Job Application for Head of People at High Camp Flasks

New

Hybrid, San Rafael, California (preferred) or Bozeman, Montana

About the Job

High Camp Flasks is at an inflection point. We're growing rapidly to 25-35 full-time employees over the next 18-24 months and we need a full-time leader to define our culture deliberately and build the people systems that allow us to scale with excellence.

This role is foundational. The Head of People will shape how we hire, develop talent, celebrate wins, support each other through challenges, and operationalize the values that make High Camp distinctive. You'll report directly to our CEO and sit at the leadership table. Your work will be visible in every onboarding, every performance cycle, every team member and every decision we make about who we are as a company.

Who Are We?

High Camp Flasks was born from a love of craft cocktails and the great outdoors. We design Fortified Barware—flasks and drinkware that blend rugged utility with timeless style, built for people who value design, craftsmanship, and adventure.

We're a team that holds ourselves to high standards. We raise the bar in every detail, own it like it's our company, and execute and improve with momentum and care. We think big and innovate boldly, collaborate to create, and show integrity in action by doing what we say we're going to do. If you're energized by building, evolving, and raising the standard as we grow, we'd love to meet you.

We're profitable and bootstrapped. We've chosen operational excellence over growth without limits. Our leadership team is calm, professional, and genuinely invested in people development. And we're fully remote, with two beautiful hub cities—Bozeman, Montana and San Rafael, California—for intentional in-person time.

What Will Our Head of People Do?

Culture & Employee Experience

Gather employee feedback and act on it; build connection in remote culture through virtual rituals, in-person time, and belonging signals
Meet regularly 1:1 with every employee to stay close, surface issues early, and understand how people are doing
Build real-time recognition programs, lead DEI thinking, and source wellness offerings

Strategy & Organizational Design

Partner on long-term workforce planning: headcount roadmap, compensation strategy, team structures, and pay band design
Run market benchmarking and support restructures as the organization evolves
Run engagement surveys, track people metrics (headcount, attrition, time to fill, engagement scores), and act on what the data shows

Internal Communication & Operations

Own company meeting norms and culture standards; sit in weekly leadership meetings as the people and culture voice
Run all-hands meetings, leadership updates, and company-wide communications that keep the team informed and aligned

Employee Relations & Trust

Handle employee questions and the Anonymous HR Contact Form as the trusted, neutral first point of contact
Steward sensitive situations with discretion, including investigations, mediation, and offboarding

Recruiting & Talent Strategy

Oversee and run full-cycle recruiting for 1-5 open positions: job descriptions, sourcing, screening, interviews, candidate experience management in Greenhouse, and partnership with contract recruiter
Think long-term about hiring strategy, organizational design, and roles needed as we grow
Coordinate background checks, reference checks, and steward employer brand from first touch through offer

Onboarding & First 90 Days

Own onboarding end-to-end: pre-start logistics, Day 1 orientation, 30/60/90 day check-ins, and continuous improvement
Coordinate equipment, accounts, tool access, and ensure new hires feel welcomed and set up for success

People Operations & Administration

Administer benefits, payroll, and time off through Rippling; partner with benefits broker on open enrollment and renewals
Coordinate leaves of absence (parental, medical, Colorado FAMLI), ADA accommodations, and employee life events
Maintain compliance with employment laws across California, Montana, and Colorado
Build out and maintain Employee Handbook, company policies, and documentation to ensure everything is scalable

Performance & Development

Manage performance review program: calendar, templates, manager support, and leadership calibration sessions (four times per year)
Track completion and follow up; identify training needs and source learning solutions
Coach managers and individual contributors as they grow into more demanding roles
Design and maintain job leveling and career path framework

Vendor & Tool Management

Own relationships and renewals across HR stack
Implement AI tools to expand reach and productivity

Who Will Love This Job?

You've built culture and people processes from the ground up in a high-growth environment and understand that people work is strategic work while being energized by rolling up your sleeves—this is a scrappy environment where you'll do hands-on work alongside the strategic thinking. You're comfortable wearing multiple hats, moving fast, and building systems that scale as we grow.

You're the person who:

Takes ownership. When you see something that needs doing, you pick it up rather than wait for someone to assign it
Leads with empathy. Your interactions are shaped by genuine care, especially with people navigating sensitive moments
Communicates clearly. Your writing is sharp across chat, documents, and email. You explain complex information to audiences with varying expertise
Thinks in systems. When something breaks, you trace it to the root cause, fix the cause, and document the fix so it stays fixed
Stays calm under pressure. You're not intimidated by conflict or complexity. You listen, take a beat, and move to the next constructive action
Is warm and candid. Feedback flows in both directions. You pursue hard conversations when they're needed, but you do it with kindness
Holds yourself to a high standard. You care about craft and attention to detail, consistent with how we show up as a brand
Is genuinely curious. You want to understand why a sales territory matters or how a flask gets made
Thinks strategically and weighs tradeoffs. You’re constantly evaluating competing priorities and proactively surfacing tradeoffs to your manager
Says no when it matters. You know when and how to push back in service of bigger priorities, and you do it with clarity and respect
Embraces ambiguity. We're a growing company, and not everything has a defined process yet. You're comfortable building as you go
You're enthusiastic, positive, and inspiring to be around. You're authentically yourself. And you want to succeed.

Qualifications

Must-Have

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area with willingness to commute to our San Rafael office 2 - 3 times per week.
5-8+ years of HR and people operations experience, with at least 3 years owning a people function or major program independently
Building people processes from the ground up: You've defined culture in a high-growth environment, designed and documented people processes, mapped organizational structures, and coached managers and individual contributors.
Remote-first or distributed team people ops experience
The ability to write clear, on-brand policy and employee-facing communication
The ability to hold difficult conversations with managers, candidates, or employees with kindness and clarity
A calm, neutral, trustworthy presence in a small company without an HR team to fall back on
Highly organized, with the ability to prioritize efficiently across competing demands
Bachelor's Degree (any subject; HR, organizational psychology, business, communications, or a strong liberal arts background all work well)
Travel: Occasional; 2 - 4 trips per year to our other hubs

Nice-to-Have

Rippling HRIS or Greenhouse ATS experience
Experience supporting a sales organization through aggressive hiring growth
Total rewards or compensation benchmarking experience
Multi-state HR compliance experience (especially CA, MT, CO)
HR certification (SHRM-CP, SHRM-SCP, PHR, SPHR)

First Year Priorities

Publish the first complete Employee Handbook and onboarding program
Run all four cycles of the new performance review process cleanly
Hit key hiring milestones while maintaining quality and candidate experience
Plan and execute a company-wide offsite with training
Build a 2027 people plan: headcount roadmap, compensation framework refresh, and career path clarity
Establish measurable retention and engagement baselines

Support & Mentorship

Direct line to Nic Barisone (CEO) and Whit Gautreaux (President/Co-Founder), both of whom are invested in people development
Access to outside advisors on organizational design and compensation
Budget for HR-specific conferences, courses, and certifications
Partnership with our contract recruiter and benefits broker

Career Path

Clear path to expand your role as the company grows. You'll likely hire and lead your first direct report within 18-24 months.

Why This Role, Why Now, Why High Camp?

Define the culture of a rapidly growing premium consumer brand from a foundational stage. Most director-level people roles are inherited functions with established systems and a queue of issues to fix. This one is generative. You'll set the rituals, norms, and operating principles that shape how High Camp functions as we scale. This is rare and is one of the most attractive parts of the role.

Real responsibility and visible impact. The work you do—the handbook you build, the onboarding program you design, the performance review process you implement—will visibly shape the company's daily operations.

A founder team that genuinely values people-work. Nic and Whit back the people function with investment, attention, and decision-making authority. You won't be fighting for a seat at the table; you'll already have one!

A team and culture worth building for. High Camp is made up of intelligent, calm, professional people who collaborate well and have fun together. Leadership holds itself to the same standards it holds employees to. We hold company offsites 2x per year in beautiful and joyful destinations to facilitate friendships, productivity, and fun.

A business built for the long term. We're profitable and bootstrapped. We've chosen operational excellence over growth without limits. The work is steady and meaningful (and not a frantic chase for outside capital!).

A brand customers genuinely value. You'll want one of our flasks. The product is beautiful, and people love it!

Equal Opportunity

High Camp Flasks is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran status, or any other legally protected characteristic. Applicants must be currently authorized to permanently work in the United States. At this time, we are not able to sponsor employment visas or provide relocation assistance for this role.

Salary and Benefits

Base salary: $175K - $225K depending on experience
Bonus: 20% target
PTO: Unlimited
Medical, dental and vision
401(k) with up to 5% company match
Remote-first environment

Head of People