People Ops Associate (Part-Time Contractor, 10–15 hrs/wk)

About Pragma

Pragma is building the modern operating system for game development, trusted by over 120 game studios, including Square Enix, Sony, EA, Krafton, Gardens, Brain Jar Games, and more.

Pragma Platform is the game industry leading backend: cross-platform authentication, social, commerce, player data, matchmaking, telemetry, and more. Works as your backend or with your existing backend.

FirstLook is our player relationship management platform that helps studios onboard, understand, and reward their players throughout a game's entire lifecycle — from first playtest to live operations. We've onboarded millions of players and power community growth for 250+ studios including Dreamhaven, Bonfire Studios, Remedy Entertainment, and Playable Worlds.

You'll be joining a deeply experienced team who have scaled some of the largest games in the world, including League of Legends and Destiny 2. Our team also brings platform experience from Google, Twitch, Amazon, and Microsoft.

We are a Series B company comprised of 45 employees backed by globally renowned technology investors, including Greylock, Insight Partners, and Upfront Ventures.

About the Role

We're looking for a People Ops Associate on a part-time contract basis, roughly 10–15 hours per week, which may turn into a full-time opportunity as our needs grow. This role reports to the Director of Finance & Business Operations and owns the day-to-day mechanics of People Operations at Pragma — the employee lifecycle, our HRIS and payroll inputs, compliance documentation, and recruiting coordination.

This is a hands-on execution role. You'll be the person who makes sure a new hire's first day works, that our HRIS reflects reality, that policy acknowledgments are current, and that candidates hear back on time. Ownership, self-direction and a can-do attitude are essential and we need someone who can run their own queue without being chased.

There is potential to grow the engagement over time as the company scales.

Core Responsibilities

Onboarding & Offboarding

• Run new hire onboarding end to end: offer paperwork, background checks, I-9 verification, first-day setup, and equipment/accounts coordination with IT
• Maintain and improve onboarding checklists and the overall new hire experience
• Execute offboarding: access removal coordination, final pay and PTO payout inputs, equipment return, exit documentation
• Prepare employment verification letters and other routine employee documentation

HRIS & Payroll Administration

• Own data hygiene in our HRIS (Rippling): employee records, org structure, compensation changes, status updates
• Prepare and QA payroll inputs for review; flag discrepancies before they hit a pay run
• Administer benefits enrollment, qualifying life events, and open enrollment logistics
• Track PTO and leave balances; support parental and family care leave administration
• Maintain accurate People reporting for Finance and leadership (headcount, comp, attrition)

Compliance & Documentation

• Keep the Employee Handbook and People policies current; run policy acknowledgment cycles
• Maintain I-9 records, state registrations, and multi-state employment compliance items
• Pull and organize HR evidence for SOC 2 and annual audits (onboarding/offboarding records, access reviews, training completion)
• Maintain organized, access-controlled People files

Recruiting Coordination

• Schedule interviews across time zones and keep candidates and interviewers informed
• Maintain ATS hygiene: pipeline stages, feedback collection, candidate status
• Draft and route offer letters for approval
• Support job posting logistics and candidate communications

Requirements

• 2+ years in HR, People Operations, or HR administration, ideally at a startup or in a generalist seat where you touched multiple areas
• Hands-on experience with an HRIS/payroll platform (Rippling strongly preferred; Gusto, Justworks, TriNet or similar acceptable)
• Working knowledge of US multi-state (and some international) employment compliance basics (I-9, state registrations, wage and hour fundamentals)
• Are you this? Then this will work out well
• • A passion for building People Ops from the ground up
  • Exceptional attention to detail and follow-through. This role lives in the details
  • Self-starter who can work independently with asynchronous check-ins
  • Strong written communication; you are the voice of People Ops to candidates and new hires
  • Discretion with confidential employee and compensation data
  • AI-first user and comfort with agentic workflows
  • Able to manage and maintain multiple projects and tasks
• Experience supporting Canadian or international employment a plus

Engagement Details

• Independent contractor engagement (1099), 10–15 hours per week
• Remote, with some overlap required during PST business hours for payroll cycles and onboarding days
• Flexible scheduling otherwise
• Hourly rate commensurate with experience
• Potential to expand scope or convert as the company grows
• Access to an incredible network in the gaming and technology industries