Head of People

About Exa

Exa recently secured a $250 million Series C funding round led by a16z alongside existing investors like Benchmark, Lightspeed, and YC, bringing its valuation to $2.2 billion. The company specializes in developing an advanced search engine tailored for the AI era. Serving clients such as AI labs, Fortune 500 companies, and Agents, the SF-based team includes experts from esteemed institutions and tech firms like Harvard, MIT, Meta, and Google Research.

Exa is on a mission to build the most intelligent search engine in history, fostering a culture of high agency, humility, and a shared sense of purpose.

Role Overview

The Head of People will spearhead the development and scaling of Exa’s people operations during a critical growth phase. Reporting closely to founders and the Chief of Staff, this position includes crafting organizational strategies, recruiting world-class talent, and ensuring an outstanding employee experience to empower team members’ best work.

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with executive leadership to design and implement a people strategy aligned with Exa’s mission and goals.
• Oversee and expand functions including recruiting, onboarding, compensation, benefits, performance management, and talent development.
• Act as a strategic consultant on organizational design, workforce planning, succession strategies, and overall talent management.
• Build and refine people-related systems, policies, and programs that enhance employee productivity and satisfaction.
• Develop compensation and rewards philosophies aimed at attracting and retaining top talent.
• Create leadership development programs and manage performance review and career advancement frameworks.
• Lead efforts to enhance employee engagement and foster a strong, evolving company culture during growth.
• Coach managers and leaders on topics like performance, employee relations, team dynamics, and organizational issues.
• Manage employee relations to ensure thoughtful and equitable resolution of workplace concerns.
• Oversee immigration-related processes, including visa sponsorship programs.
• Utilize people analytics and reporting tools to drive data-driven decision-making.
• Ensure compliance with all relevant employment legislation and regulations.
• Recruit, mentor, and lead a high-performing People team.

Candidate Profile

• Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in People, Talent, or Human Resources roles.
• Proven experience managing People teams in high-growth technology startups.
• Track record of building and scaling organizational infrastructure and people programs.
• Comprehensive knowledge of recruitment, compensation, benefits, talent management, employee relations, performance evaluation, and organizational development.
• Demonstrated ability to advise and influence senior executives effectively.
• Outstanding communication, interpersonal, coaching, and relationship management abilities.
• Strong analytical skills leveraging data for informed decision-making.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in leading people teams within leading startups or scale-up environments.
• Expertise in constructing people operations from scratch.
• Familiarity with employment laws and HR compliance in the U.S., Europe, and Singapore.
• Experience supporting international workforce and handling immigration programs.

Diversity & Inclusion

Exa is committed to equal opportunity employment. All qualified candidates will be evaluated without regard to race, religion, color, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, age, veteran status, or other legally protected statuses.

Compensation

The salary range for this position is from $200,000 to $350,000 annually.