Associate Director, People Operations

About this role

About Us:

Artsy and Artnet have joined forces, bringing together the art world’s two most important online destinations under shared leadership and vision.

Both brands will continue to embrace their proven strengths: Artnet as the definitive destination for trusted journalism, transactional data, auctions, and market intelligence; Artsy as the leader in discovering and buying art through personalized recommendations, editorial storytelling, and a seamless collecting experience across web and mobile. Together, Artsy and Artnet attract over 7 million monthly visitors across 190+ countries and reach over 9 million followers across social channels.

The Role

We're looking for an Associate Director of People Operations to lead the operational backbone of our People function and help shape the next chapter of our combined organization. This is a critical leadership role responsible for ensuring every stage of the employee lifecycle runs seamlessly while bringing two organizations together — harmonizing systems, processes, and programs from onboarding and payroll to benefits, compliance, HR systems, and employee workplace experience.

You'll lead the work required to integrate and scale our People infrastructure, bringing together systems, processes, and programs to support our next phase of growth. This role is ideal for someone who loves building scalable operations, has exceptional attention to detail, and is passionate about creating a workplace where employees can seamlessly and effectively do their best work. You'll bring both strategic thinking and operational excellence—knowing when to build new processes, when to simplify existing ones, and when to roll up your sleeves to solve the day-to-day challenges that keep employees supported.

You'll manage and develop a team of four across Payroll & Benefits and Workplace Experience, fostering a high-performing, service-oriented People Operations function that delivers an exceptional employee experience across the organization.

What You'll Do

OWN HR OPERATIONS

- Lead all HR Operations across the employee lifecycle, including onboarding, offboarding, employee records, documentation, compliance, and policy administration.

- Ensure operational excellence across HR processes while continuously identifying opportunities to simplify and improve the employee experience.

- Build scalable, efficient processes that leverage AI and automation to reduce manual work, improve accuracy, and support a growing global organization.

LEAD PAYROLL & BENEFITS

- Provide leadership and oversight for payroll operations, managing our in-house Payroll Manager while partnering with external providers to ensure timely, accurate, and compliant payroll processing across the organization.

- Own our global benefits program, partnering with providers and internal stakeholders to deliver competitive offerings that support our ability to attract, retain, and engage exceptional talent globally.

- Manage leave administration, benefits enrollment, and related compliance requirements.

SUPPORT GLOBAL OPERATIONS

- Oversee People Operations across the US, UK, Germany and other global remote locations with particular expertise in global administration, employment practices, payroll, and compliance.

- Partner with external advisors as needed to ensure ongoing compliance across jurisdictions.

DRIVE HR SYSTEMS & PROCESS EXCELLENCE

- Own and optimize our HRIS and People systems, ensuring data integrity, reporting accuracy, and operational efficiency.

- Lead system implementations, enhancements, integrations, and process automation initiatives.

BUILD AN EXCEPTIONAL EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

- Oversee the Workplace Experience team, ensuring seamless workplace operations across office management, company events, travel coordination, employee perks and benefits, and culture-building initiatives that foster a connected, engaging, and high-performing culture.

- Ensure the Workplace Experience team delivers thoughtful, responsive, and high-quality support, serving as a trusted resource for employees across the organization.

- Partner closely with leadership, managers and HR Business Partnership to ensure employees receive consistent, high-quality support throughout their journey.

LEAD POST-MERGER INTEGRATION AND EVOLUTION

- Play a key role in integrating and evolving People Operations following the merger of Artsy and Artnet.

- Balance operational rigor with pragmatism—knowing when process matters and when flexibility creates a better employee experience.

- Help build a People function that's scalable, modern, and designed for long-term growth.

What We're Looking For

- 7+ years of experience in People Operations, HR Operations, or related HR leadership roles.

- Experience managing and developing People Operations team members

- Deep expertise in payroll, benefits administration, HR compliance, administering HRIS/People systems, and employee lifecycle operations.

- Strong experience supporting global (UK + Germany or other) HR operations, including payroll and employment practices.

- Exceptional organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.

- Operational ownership: comfortable diving into day-to-day HR operations as needed—willing to roll up their sleeves and resolve issues, whether that means partnering with vendors or troubleshooting payroll challenges.

- Strategic systems thinking — understands technical details of HR operations while maintaining a broader perspective on how systems, processes, and programs connect to business goals and employee experience.

- A systems thinker who enjoys building efficient, scalable processes.

- Calm under pressure, highly reliable, and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously.

- Excellent interpersonal skills with a genuine passion for creating an outstanding employee experience.

- Experience supporting organizations through periods of growth, transformation, or post-merger in

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