Operations Associate

Location: Remote (must be based in the United States)

Reports To: HR and Operations Specialist

Team: Operations

Salary Range: USD 75K to 85K depending on geography and experience

About Earth Species Project

Earth Species Project (ESP) is a non-profit using frontier AI to decode animal communication. We believe the exponential progress we’re seeing in AI offers new ways of looking at the world and expanding the ability of human beings to learn from other species. Our hope is that this will make a significant contribution to altering human perspective on how we relate to the rest of nature.

ESP partners with biologists and machine learning researchers at leading universities and institutions around the world, and we are honored to be supported by many forward-looking philanthropists and groups, including Reid Hoffman, Waverley Street Foundation, Allen Family Philanthropies, McGovern Foundation, and the National Geographic Society. 

Purpose of Role

The Operations Associate helps create an exceptional employee experience by ensuring the day-to-day operations that enable our globally distributed team to run smoothly and consistently. From welcoming new hires to coordinating onboarding and offboarding, payroll and benefits administration, and day-to-day employee support, this role enables our people to focus on advancing ESP's mission while helping build operational systems that scale with the organization.

Reporting to the HR and Operations Specialist and working closely with the Head of Operations, you'll execute established processes, provide exceptional day-to-day support to employees, and identify opportunities to improve how we work. You'll play an important role in ensuring our people operations remain thoughtful, accurate, and human-centered while keeping the systems that support our growing organization running smoothly.

This role includes an initial period of expanded responsibility while covering the HR and Operations Specialist during a planned leave (December through May) before transitioning into its long-term focus on onboarding, offboarding, payroll and benefits administration, and day-to-day employee support.

Key Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Coordinate new hire onboarding, including paperwork, equipment, system access, and welcome logistics

• Coordinate employee offboarding, including access removal, equipment returns, and exit documentation

• Keep onboarding and offboarding checklists and trackers current

Payroll & Benefits Support

• Process routine payroll inputs each cycle (new hires, changes, terminations) for review and approval by the HR and Operations Specialist, as applicable

• Support employee benefits enrollment, changes, and terminations

Employee Support

• Serve as the first point of contact for routine employee questions on policies and procedures

• Maintain accurate employee records across HR systems, ensuring data quality and timely updates

• Support leave administration by tracking requests, maintaining records, and helping employees navigate established leave processes

• Handle employee information with discretion, maintaining confidentiality and data privacy in all aspects of the role

Operations Support

• Maintain HR documentation, templates, and operational playbooks to ensure processes remain current and consistent

• Coordinate with Employer of Record (EOR) partners and other people operations vendors on routine administrative tasks and inquiries

• Support employee recognition programs (anniversaries, birthdays, etc.)

• Coordinate logistics for employee programs, team events, and other organizational initiatives

• Provide administrative and operational support for cross-functional people operations initiatives

• Identify opportunities to improve operational processes and documentation, bringing recommendations to the HR and Operations Specialist

Expanded Responsibilities Duri