People Lead
Goodfire
Salary undisclosed
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Description
About Goodfire
Goodfire is an AI interpretability research lab. We build interpretability agents and infrastructure to understand, monitor, and align AI models.
We believe that AI is the most consequential technology of our time. Yet AI models are trained by trial and error today, with limited understanding of what drives their behavior. Our goal is to advance the research and technology needed to fully understand and align AI so humanity can trust superintelligence.
Goodfire is a public benefit corporation founded by researchers who helped pioneer the field of interpretability at OpenAI and Google DeepMind. We are headquartered in San Francisco and have raised over $200M from leading investors including Lightspeed, Menlo, and B Capital.
About the role
We’re hiring a People Lead to build the infrastructure that enables us to scale the highest-performing AI research organization in the world and consistently win. You’ll own the systems, processes, and programs that support our people across the employee lifecycle, and you’ll build most of it from scratch.
You find intensity exhilarating, move with urgency, and thrive when faced with challenges. You’re someone we can lean on to make exceptional judgment calls, and you go out of your way to make sure our people feel genuinely cared for and supported. You’ll be the secret weapon behind our ability to attract and build a world-class team, creating an organization that gives us a lasting competitive edge.
Key responsibilities
- Own and execute Goodfire’s People strategy across hiring, talent, compensation, employee experience, and organizational development as the company scales
- Own compensation, leveling, and equity philosophy, ensuring our approach is competitive, internally consistent, and aligned with our goals to attract and retain exceptional talent
- Own the full employee lifecycle, from onboarding through offboarding, ensuring a smooth, high-quality employee experience at every stage
- Build scalable People systems, processes, and infrastructure that support rapid growth while maintaining a high bar for employee experience and operational excellence
- Lead benefits administration and strategy, including enrollments, changes, employee support, and vendor management
- Serve as the go-to People partner for employees and managers, responding to questions and concerns with care, speed, discretion, and sound judgment
- Shape and reinforce a high-performance, mission-driven culture as Goodfire scales, preserving trust, intensity, and high standards
- Lead employee relations and navigate sensitive, high-stakes people situations with sound judgment, discretion, empathy, and appropriate risk awareness
- Oversee visa and immigration processes, partnering with external counsel/vendors to support employees through each stage of the process
- Own People-related compliance and risk management, ensuring Goodfire’s policies, practices, and processes evolve appropriately as the company grows
- Communicate People-related updates and initiatives to the broader team in a way that is clear, warm, consistent, and aligned with Goodfire’s culture
Our values
Goodfire is looking for individuals who embody our values and share our deep commitment to making interpretability accessible. We are building a team first and foremost.
Put mission and team first
All we do is in service of our mission. We trust each other, deeply care about the success of the organization, and choose to put our team above ourselves.
Improve constantly
We are constantly looking to improve every piece of the business. We proactively critique ourselves and others in a kind and thoughtful way that translates to practical improvements in the organization. We are pragmatic and consistently implement the obvious fixes that work.
Take ownership and initiative
There are no bystanders here. We proactively identify problems and take full responsibility over getting a strong result. We are self-driven, own our mistakes, and feel deep responsibility over what we’re building.
Action today
We have a small amount of time to do something incredibly hard and meaningful. The pace and intensity of the organization is high. If we can take action today or tomorrow, we will choose to do it today.
Where we work
We are hiring for this position in our San Francisco office who’d be onsite 5 days a week.
What we offer
This role offers market competitive salary, equity, and competitive benefits.
The expected salary range for this position is $250-400k.
This role reports to our COO.
Most importantly, you'll have the opportunity to join a vital mission at an important point in its trajectory — we are developing groundbreaking technology with a world-class team on the critical path to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity. If you want to do your life’s work with us, even if you believe you do not meet every single requirement, apply now.
Benefits
- we are developing groundbreaking technology with a world-class team on the critical path to ensuring a safe and beneficial future for humanity. If you want to do your life’s work with us, even if you believe you do not meet every single requirement,
About this role
Goodfire is building the People function from the ground up as it scales a world-class AI interpretability research lab. This People Lead role sits at the center of that effort, owning hiring, compensation, employee experience, benefits, and organizational development across the full employee lifecycle. You'll shape the systems and culture that allow the company to attract exceptional talent and maintain high performance as it grows—working directly with the COO and serving as the trusted advisor to employees and managers on everything from onboarding to sensitive personnel matters.
The role demands someone who thrives in intensity and moves with urgency. You'll need strong judgment to navigate complex people situations with discretion and empathy, while also building scalable processes that don't sacrifice quality as the organization expands. This includes owning compensation philosophy and equity strategy, managing benefits and vendor relationships, handling visa and immigration support, and ensuring compliance and risk management evolve appropriately. You'll communicate People initiatives clearly and warmly, reinforcing a mission-driven culture that values ownership, continuous improvement, and action.
This is a full-time, in-office position in San Francisco with a salary range of $250–400k plus equity and competitive benefits. It's suited for someone who finds meaning in the mission, can operate independently while building infrastructure from scratch, and genuinely cares about supporting people at a high-performing organization moving at speed.
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Pay for this role
The employer didn't post a pay range for this role. That usually means pay is set in negotiation, which favors whoever arrives with numbers. Check ranges on comparable People Lead postings in San Francisco, and analyze any offer before you accept it.
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