Head of People Operations

About our Team:

Springline Advisory is a trailblazing financial and business advisory firm that accelerates next-phase growth for privately held mid-market accounting and advisory firms across the U.S. As the central hub of Springline, our National Team powers the shared capabilities, infrastructure, and innovation that fuel firm-wide success.

We’re proud to invest in our people while promoting an entrepreneurial spirit and providing a faster path to sustainable growth. At Springline, we’re building something greater than the sum of its parts: stronger cultures, future-ready capabilities, and enduring legacies for the teams, clients, and communities we serve. To learn more, visit springlineadvisory.com.

About the Role:

As Head of People Operations, you’ll be a hands-on operator and builder responsible for creating Springline’s operational People foundation during a period of high growth and frequent M&A. This is a scale-up environment with varying levels of HR maturity across firms; success requires comfort operating without big-company infrastructure and building processes from the ground up.

You will:

• Lead a small, distributed People Ops team
• Guide and influence distributed HR/Ops leads across eight (and growing) firms, most of whom do not report centrally and vary in HR expertise
• Own benefits and 401(k) integration, HR processes, employment entity transitions, HR compliance, and UKG workflow buildout
• Bring SMB or mid-market, PE-backed, multi-entity experience to an environment that requires adaptability, speed, and hands-on execution
• Build toward a multi-year People Operations roadmap that scales with the enterprise

• Travel: ~25% for integrations, onsite working sessions, HR/Ops alignment with firm leaders, Finance, IMO, and the People Team.

Key Focus Areas:

 Benefits, 401(k) Integration, Compliance & HR Operations

• Lead end-to-end benefits and 401(k) integrations for incoming firms (vendor management, data validation, communications, compliance testing).
• Oversee employment entity changes, onboarding/offboarding improvements, handbook and policy updates.
• Own multi-state HR compliance (ACA, COBRA, ERISA, wage/hour requirements, leaves).
• Create repeatable HR Ops processes: SOPs, templates, SLAs, workflows, and compliance calendars.
• Direct UKG process design and workflow configuration across the employee lifecycle.
• Partner with the India-based HR team to define global vs. local HR process responsibilities and ensure alignment across People Operations.
• Build clear process documentation, reference materials, and job aids, and train/guide local HR and Operations leads (who vary in HR capability) to execute workflows and policies consistently across all firms.

HR M&A Integration & Operating Model

• Lead People/HR due diligence, Day 1, Day 100, and post-close integration.
• Provide input as HR expert into integration playbooks, timelines, checklists, and execution models for repeatable success.
• Define and refine the HR operating model (centralized vs. firm-local work).
• Support distributed HR/Ops leads with employee relations frameworks, documentation expectations, and escalation processes.

People Operations Roadmap

As Springline continues to scale, this role will contribute to the ongoing evolution of People Operations and support the operational enablement of people programs across the organization.

• Partner with executive leadership to ensure the operational execution, alignment, and integrity of people-related programs.
• Support the integration of People Operations processes with compensation, benefits, and retirement programs to deliver a cohesive employee experience.
• Collaborate cross-functionally on enterprise approaches to job architecture, performance management, and rewards administration.
• Ensure people programs are operationally executable, system-enabled, compliant, and scalable as the organization grows, while preserving Springline’s big-small firm approach.

People Data, Analytics & Insights

• Establish People data governance across all firms.
• Support reporting and dashboards (headcount, turnover, org structure, benefits, basic comp).
• Oversee data accuracy during M&A, 401(k) transitions, entity changes, and new-firm onboarding.
• Build foundational analytics capabilities without over-engineering.

Cross-Functional Leadership & Change Management

• Partner with the Integration Management Office (IMO) and Communications on consistent, clear employee messaging.
• Build trusted relationships with Managing Partners, Finance, Legal, and HR/Ops leads across local firms.
• Influence without authority in a distributed HR model.
• Translate benefits, compliance, and operational topics into practical, plain language for leaders and employees.

What You Bring:

• 10–15+ years in HR Operations, Benefits, HR M&A integration, or People Compliance
• Required: Experience in SMB or mid-market organizations, not only large enterprises
• Strongly Preferred: Experience in PE-backed, multi-entity, rapidly scaling firm
• Strongly Preferred: Experience in Public Accounting firms
• Successful track record leading small People Ops or HR teams
• Strong expertise in benefits administration, 401(k) plans, and plan mergers
• Experience managing employment entity transitions and building compliance rigor
• Expertise designing HR processes, workflows, SOPs, ideally in UKG
• Hands-on experience with HRIS platforms (ideally UKG) with the ability to build and refine workflows, troubleshoot issues, and ensure data accuracy. Must be comfortable getting tactical and partnering closely with HRIS vendors to build functionality in a scrappy, resource-constrained environment.
• Proven ability to lead through influence, especially in environments where local HR/Ops teams do not report centrally and may have limited HR depth.
• Experience with (or exposure to) global/offshore HR teams, ideally India
• Highly operational, analytical, detail-oriented, and motivated by creating order from chaos
• A builder who enjoys working in ambiguity and iterating quickly
• Financially literate operator with strong process discipline — able to tie HR operations to compliance, cost, accuracy, and risk mitigation
• Long-term interest in compensation, equity, job architecture, and performance management
• Certifications preferred: CEBS, CBP/CCP, SHRM-SCP/SPHR, CHRS, GPHR

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