Associate Manager HR

Employment Type: Freelance

Location: Flatiron, NYC – 2x per week onsite

Reports To: Director, Human Resources

We are seeking an experienced HR professional to support and enhance the employee experience across a growing organization. This freelance opportunity is ideal for someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys building efficient people processes, and can balance day-to-day execution with strategic support.

About the Role

The Associate Manager, HR will oversee core human resources operations and programs that support employees throughout the full lifecycle, from onboarding through offboarding. This person will serve as a key cross-functional partner, helping ensure smooth HR operations, strong compliance practices, and a positive employee experience.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage employee lifecycle processes including onboarding, offboarding, documentation, records management, and HRIS updates
• Coordinate equipment setup and systems access in partnership with internal teams
• Support background checks and employment verification requests
• Administer payroll processes with accuracy, timeliness, and compliance
• Partner with finance and external vendors to resolve payroll and benefits issues
• Manage benefits administration, including enrollments, life events, and employee education
• Serve as a primary point of contact for employee questions related to policies, payroll, benefits, and systems
• Lead or support employee engagement initiatives, internal communications, and culture-building programs
• Help drive process improvements, policy rollouts, and operational change management
• Support recruiting activities for selected roles, including sourcing, interview coordination, and ATS management
• Partner across People, Finance, IT, and Operations to ensure seamless execution of HR programs
• Maintain compliance with applicable employment laws, policies, and best practices

Qualifications

• 3+ years of relevant HR Generalist or People Operations experience
• Strong experience with onboarding, offboarding, payroll, benefits, and employee support processes
• Hands-on experience with HRIS, payroll, benefits, and recruiting systems
• Excellent project management, organization, and attention to detail
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a service-oriented mindset
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion
• Comfort working in a fast-paced, evolving environment
• Ability to commute to the NYC office at least 2 days per week
• Authorization to work in the United States without current or future sponsorship

Preferred Background

• Experience in beauty, consumer goods, or a similarly fast-moving industry
• A proactive, solutions-oriented approach and comfort navigating ambiguity
• Ability to build trusted relationships across all levels of an organization