Back to jobs

People Operations Lead

Boston, Massachusetts

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. 

 

Candidate Summary

We are seeking a disciplined, systems-oriented People Operations professional to support our People Solutions function. You are a Workday power-user who excels at maintaining operational stability within a fast-evolving organization. This role is designed for an individual who can navigate shifting priorities with composure, translate complex tasks into reliable workflows, and maintain rigorous data integrity. You possess the technical aptitude to manage data across multiple platforms and the proactive mindset to support vendor lifecycles and compliance audits.

 

Responsibilities:

 

Operational

  • Lead end-to-end Workday transaction support, ensuring accuracy and compliance in employee lifecycle events including hires, terminations, promotions, compensation changes, and organizational moves.
  • Serve as the primary operational owner for People Ops, ensuring processes run smoothly across HR programs, audits and compliance.
  • Manage the People team ticketing system, resolving complex inquires and improving workflows
  • Support benefits administration and annual open enrollment by enhancing employee experience, streamlining communications, and strengthening cross-functional collaboration.
  • Support execution of annual compensation programs (equity, salary refresh, promotion planning) by managing reporting requirements, ensuring data accuracy, and partnering cross-functionally to implement compensation changes in Workday.
  • Partner with the Senior Manager, People Systems and Strategy to conduct end-user testing for new configurations, influencing adoption of improved tools, concepts, and system enhancements.
  • Process employment verifications, employment letters, and unemployment claims processes, enhancing service delivery standards and improving turnaround times through process refinement.

 

Strategic Oversight

  • Serve as a subject matter expert in People operations, applying deep functional expertise to optimize Workday processes, strengthen data integrity, and drive continuous improvement across HR systems and workflows.
  • Identify process gaps and proactively proposed new methods and processes related to employee lifecycle management, ticketing workflows, reporting, audits, and compliance activities.
  • Lead and coordinate audits, ensuring risk mitigation and regulatory compliance while strengthening internal controls and operational rigor.
  • Deliver high-value reporting and workforce insights to business leaders, translating data into actionable information that supports decision-making and organizational effectiveness.
  • Partner with the Senior Manager, People Systems and Strategy to conduct end-user testing for new configurations, influencing adoption of improved tools, concepts, and system enhancements.
  • Oversee People team vendors and contract lifecycles, lead renewal negotiations, and project manage RFP processes to introduce innovative partners and scalable solutions that elevate People operations.

 

Requirements / Who You Are

  • Experience: 8-10 years of HR Operations experience with a Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field.
  • Systems Proficiency: Strong working knowledge of Workday HCM is required. You are highly proficient in G-Suite, particularly with advanced formulas in Google Sheets. Familiarity with Greenhouse Recruiting and Ironclad (or similar contract tools) is a plus.
  • Agile Problem Solver: You are comfortable in a dynamic, high-growth environment. You stay organized when priorities shift and can manage multiple workstreams simultaneously.
  • Detail-Oriented: You have an obsessive eye for accuracy, viewing yourself as a critical line of defense for data integrity.
  • Strategic Thinker: You look for the "why" behind a task and how the effects of a task upstream and with countand enjoy finding ways to make manual processes more efficient.
  • High Agency: You are a self-starter who takes ownership of your work queue and proactively seeks out solutions before escalating issues.
  • Disciplined Project Leader: You possess strong organizational hygiene and the ability to move a project from concept to completion. You don’t just manage tasks; you manage timelines, stakeholders, and expectations. You are skilled at breaking down complex People initiatives into actionable steps, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks even when navigating shifting priorities.

Continuously improving. You're never satisfied with "good enough." You regularly ask: What can we automate? Where are we losing time? What would a better process look like? — and then you go build it.

 

 

 

The base salary range for this role is $111,300 to $157,600. Actual pay within this range will depend on a candidate's skills, expertise, and experience. We also offer company stock awards, a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental & vision coverage, health spending accounts, voluntary benefits, leave of absence policies, 401(k) program with employer contribution, 8 paid holidays in addition to a full-week winter shutdown and unlimited Paid Time Off policy.

Ginkgo has implemented a return to office policy effective October 1, 2025 with required in-office days 3x per week on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.  Some teams may require to be onsite 4-5 days per week and this will be discussed as part of the interview process.  This policy applies to all employees who live within 50 miles of Ginkgo’s offices in Boston, MA, Emeryville, CA and West Sacramento, CA.

 
It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet. 
 
 
Privacy Notice
I understand that I am applying for employment with Ginkgo Bioworks and am being asked to provide information in connection with my application. I further understand that Ginkgo gathers this information through a third-party service provider and that Ginkgo may also use other service providers to assist in the application process.  Ginkgo may share my information with such third-party service providers in connection with my application and for the start of employment.  Ginkgo will treat my information in accordance with Ginkgo's Privacy Policy.  By submitting this job application, I am acknowledging that I have reviewed and agree to Ginkgo's Privacy Policy as well as the privacy policies of the third-party service providers used by Ginkgo's associated with the application process.

Create a Job Alert

Interested in building your career at Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.? Get future opportunities sent straight to your email.

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

Education

Select...
Select...
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 Ginkgo Bioworks 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.