People Operations Specialist

Open Source has taken over the world of software development; however, the largest trade-off still persists: security. Companies spend an enormous amount of time and resources patching and fortifying open source software in order to ship with confidence & compliance. 

Founded by the industry's leading experts on open source software, security and cloud native development, Chainguard has built the largest library of open source software that is secure by default. Customers including Snowflake, Canva, and HPE rely on Chainguard to build securely with open source software across the organization.

Chainguard is the safe source for open source.

About Us

We live and breathe our company values:

We are customer obsessed - Our true advantage is the strength of our relationships with customers through collaboration, empathy, and responsiveness.  We establish trust as we educate, advocate, and listen to their needs.  Our focus is on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better. 

We have a bias for intentional action - We’re a start-up and we need to move fast. However we need to move fast through intentional action to make sure we’re able to deliver quickly and efficiently on what is most impactful to our collective success.  We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.  We think about how what we do impacts other teams and communicate our progress - owning the whole solution from start to finish. If we move fast enough, we can make two or three mistakes, learn, and correct them before competitors even make their first decision.

We don’t take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) - Though we are solving an important problem which takes focus and a degree of seriousness, we don’t take ourselves too seriously while we do.  We laugh, have fun, embrace uniqueness, and enjoy the journey. Together.

We trust each other and assume good intentions - We hire great team members and trust them to do their work. We’re transparent with data, news, and decisions - positive or negative - to empower team members to make well informed decisions. Showing up for each other fully means we celebrate each other’s accomplishments as well as give compassionate direct feedback when needed.  We always default to assuming good intentions.

The Role, In a Nutshell:

Are you passionate about creating people-first systems that empower teams to thrive?
At Chainguard, we’re in rocketship mode, and we’re looking for a People Operations Specialist to help us scale with intention and excellence.

This role goes beyond keeping the trains running - it’s about designing and building the tracks for where we’re headed. As the backbone of our People function, you’ll help streamline processes, implement scalable systems, and ensure compliance in an ever-evolving landscape. Most importantly, you’ll play a vital role in delivering an exceptional employee experience, helping every Chainguardian (our affectionate term for team members) feel connected, supported, and primed for success.

In this pivotal role, you’ll have a unique opportunity to influence and shape the core elements of our People Ops experience. By partnering across teams, you’ll help make big, complex challenges - like scaling a company at warp speed - feel seamless. If you love solving puzzles, thrive in bringing structure to chaos, and delight in elevating every touchpoint of the employee journey, we’d love to hear from you!

What You’ll Do:

• Support Employee Lifecycle: Play a key role in onboarding and offboarding processes, manage day-to-day administrative tasks, and serve as the first point of contact for HR questions to provide exceptional support.
• Streamline & Uplevel Processes: Support the evaluation, implementation, and improvement of People-related systems like benefits, onboarding, and HRIS to drive operational efficiency as we scale.
• Systems Management: Serve as the point person for People systems, ensuring clean and accurate data to enable reporting and insights.
• Compliance Champion: Help keep us compliant by staying on top of employment laws, managing documentation, and implementing processes that align with regulations.
• Leave Administration Lead: Manage leave administration by tracking employee leave balances, processing leave requests, and ensuring alignment with applicable leave policies and local regulations.
• Benefits: Serve as the primary point of contact between employees and benefits providers, addressing questions and resolving issues promptly; Assist with benefits-related activities, including open enrollment, employee communications, and updates to benefits programs.
• Cross-Functional Partner: Act as a liaison between People, Finance, IT, and other teams to drive operational excellence.

What We’re Looking For:

• 2–5 years of experience in HR, People Operations, or a similar role in a high-growth environment.
• Proven expertise with HR systems (e.g., HRIS, ATS) and a passion for leveraging technology to streamline processes.
• Passion for providing exceptional employee experiences
• Solid understanding of employment regulations and compliance requirements.
• Experience supporting global teams, including working with Employer of Record (EOR) services.
• Exceptional organizational skills and the ability to juggle multiple priorities.
• A proactive problem-solver who thrives in dynamic, fast-paced environments.

Why You’ll Love It Here:

• Impact & Autonomy: You’ll have the freedom and ownership to build programs that make a difference.
• Hypergrowth Vibes: Things move fast here—if you love speed, change, and agility, you’ll thrive.
• A Human-First Culture: We care about our people and create policies and programs to reflect that.
• Trust & Collaboration: We work as a team—no politics, no egos, just smart people solving tough problems together.
• Flexibility: We trust you to manage your time and your work from wherever you are.

A few of the benefits we offer (for our full time employees):

• Equity/stock options
• Unlimited PTO
• Remote work with flexible coworking and team meetup opportunities
• Home office and internet stipend
• 100% health/dental/vision insurance coverage for you and your family
• Monthly Wellness budget

If your experience is close but doesn’t fulfill all requirements, please apply. Chainguard is on a mission to build the best team. To achieve our goal, we are focused on hiring “Guardians'' with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.

Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.

For US based roles - Chainguard participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with employee Form I-9 Information to confirm authorization to work in the U.S. Chainguard, Inc. only uses E-Verify once a candidate has accepted a job offer and completed the Form I-9. If E-Verify cannot confirm that an employee is authorized to work, Chainguard, Inc. will give the employee written instructions and an opportunity to contact the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) or Social Security Administration (SSA) so the employee can begin to resolve the issue before any adverse employment action is taken. For more information about your right to work, please see the Notice of Right to Work.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard’s Privacy Policy.