Back to jobs
New

Head of People, Studio

Los Angeles, CA

About BuzzFeed, Inc.

BuzzFeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: BZFD) is home to the best of the internet with a mission to spread joy and truth. Across entertainment, news, food, pop culture, and commerce, our brands drive conversation and inspire what audiences watch, read, and buy now — and into the future. Born on the internet in 2006, BuzzFeed, Inc. is committed to improving it: providing trusted, quality, brand-safe entertainment to hundreds of millions of people; making content on the internet more inclusive, empathetic, and creative; and inspiring our audience to live better lives. 

🐝🎥 BuzzFeed Studios: Where Stories Come to Life

BuzzFeed Studios brings stories to life for hundreds of millions around the world, creating entertainment across screens of all shapes and sizes. From social media to digital video, animation, podcasting, vertical micro-drama, television, and feature film, the studio leverages insights from its global audiences to create culturally relevant, high-quality content built for today's audiences. BuzzFeed Studios boasts an enormous social following and a vast portfolio of brands from BuzzFeed Celeb to Tasty, BuzzFeed Unsolved,  Cocoa Butter, the Animation Lab, and countless more.

Business Area: Content 

Job Category: Studio

Salary: $175,000.00- $200,000.00 USD

Union Status: Non-Union 

BuzzFeed Inc. is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. We reserve the ability to adjust the final compensation for this role based on the final candidate's experience, skillset, certifications, and geography.

The Community You Will Join

We are looking for an experienced and people-first Head of People to serve as the senior HR leader across our studio and production company. This is a broad, high-impact role that spans the full employee lifecycle — from talent acquisition and onboarding to total rewards, compliance, and culture. You will be both a strategic architect and a hands-on operator, equally comfortable advising leadership on org design and headcount strategy as you are ensuring day-to-day people operations run smoothly. This role is ideal for a seasoned HR leader who thrives in a creative, fast-moving environment and understands the unique dynamics of a studio and production business.

A Typical Day

Employee Relations & HR Business Partnering

  • Serve as a trusted People Partner to leaders across Editorial, Production, Business Operations, Legal, and Finance — advising on performance management, conflict resolution, org design, and headcount planning.
  • Lead HR investigations and propose appropriate resolutions, engaging internal or external legal counsel as needed.
  • Oversee employment policy development, ensuring the Company Handbook, Code of Conduct, and all HR policies reflect current law and company values.
  • Stay current on federal, state, and local employment law, proactively updating policies and practices to maintain compliance.
  • Design and manage the annual performance review cycle, including merit increases, promotions, and off-cycle compensation adjustments.
  • Develop and implement an employee leveling framework with clear compensation banding that scales with company growth.

Studio & Production Workforce Management

  • Partner with production leadership to manage the contingent workforce, including freelancers, crew, and project-based talent — overseeing engagement, onboarding, and compliance.
  • Advise on guild and union relations, ensuring adherence to applicable collective bargaining agreements (SAG-AFTRA, WGA, DGA, IATSE, Teamsters) and timely resolution of labor-related matters.
  • Draft, review, and manage employment and engagement agreements in collaboration with Legal and Business Affairs, including loan-out agreements, deal memos, and independent contractor arrangements.
  • Maintain production workforce records, ensuring proper classification of all workers (employee vs. contractor) in compliance with federal and state regulations.
  • Support production HR needs on active projects, including cast and crew onboarding, set HR policies, and workplace conduct standards.

Talent Acquisition

  • Own end-to-end recruiting across all departments — staff, production, and executive-level roles — from job description to offer.
  • Manage the Applicant Tracking System and careers page to ensure a best-in-class candidate experience.
  • Partner with Marketing and social teams to build and amplify the company's employer brand in the creative and entertainment space.
  • Provide compensation benchmarking and salary range guidance to hiring managers to ensure competitive and equitable offers.

Total Rewards, Payroll & Benefits

  • Process semi-monthly payroll and supplemental payments (commissions, spot bonuses, residuals) accurately and on time.
  • Lead the annual benefits strategy — evaluating health insurance plans, retirement benefits, and ancillary programs — and manage Open Enrollment end-to-end.
  • Manage the company's 401(k) plan, including required nondiscrimination testing and plan administration.
  • Track and forecast fully-loaded employee costs across locations to support budget planning.
  • Administer all leaves of absence — including FMLA, state PFL, SDI, and short/long-term disability — in compliance with applicable laws.
  • Survey employees on total rewards satisfaction and propose adjustments to remain competitive in the market.

People Technology, Compliance & Analytics

  • Maintain and optimize the company HRIS, ensuring data integrity, system access, and reporting capabilities.
  • Manage all compliance needs including work authorization, E-Verify, EEOC reporting, California Pay Reporting, and SUTA filings.
  • Build and deliver people analytics dashboards covering headcount, attrition, DEI, time-off usage, and compensation trends.
  • Oversee employee document management — offer letters, PIIAs, separation agreements — and ensure secure, organized recordkeeping.
  • Provide first-level support for company-wide systems (Google Workspace, MDM tools, corporate cards) and manage asset procurement and provisioning for employee workstations.

Employee Lifecycle & Culture

  • Design and run a best-in-class onboarding experience — covering equipment provisioning, systems access, training, and cultural immersion.
  • Coach employees on career development, internal mobility, and advancement pathways.
  • Manage all departures — voluntary and involuntary — including exit interviews, separation paperwork, and offboarding logistics.
  • Run employee engagement surveys and lead action planning in partnership with leadership to drive a high-performance, inclusive culture.

Facilities & Office Operations

Provide oversight of the Facilities function, with day-to-day operations led by a dedicated direct report. Key responsibilities include:

  • Set the strategic direction for facilities and office operations, ensuring alignment with company culture, headcount growth, and real estate needs.
  • Serve as executive escalation point for landlord relationships, lease matters, and significant capital or vendor decisions.
  • Review and approve facilities budgets, including office space, A/V infrastructure, and food & beverage programs.
  • Partner with direct report to ensure all office locations are safe, functional, and reflect a best-in-class employee experience.

IT & Systems Oversight

Provide oversight of the IT function, with tactical execution managed by a dedicated team member. Key responsibilities include:

  • Set direction for the company's IT infrastructure, systems, and technology strategy in partnership with senior leadership.
  • Oversee company-wide systems administration, including Google Workspace, MDM tools, and corporate device management — with day-to-day support handled by direct report.
  • Review and approve IT budgets, including hardware procurement, software licensing, and vendor contracts.
  • Ensure IT policies and security protocols are current, enforced, and aligned with company risk and compliance requirements.

Who You Are

  • Experience working on multiple concurrent projects in a complex organizational environment, under tight timelines. 
  • Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and experience effectively communicating at all levels, whether to the President or to an individual contributor
  • Highest level of integrity and management of confidential information
  • An ability and willingness to work at both the highest level and in the trenches. 
  • A love of making high quality, accurate materials from decks to spreadsheets.
  • Business acumen and savviness to navigate through our organization structure
  • Track record in project and business management with true experience is analysing deals, negotiating terms and seeing contracts through to completion. 
  • Extensive experience in entertainment - understanding workflows and protocols, the politics of the industry and possessing a network of resources. 
  • A high energy, high functioning, dedicated approach to your work.

Use of artificial intelligence or an LLM such as ChatGPT during the interview process may be grounds for rejection of your application.

Life at BuzzFeed, Inc.

We celebrate inclusion and are committed to equal-opportunity employment. We are proud to be an equal-opportunity workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, and will not be discriminated against based on age, race, gender, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability, or any other protected category.

You can expect:

  • A supportive, inclusive atmosphere on a team that values your contributions.
  • Opportunities for personal and professional growth through work experience, offerings from our in-house Learning Team, our Employee Resource Groups, and more.
  • An attractive and equitable compensation package, including salary.
  • A well-rounded benefits program featuring paid time off, unlimited sick time, comprehensive medical benefits, a family leave policy, access to mental health platforms, retirement plans, health and wellness discounts, and much more.

Apply for this job

*

indicates a required field

Resume/CV*

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Cover Letter

Accepted file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf

Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

BuzzFeed is committed to providing a welcoming and inclusive work environment, starting from our application process. From our annual diversity report to our Employee Resource Groups, we make diversity a centerpiece of our hiring practices and employee experience. Part of that is allowing candidates to voluntarily complete the following survey that assists in our efforts to ensure equal employment opportunities globally.

Buzzfeed is required to ask some of the questions below under applicable law in certain jurisdictions, and we include the information we receive in anonymized, aggregated mandatory reporting.  We ask additional questions because we believe it will assist us in improving our diversity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives.  However, you are not required to answer any of the questions in order to submit and have your application considered by us.  If you choose to answer these questions, you are providing this information only for the uses described here, and not for any other purpose.

Information collected as part of this survey :

  • is voluntary;

  • is anonymous; is not tied to your individual application; and does not have any bearing on your application; we will not know if you complete this survey or not;

  • is used in aggregate form only, for use in anonymized reporting related to our diversity and inclusion efforts.

This information will be stored in Greenhouse (you can review Greenhouse’s privacy policy here).  Access inside BuzzFeed to this information is restricted to the People team.  Greenhouse will retain this information, along with the rest of the information provided in your application, 18 months from your application date, after which all application information will be anonymized and stored only in that form.  Once information is anonymized, neither we nor Greenhouse can determine the individual to whom it once belonged.

Please select “Acknowledge” to indicate that you agree to our processing of this information for this purpose (if you do not wish to agree, do not complete the questions)

U.S. Standard Demographic Questions

We invite applicants to share their demographic background. If you choose to complete this survey, your responses may be used to identify areas of improvement in our hiring process.
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...
Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey. Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiring process or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Employment Opportunities at BuzzFeed, Inc.’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy, we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

Select...
Select...
Race & Ethnicity Definitions

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection. As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measure the effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categories is as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.

Select...

Voluntary Self-Identification of Disability

Form CC-305
Page 1 of 1
OMB Control Number 1250-0005
Expires 04/30/2026

Why are you being asked to complete this form?

We are a federal contractor or subcontractor. The law requires us to provide equal employment opportunity to qualified people with disabilities. We have a goal of having at least 7% of our workers as people with disabilities. The law says we must measure our progress towards this goal. To do this, we must ask applicants and employees if they have a disability or have ever had one. People can become disabled, so we need to ask this question at least every five years.

Completing this form is voluntary, and we hope that you will choose to do so. Your answer is confidential. No one who makes hiring decisions will see it. Your decision to complete the form and your answer will not harm you in any way. If you want to learn more about the law or this form, visit the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) website at www.dol.gov/ofccp.

How do you know if you have a disability?

A disability is a condition that substantially limits one or more of your “major life activities.” If you have or have ever had such a condition, you are a person with a disability. Disabilities include, but are not limited to:

  • Alcohol or other substance use disorder (not currently using drugs illegally)
  • Autoimmune disorder, for example, lupus, fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, HIV/AIDS
  • Blind or low vision
  • Cancer (past or present)
  • Cardiovascular or heart disease
  • Celiac disease
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Deaf or serious difficulty hearing
  • Diabetes
  • Disfigurement, for example, disfigurement caused by burns, wounds, accidents, or congenital disorders
  • Epilepsy or other seizure disorder
  • Gastrointestinal disorders, for example, Crohn's Disease, irritable bowel syndrome
  • Intellectual or developmental disability
  • Mental health conditions, for example, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, PTSD
  • Missing limbs or partially missing limbs
  • Mobility impairment, benefiting from the use of a wheelchair, scooter, walker, leg brace(s) and/or other supports
  • Nervous system condition, for example, migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis (MS)
  • Neurodivergence, for example, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder, dyslexia, dyspraxia, other learning disabilities
  • Partial or complete paralysis (any cause)
  • Pulmonary or respiratory conditions, for example, tuberculosis, asthma, emphysema
  • Short stature (dwarfism)
  • Traumatic brain injury
Select...

PUBLIC BURDEN STATEMENT: According to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 no persons are required to respond to a collection of information unless such collection displays a valid OMB control number. This survey should take about 5 minutes to complete.