People Operations Program Manager

Hadrian is building autonomous factories to reindustrialize America. By combining AI, advanced software, robotics, and full-stack manufacturing, we help aerospace and defense companies build rockets, satellites, aircraft, ships, and other mission-critical systems up to 10x faster and at significantly lower cost.

Following our $1.37B Series D at a $7.87B valuation, Hadrian is rapidly expanding our manufacturing footprint, launching new capabilities across welding, casting, forging, electronics, additive manufacturing, and more, while scaling our Factory-as-a-Service platform to transform how critical products are built.

Backed by leading investors including JPMorgan Chase, Valor Equity Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund, 137 Ventures, Lux Capital, T. Rowe Price, and Morgan Stanley, we’re building the future of American manufacturing—and looking for exceptional people to help make it happen.

If you’re ready to take on the most challenging and rewarding work of your career while helping create American manufacturing jobs for generations to come, you’re exactly who we’re looking for.

The Role:

The People Operations team builds the infrastructure that lets Hadrian scale. We think in systems, work like product managers, and put the people experience at the center of everything we do.

We are hiring a People Operations Program Manager to identify where our processes break down, build smarter workflows, and drive the strategic programs that shape the employee experience at Hadrian. You'll be the person who looks at how we work and asks 'how do we make this 10x better'—whether that means redesigning a process, introducing an AI-powered solution, or owning a company-wide people program end to end.

One quarter you're standing up our tiered support model and mapping AI automation opportunities. The next you're running the performance review cycle or turning engagement survey results into action. You are a strong project manager, a clear thinker, and a builder - and you thrive when the scope is broad and the work is meaningful.

What You’ll Do

• Diagnose manual, repetitive, or high-friction processes across the employee lifecycle and lead the end-to-end build of their redesign—scoping the solution, coordinating stakeholders, and driving implementation of AI-enabled improvements.

• Architect and implement our tiered People support model, ensuring employees get the right level of support at the right time—from self-service resources to specialist escalation—and that the model scales as we grow.

• Use Jira Service Management and People data to monitor operational performance, surface trends, and bring data-driven recommendations to People leadership on where to invest time and resources.

• Lead strategic People initiatives as they arise; acting as the program management engine for the team on high-priority projects that need structure, momentum, and an owner.

• Build and maintain internal People team resources - playbooks, SOPs, project trackers, and knowledge bases - so institutional knowledge is captured and operations run consistently at scale.

• Partner closely with People Partners, Recruiting, Engineering, and Finance to align People programs with business needs and ensure cross-functional dependencies are managed proactively.

What We’re Looking For

• 5+ years of experience in People operations, HR consulting, program management, or a closely related field, with a track record of owning complex, cross-functional initiatives from scoping through delivery.

• Demonstrated experience with process improvement and operational design - you've looked at broken or inefficient workflows and built better ones, ideally with technology or automation as part of the solution.

• Familiarity with AI tools and automation platforms (Claude, Zapier, Workato, or similar) and genuine curiosity about how they can be applied to People operations.

• Strong project management fundamentals: you work from a plan, communicate proactively, manage dependencies, and don't let things fall through the cracks.

• Comfortable with data - you can pull a report, interpret what it's telling you, and translate it into a recommendation that a business leader can act on.

• High adaptability: you're energized by a shifting scope, not unsettled by it, and you bring structure to ambiguous situations rather than waiting for it to be handed to you.

What Will Set You Apart

• You've worked in a high-growth, operationally intense environment—startup, manufacturing, defense, or similar—where you had to build programs while the business was moving at full speed.

• You have hands-on experience with Jira Service Management or a comparable service management platform, and you understand how to use it as a strategic operational tool rather than just a ticketing system.

• You've led an AI or automation implementation in a People or operations context - not just recommended it, but scoped it, rolled it out, and measured the impact.

• You're an exceptional communicator who can write a crisp project brief for the CHRO and a clear how-to guide for a new hire on the factory floor—and you know the difference between the two.

• You see the People function as a lever for business performance, not a support function that reacts to requests.

Compensation

For this role, the target salary range is 155,000 - 185,000 (actual range may vary based on experience).

This is the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the range may be modified in the future. An employee's pay position within the salary range will be based on several factors, including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.

• Medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans for employees
  401k

• Relocation support may be provided for certain situations, based on business need.

• Flexible vacation policy

• Equity

To conform to U.S. Government export regulations, including the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) you must be a U.S. citizen or national, lawful permanent resident, protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State. Learn more about the ITAR here.

Hadrian uses AI-assisted tools in our recruiting and hiring processes to help our team work more efficiently. This may include tools that help organize and analyze recruiting data, as well as an AI-powered notetaker that can record and transcribe interviews and help coordinate feedback. These tools support our team and are not used to make hiring decisions. All candidate evaluations and hiring decisions are performed by humans. If an interview will be recorded, you will be notified in advance and may opt out at any time with no impact on your candidacy. Candidate data processed through these tools is subject to the same protections described in our Privacy Policy.

Hadrian will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of all applicable laws. We do not ask about criminal history on our application, and we do not consider criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment.

Hadrian does not unlawfully discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin/ethnicity, veteran status, disability status, age, sexual orientation, marital status, mental status, physical disability or any other legally protected status. When necessary, the Company also makes reasonable accommodations for disabled candidates and employees, including for candidates or employees who are disabled by pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.