to support wider People reporting

Performance Cycles & Projects

• Support our bi-annual performance review cycles
• Get involved in broader People Ops projects as we continue to scale

What You'll Bring

A couple of things are must-haves given the seniority of this role:

• Solid, hands-on experience with an HRIS platform (we use HiBob)
• Several years of experience in People Operations or HR, ideally with exposure to US employment law

Beyond that, a few things would be especially useful to bring with you:

• Experience with US benefits administration, particularly healthcare plans and 401(k)s
• Experience with US visa and immigration processes is useful
• Good organisation and communication skills, and confidence working autonomously across time zones
• Comfortable handling sensitive and confidential information with discretion
• Genuine comfort with ambiguity — this role, like our company, is evolving, and we're looking for someone who's energised by that
• Solution-oriented when gaps are identified — you take the time to understand what's already in place and why, then bring practical ideas for how to improve it, rather than just raising the problem

If you're not sure you tick every box in that second list, we'd still love to hear from you.

What we offer

Work with a high-caliber, collaborative team of engineers, scientists, and operators who care deeply about doing great work, and about helping each other get better. We come from diverse backgrounds, but we share a commitment to operating at the highest level and addressing some of the most complex challenges out there. We also believe in balancing focused, ambitious work with a life beyond it. If you’re ambitious, thoughtful, and driven by impact, you’ll feel at home. 

And it doesn’t stop there …

🚀 Equity options - share meaningfully in the company you’re helping to build.

💰 5% contribution to 401(k) - build long-term security with a strong retirement plan.

🍽️ Free team lunch 1x/week - good food, great company, and space to connect.

🏥 Private health insurance – comprehensive cover for you, offering total peace of mind.

👶 Enhanced parental leave – 3 months full pay paternity and 6 months full pay maternity leave, to provide extra flexibility during the moments that matter most.

☀️ 20 days of Annual Leave (+ Public Holidays) - because taking time to rest matters.

📈 Personal development – dedicated support for learning, development, and leveling up over time.

💪 Gympass / Wellhub (subsidized) – for you and up to 3 family members, supporting both physical and mental wellbeing.

💳 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) – set aside pre-tax dollars for eligible healthcare expenses.

🔎 Watch this space, we’re continuing to build this as we grow…

Estimated salary for this role is $135,000 - $175,000 depending on experience. Seniority will be assessed throughout our interview process.

  We value diversity and are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnicity, nationality, disability, age, sexual orientation or gender identity. We strongly encourage individuals from groups traditionally underrepresented in tech to apply. To help make a change, we sponsor bright women from disadvantaged backgrounds through their university degrees in science and mathematics.    We collect diversity and inclusion data solely for the purpose of monitoring the effectiveness of our equal opportunities policies and ensuring compliance with employment and equality legislation. This information is confidential, used only in aggregate form, and will not influence the outcome of your application.