About Us:

Public is an investing platform that allows people to invest in stocks, ETFs, treasuries, crypto, art, collectibles, and more – all in one place. Public’s platform helps people be better investors with access to custom company metrics, live shows about the markets, and real-time analysis. Members control how they invest with a suite of powerful tools, and get insights from a community of millions of investors, creators, and analysts.

Since 2019, Public has raised over $300 million. Investors include Accel, Tiger Global, Will Smith's Dreamers VC, The Chainsmokers' Mantis VC, and Shari Redstone's Advancit Capital, as well as renowned figures in business and culture, like Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Maria Sharapova, Tony Hawk, and NYU Stern professor Scott Galloway.

The Role

We’re looking for an HR & Payroll Operations Specialist to join our People team at Public. This is a critical role focused on the operational backbone of our employee experience: payroll, compliance, benefits, and HR systems. You’ll be the go-to for making sure our processes run smoothly, accurately, and compliantly, all while helping to evolve the People function as we scale.

If you're someone who thrives on precision, enjoys solving problems, and wants to help build efficient, people-first systems from the ground up, we’d love to meet you

What You'll Do

• Own and run bi-weekly payroll processing (currently using ADP), ensuring accuracy and timeliness across multiple states.
• Serve as the HRIS lead - manage and optimize our current systems (HiBob + ADP), and play a key role in any future system migrations.
• Ensure ongoing compliance with federal, state, and local wage, hour, and employment laws.
• Manage key employee compliance activities, including background checks, fingerprinting, I-9, and E-Verify processes.
• Oversee all visa and immigration processes - including coordination with legal counsel, tracking key dates, and supporting employees and managers through the process.
• Maintain and update the employee handbook and ensure all policies remain compliant and up to date.
• Oversee PTO and leave administration (FMLA, parental leave, bereavement, etc.), including tracking, employee communication, and documentation.
• Administer and manage employee benefits, including enrollments, changes, and renewals, in partnership with our broker.
• Keep employee records organized, accurate, and confidential.
• Support and improve onboarding and offboarding workflows to ensure a smooth and positive employee experience.

Who You Are

• Detail-obsessed, with strong analytical and problem-solving skills—you catch errors others miss and love to make systems work better.
• Proficient in HR tools and systems (experience with ADP, HiBob, and benefits platforms a plus).
• Solid understanding of employment law and compliance, particularly related to payroll, immigration, leave administration, and employee documentation.
• Experience managing visa and immigration processes (H-1B, OPT, STEM OPT, Green Card, etc.) in partnership with legal teams.
• Discreet and trustworthy—you handle sensitive information with care and professionalism.
• Resourceful and solution-oriented—you don’t just raise problems, you bring ideas and drive them forward.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and change—you’re excited to help build and evolve processes.
• Strong communicator who can work across functions and levels, especially with managers and finance.

Experience

• 2 - 4+ years in HR, Payroll, or People Ops roles (title and scope will depend on level of experience).
• Experience processing payroll and managing compliance responsibilities at a high-growth company.
• Experience working in tech or startup environments preferred.

Public is an equal employment opportunity employer to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type. We celebrate people of all race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression. The compensation range for this role is $90-$105k based on skills and experience.