People & Culture Partner

Koala®

People Operations Partner responsible for full-cycle recruiting and HR operations for the US team at Koala. Leading initiatives in recruiting, onboarding, and employee engagement within a fully remote environment.

Posted 7/15/2026full-timeRemote • 🇺🇸 United StatesMid-LevelSeniorWebsite

Core Competencies

Role fit

Core Competencies

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Demonstrates expertise in full-cycle recruiting, employee lifecycle administration, and US employment law compliance. Capable of fostering a positive candidate experience and managing HR operations effectively in a remote environment.

Highest-signal resume keywords

Full-Cycle RecruitingUS Employment Law ComplianceHRIS/Payroll Platform ExperienceEmployee Relations ManagementCultural Engagement Initiatives

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

RecruitmentOnboardingPayroll AdministrationEmployee Lifecycle ManagementPolicy Development

Soft Skills

Clear CommunicationJudgmentCoachingFlexibilityTeam Engagement

Tools & Technologies

GustoBambooHRTax Studio

Industry Keywords

People OperationsEmployee RelationsRemote Team ManagementUS HR ComplianceEngagement Initiatives

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Own full-cycle recruiting for US roles: sourcing, screening, interview coordination, reference checks, and offers.
Partner with hiring managers to build job descriptions, interview plans, and scorecards.
Deliver an exceptional candidate experience across all stages of the hiring journey.
Run onboarding end to end including paperwork, equipment/IT coordination, first-week experience: so new hires land well.
Administer the US employee lifecycle: new hires, changes, leave, and offboarding within our HRIS.
Handle day-to-day payroll administration and employee payroll queries, working with our third-party payroll provider.
Own US employment law compliance across all states we employ in wage and hour, leave, classification, and required notices.
Be the first point of contact for US employees and managers on people questions, employee relations issues, and day-to-day HR needs.
Coach managers on performance conversations, team issues, and basic people management practice.
Run US-specific engagement and culture initiatives that keep a remote, distributed team connected.
Partner with the Global People & Culture team to roll out global programs, policies, and initiatives, adapting and implementing them for the US market.

Requirements

What you’ll need

3–5 years of experience in a US HR/People Operations generalist role, preferably coming from a recruitment background, and ideally at a small start-up or scaling company.
Comfort working across the full breadth of the role - recruiting one hour, payroll questions the next, policy work after that.
Ongoing flexibility to partner with the global team based in Sydney on AEST timezones, and hence a preference for those based on the US West Coast.
Working knowledge of US employment law across multiple states (no specific certification required).
Experience with common HRIS/payroll platforms (e.g., Gusto, BambooHR, Tax Studio or similar).
Strong judgment and comfort operating as the primary on-the-ground People presence in the US, drawing on global support where useful rather than needing it day-to-day.
Appetite to adopt and deploy AI and automations to US people processes.
Clear, warm communication style - you'll be a trusted point of contact for employees at every level.
Vibe and energy - you’ll lead the cultural charge for our fully remote team through authentic and fun engagement initiatives both on and offline.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Generous time off - Koala life leave, volunteer, parental, and more to help keep your work-life balance, balanced.
Free Koala products with ‘mates rates’ for your friends and fam.
Access to our Employee Assistance Program, which includes unlimited sessions for financial, work, relationship, family or wellbeing support.
Competitive 401k matching and comprehensive Anthem private health insurance plans.
Learning Management platform, as well as individual and team growth budgets and dedicated days.
BCorp Certified, WWF Partnership, volunteer days, a member of SoftLanding , 1% and so much more.