Head, HR (Contract to Hire)

We are seeking a Head of Human Resources to help scale and strengthen Gatik’s people operations during a critical stage of company growth. This is a high-ownership, hands-on leadership role within a fast-paced autonomous vehicle startup environment. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating both strategically and tactically — building scalable people processes while also rolling up their sleeves to support day-to-day HR operations when needed. This role will partner closely with founders and leadership teams across engineering, operations, autonomy, robotics, AI/ML, and business functions to help drive organizational effectiveness, employee engagement, performance management, compliance, and culture. We are looking for someone practical, adaptable, solutions-oriented, and comfortable navigating ambiguity in a rapidly evolving environment. The ideal candidate has strong startup or scaling-company experience, excellent judgment and executive presence, and a proven ability to build HR infrastructure without slowing down the business. This role will be onsite 5 days a week at our Mountain View headquarters. • Partner closely with founders and leadership teams to help scale the organization and build strong people operations practices. • Lead and support day-to-day HR operations, employee relations, organizational development, and people strategy initiatives. • Build and improve scalable HR processes, policies, and programs while maintaining startup agility and speed. • Support performance management processes, calibration discussions, manager coaching, and employee development initiatives. • Partner with leadership teams on organizational planning, team structure, leveling, and compensation discussions. • Handle employee relations matters, investigations, and conflict resolution with sound judgment and professionalism. • Ensure compliance with California employment laws, HR best practices, and internal policies. • Help improve onboarding programs, manager enablement initiatives, and employee experience processes. • Support leadership teams during periods of rapid organizational growth, shifting priorities, and evolving business needs. • Drive strong communication, accountability, and operational excellence across HR programs and initiatives. • Partner cross-functionally with recruiting, operations, finance, legal, and leadership teams as the organization scales. • Help foster and reinforce a high-performance, low-ego, ownership-driven culture.

• 8+ years of progressive HR leadership experience, preferably within high-growth startup or scaling technology environments. • Strong experience supporting technical organizations such as engineering, robotics, autonomy, AI/ML, hardware, or operations teams. • Proven ability to operate both strategically and tactically in fast-moving, ambiguous environments. • Strong knowledge of California employment law, compliance practices, investigations, and employee relations. • Experience building or improving scalable people operations processes and programs. • Excellent communication, executive presence, interpersonal, and leadership skills. • Demonstrated ability to partner effectively with founders, executives, and cross-functional leadership teams. • Comfortable working onsite and operating in a highly collaborative environment. • Strong problem-solving skills, sound judgment, and ability to navigate sensitive situations professionally. • Experience with performance reviews, compensation calibration, leveling frameworks, onboarding, and manager enablement programs is highly preferred. • Startup mentality with strong ownership, urgency, adaptability, and willingness to roll up sleeves. • Candidates with demonstrated impact and longevity in startup or scaling environments are strongly preferred over candidates coming solely from highly structured large-company environments. • Prior experience helping scale organizations through periods of rapid growth is a plus. Salary Range: $180,000 – $260,000